HOPELESS ACCESSORIES/TOOLS

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Dyson tools

Were the best on the market at one time, if of course one overlooks the fact that the necks on the small upholstery tools were forever snapping off. Dyson did eventually modify that. The large round dusting brushes and wide crevice tools were great at the job they were designed to do.

Quite why Dyson then decided to dispense with them, I don't know. I expect it was to do with cost, but with anything that carries a large price tag, a balance has to be met when it comes to trimming back the quality; you can only go so far and for me, Dyson crosses a line.

I completely take on board the comments that with a Dyson cleaner the consumer gets the choice of paying for the attachments they need, but at one time of the day it was "standard" for all cylinder cleaners to have one or more floor tools to clean both hard and soft flooring (be this a combination tool or separate tools), plus crevice tool, dusting brush, and upholstery tool. Granted that upright cleaners came with a variation on that, but then the tools were never the chief reason for the purchasing of such a machine. As time progressed it was only the cheaper (and usually imported) cylinder cleaners which offered less than the "standard" range of tools, but for me Dyson has placed itself squarely in the same league by not offering what one might expect a cleaner of it's caliber to offer.

Furthermore, James Dyson makes no secret that he thinks it's "wrong" for a manufacturer to sell a product and then charge for on-going consumables. By not providing the tools which people need and then charging extra for it (for instance a crevice tool for the DC24), he is doing precisely what he believes to be "wrong".
 
The new 3 in 1 tools mentioned in some of the posts above seem to me to be almost useless. They seem to be coming on so many vacuums now. Even some full size canisters, like the new Hoover Quietforce has them.

Also the newer Kenmore Progressive canister attachments can be a bit hard to use. The crevice tool has vents in the side that seem to divert almost all airflow from the narrow end. I don't understand why there are vents there. The dusting brush is slightly bulky, and can't be swiveled to fit in tight spaces. But it is better than the combo tools, large enough to do the job and has decent horsehair bristles. The upholstery tool seems to be mainly for pet hair, but does an okay job. The floor brush is actually better than the older ones, the neck swivels up and down, and the nozzle has a felt pad to prevent dragging as mentioned in a post above. And it has horsehair bristles.

The lower end lime and orange canisters have a better crevice tool, but the dusting/upholstery tool is the one from the uprights. It's small and has very stiff nylon bristles. The floor brush is the older one mentioned above that dates back to the 1980s and also has very stiff bristles. At least the hose is universal fit for better attachments.

The Intuition canister also has a better crevice tool and there is a decent horsehair dusting/upholstery tool from older Progressives, and a horsehair angle brush.
 
Panasonic used to have a gaping hole at the start of their long crevice tools equipped with their bagless vacuums - I think it was just to offer a true vent to minimise the pull of suction through the narrower tapered end.

I do agree though - the 3 in 1 tool as seen by Dyson and then copied by Vax/TTI on the Windtunnel Air is next to useless, it smacks of cheapness and often the same "pull down brush" types on those stubby crevice tools you'd get with many a cheap Chinese built vacuum. Even the Hoover Studio/Hoover Compact canister in the U.S has one of those! They're next to pointless, really.

I used to have a set of Dyson tools that I used with Henry. Far more effective and quite happy for them to get damaged than other 32mm sets I have. The dust brush was also great with the Argos Value bagged upright and could be slid onto the top of the crevice tool when stored at the back of the vacuum.
 
1993 to 1998

Actually, that's not quite right. The very first dusting brush and upholstery tools for the DC01 were the same generic types as used on many, many cleaners, including Bosch & their Hotpoint counterparts, but most notably so on the Electrolux Dolphin cylinders and earlier Hoover Turbopower & Turbomaster Total systems. For Dyson, the design changed somewhere between 1993 and 1995, when the DC02 went on sale, using the dusting brush you pictured, Citreon.

From here, a the larger Dyson dusting brush was designed and put out with the DC01 Absolute and DC01 De Stijl cleaners in the early part of 1997. But it wasn't until around 1999 that the basic grey & yellow cleaners were given the larger dusting brush (and indeed larger crevice tool & articulated upholstery tool), and for the DC02 -where all the tools needed to be the right shape and size of course, so as to fit inside the tool caddy- the tools were never changed, right up until the model was discontinued in the year 2000.
 
Hopeless finds? Kirby made several of these...

1. 13" nozzle (and brush roll) for models Heritage (84) (1HD), Heritage II (Legend) and Legend II (both 2HD).

2. Handi-Butler (1st-gen) - sold during sales of the 509 through the Heritage I (1HD); dropped in March 1983. Changes were made to this model in 1958 (Mk. II), 1962 (Mk. III), 1965 (Mk. IV) and 1976 ("Mk. V"). Handi-Sharpener and flexible shaft first introduced for this device in 1953 (model 513 sales), and drill chuck were introduced with the 1962 "Mk. III" update (model 562 sales). Swedish massage attachment added during Classic (1CR) sales and continued into Classic Omega (1CB) sales, but it along with the Handi-Sharpener/accessories and wire wheel were dropped after 1976 when the Omega was replaced by the Classic III (2CB). For the "Mk. V" version (plastic front cover) sold during Classic III, Tradition (3CB) and Heritage I sales, a jig saw accessory was added, but it was subsequently discontinued one year into Tradition sales.

3. Handi-Waxer - sold as an option during sales of the 561 through the Classic; sat out during the Omega years, but would return after the Omega was replaced by the Classic III; discontinued again after spring 1983, during Heritage I sales.

4. Roll-O-Waxer - essentially the predecessor to the 1st-gen Miracle Waxer, optional for the Dual Sanitronic 50 and 80.

5. Miracle Waxer (old style) - sold as optional for the Classic and Classic Omega; dropped after the Omega was superseded by the Classic III. Unlike its predecessor, the Miracle Waxer wax comes packaged in 12 oz. and 32 oz. bottles instead of a tube.

6. Turbo Brush - sold during sales of the Heritage I and during the first sales season of the Heritage II. A similar product is/was available that is called the "Rug Rat."

7. Turbo Groom - sold during Heritage I sales. This includes a hair clipper unit and accessories.

8. Care Kit - also sold during Heritage I sales.

~Ben
 
I had an AEG/Electrolux nimble about 3 years ago and their vacuums now come with this stupid "versatool", a crevice tool and upholstery tool in one, which was hopeless. There was no tight seal meaning it was useless as a crevice tool, and a ridiculously small suction port so it didn't work as an upholstery tool either. And it was bulky, always falling off the cleaner.

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That hole in the crevice tool must have been on European models perhaps? I know the Kenmore versions here didn't have it. We always had that really long crevice tool that could also be used as an extra wand for the dusting brush. They really could use that hole because the suction would make the hose spring back when the crevice tool was put on.
 
Stupid short crevice tools that have the flip down 'dust

Lol more like DC25's, and I hate how the DC24 multi floor has 1 tool, which is a 3 in 1 tool.
The DC07 crevice tool is something I use the least, only because of the holes, but I normally use the end of the wand now instead of bothering to put tools at the end unless necessary.

The Dyson DC04 tools are the best IMHO

The DC14 crevice tool has the large hole and a stupid bend to it which makes it awkward vacuuming inbetween the car seats etc.
The Dyson kits have some nice tools provided though like a nice big soft dusting brush, stubborn dirt brush which is £5 from Mvacs
Flexi crevice tool with a nice brush at the end which is removable, and a mini turbine head which speeds up when there is restricted airflow!
 
Another hopeless tool that springs to mind is one I bought well over 10 years ago and came in three parts with a cyclonic "filter" inside that clipped to the top and bottom "in between" two suction tubes. It claimed to be a "Bagless dust cup" that saved you from buying bags.

It worked - kind of - but would often fall apart from the two tubes. I think a newer one is available under different brands like Nilfisk and other generic universal brands. It might have improved, but I never once found it to be "bag saving" despite its good invention design.

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