General Electric Model R 1 ROLL-EASY!!

[arh1953]

Toby writes, "Send me $40.00, and I'll send you a surprise." Hmmm...maybe it's that pink and white Swivel-Top he was holding over my head. Read his letter last night, expect package Wednesday or Thursday. I got home from junk shopping and found THIS on my doorstep!! Holy Toledo!! Baby's first Roll-Easy!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!! It's the beginning of a beautiful vacuum cleaner!

 

[ian88]

Nice floor tool ;p

But nah, give him a polish and ee'll look great, Alan :]

 

[petek]

Wow very nice, did it also come with that Sunbeam mixmaster junior hiding behind it ?

 

[arh1953]

No, I'm a slob. LOL!!

 

[charles~richard]

Lovely!

To remove the white splotchy stuff (which is mold) from the floor tool, and anywhere on the machine where there might be any, moisten a cloth with chlorine bleach and daub the cloth over the spots. PRESTO! Gone with a poof! Just like other moldy pests, haha! You should do this over your sink lest you drip bleach on your floor. (You can also put some bleach in a spray bottle and do it that way but don't do so while wearing a black shirt...)

After treating the mold with the bleach, wash the bleach off with cool water. Then you can polish the dulled surface with furniture polish, Armor-All, etc.

 

[arh1953]

Thanks, Charles~Richard, that obnoxious mold is back again on my '57 Fisher hi-fi knobs too. Great tip, I'll give it a go. I visited your Roll-Easy site, and of course found my model there. The first day I went online looking for GE parts/tools, I found your site and vowed one day I'd own one. I never knew how easy that would turn out to be. What a life!

 

[aeoliandave]

Confratulations, Alan!!!

Wow. So wacky a design no one tried to copy it.

The Roll-Easy keeps me entranced, so much so I have it sitting on the foot of the bed table so its one of the first things I see upon waking, on the way to the coffee maker.

Mine also was liberally infected with the white powdery mold inside & out. Of course I had the whole machine apart the next day, (obstensably to kiss-coat the wheel rotation collars with some sewing mchine oil, which does make them spin quieter) including backing out the 3 threaded copper nails pinning the outlet panel in place. LOL. I followed Tanya's and Charles' advice and it all gleams like new again.

I can well imagine how many Roll-Easy cords got yanked to uselessness on sharp turns and how many hoses bit the dust & split from an equal amount of yanking...I know I'm lucky to have both intact.

Yes, I am still begging for a lead on a G.E. hose or the ends that have that particular tall conical release button & latch spaceing. I don't care what color it is; turquoise stock will come along eventually. but meantime I can't appreciate any of the suction of this vac through the porous hose, no matter how beautiful its weave may be. :-(

Can you tell me, Alan, does your G.E Swiveltop have the same hose ends? Are they interchangable? Knowing this I could go asking around for one of those or pick up a derilict Swiveltop somewhere...

Dave, a pleased as punch member of the Roll-Easy contingent.

and btw, Charles, what is the truly lovely Miss Tanya's profile on here? Does she have one?

 

[vacuumkid3]

Actually, someone did try and copy it! There is a Westinghouse that one of my friends got that is brown. It has two huge wheels, but there is one swivel wheel in the back to help it roll better. It is a very strange one too.

Does anyone know if the Roll-Easy motor is the same as the Swivel Top? I need a new one for my Roll-Easy; the fan seems bent and that is causing a lot of problems, both noise and performance. I heard that these were actually very quiet. Mine seems louder than my Bison! HAHA!! Seriously, though! Anyways...

~~K~~

 

[charles~richard]

The Roll-Easy is a very quiet machine when running properly -- almost as quiet as an Electrolux XXX. So Kyle, if yours is noisy then there is definitely something wrong with it.

 

[arh1953]

I still can't believe I have a Roll-Easy. Since Toby described this as rough around the edges, I can mention the "flaws" in good conscience. The wands are a glossy curved one, the straight one is dull finish aluminum. The hose is a new one, and at least coordinated with the grey and aluminum of the vacuum. I have what is supposed to be the last model. The paintwork is nearly flawless. It needs new paint on the blower cover, and the excellent floor tool is not the exact model for mine, it would be the one used later on the Swivel-Top. The Swivel-Top hose ends don't have the tall buttons. My machine is free of white mold, unlike the salmon floor tool. My nice grey, new cord is wired in, unlike the original. I love your model Dave, and will be seeking one as time goes on. I think the two last models were narrower. I'll stick some detail pictures in shortly. I don't blame you for keeping yours near the night table.

 

[ian88]

As I normally say, with vacs..I'm not bothered about condition as long as a.) the machine works and is useful and b.) there are no (VITAL) parts missing.

Ian

 

[arh1953]

Detail shots-hose and tools

All the vitals are here, Ian! Toby sends great packages. It misses its correct upholstery, dusting, and crevice tools, though. Here are the accoutrements that came with it:

 

[arh1953]

Wired-in appropriate looking cord

Here's a good side shot of it:

 

[arh1953]

Damaged goods! The only real flaw

This should be a quick fix, when I can find suitable turquoise spray paint:

 

[arh1953]

Side shot again, the first one didn't seem to take.

 

[arh1953]

Side shot again, the first one didn't seem to take.

 

[ian88]

I must say Alan I do like the floor tool, the colour mismatch gives the cleaner character. It's a flipover tool isn't it, like old Euro Electroluxes use?

Ian

 

[arh1953]

My tool flips like the Electrolux. Charles~Richard, who did it first?

 

[ian88]

In this country Hoover came out with a fliptool too, I think they were the last in the late 70s (the constellations over here had them among other things)

Even Goblin had a fliptool in the 1970s, which my Goblin's share lol.