sebo_fan
Well-known member
Just thought I'd create a new thread to share your thoughts on pointless or hopeless vacuum cleaner accessories. I can think of a few, so just wondering what everyone elses thoughts are!
HOPELESS ACCESSORIES/TOOLS
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danemodsandy
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Hoover Dusting Brushes!
Hoover used to make decent dusting brushes, but in more recent years, they have become cheap, with hard, scratchy nylon bristles. You can't even buy an upgraded horsehair brush from Hoover - you have to use one from another manufacturer if you don't want fine scratches in plastics and furniture finishes.
I wish people had more backbone nowadays - this venture into unnecessary cheapness should have been over within a month, due to droves of customers returning new Hoovers because of substandard dusting brushes.
Frank Lloyd Wright said it best: "Be sure to get what you like, or else you will end up liking what you get."
Hoover used to make decent dusting brushes, but in more recent years, they have become cheap, with hard, scratchy nylon bristles. You can't even buy an upgraded horsehair brush from Hoover - you have to use one from another manufacturer if you don't want fine scratches in plastics and furniture finishes.
I wish people had more backbone nowadays - this venture into unnecessary cheapness should have been over within a month, due to droves of customers returning new Hoovers because of substandard dusting brushes.
Frank Lloyd Wright said it best: "Be sure to get what you like, or else you will end up liking what you get."
danemodsandy
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TriStar Rug Shoe:
The clip-on "rug shoe" included with late TriSTar CXL and DXL vacuums was another bad idea. The rug shoe clipped onto the hard floor tool, to cover its bristles and make it glide across carpet.
The problems were: The device often came unclipped while using it, and putting it onto the floor tool required some real caution if you were not to crush the floor tool's bristles.
I have one, for the sake of having an absolutely complete CXL, but I also have the real TriStar rug tool, for actual use.
The clip-on "rug shoe" included with late TriSTar CXL and DXL vacuums was another bad idea. The rug shoe clipped onto the hard floor tool, to cover its bristles and make it glide across carpet.
The problems were: The device often came unclipped while using it, and putting it onto the floor tool required some real caution if you were not to crush the floor tool's bristles.
I have one, for the sake of having an absolutely complete CXL, but I also have the real TriStar rug tool, for actual use.
Ah, you mean "hopeless," or...
Ha, ha. Depends on what you mean by hopeless. Do you mean hopelessly useless, hopelessly ineffective, hopelessly difficult to find or replace, hopelessly expensive or overpriced, hopelessly engineered? I guess there's plenty of room under "hopeless" to cover everyone's definition of it.
I find the original TriStar attachments hopeless to find at a reasonable price. I wish I could - I would sure love to find the aluminum floor nozzle and rug nozzle inexpensively. Over $100 for a floor tool? Yikes!
I also find Dyson attachments hopelessly overpriced. What? $30 for the mattress tool? A molded piece of plastic with some lint removal strips? Hopeless! And some of Dyson's hard floor attachments costing around $50? I'm sure they work well, but too expensive!
Ha, ha. Depends on what you mean by hopeless. Do you mean hopelessly useless, hopelessly ineffective, hopelessly difficult to find or replace, hopelessly expensive or overpriced, hopelessly engineered? I guess there's plenty of room under "hopeless" to cover everyone's definition of it.
I find the original TriStar attachments hopeless to find at a reasonable price. I wish I could - I would sure love to find the aluminum floor nozzle and rug nozzle inexpensively. Over $100 for a floor tool? Yikes!
I also find Dyson attachments hopelessly overpriced. What? $30 for the mattress tool? A molded piece of plastic with some lint removal strips? Hopeless! And some of Dyson's hard floor attachments costing around $50? I'm sure they work well, but too expensive!
vintagerepairer
Well-known member
Now now, let's not forget that James Dyson firmly believes in customers only spending money on the cleaner and that he's daed against companies who make money on the add-ons. Also, it would be poor form for me to suggest that the continual changing of the fittings on the accesories is because people would be able to use their old accesories on a Dyson cleaner. Heaven forbid that I should even hint that Dyson is making sure as few people as possible get away without buying new accesories.
sebo_fan
Well-known member
Hopeless OR pointless as in something that is claimed to work but either doesn't or something that is supposed to work but doesn't. One huge example I can think of is when Hoover first brought out their Vortex upright bagless vacuums, based on the Purepower uprights. There were tons of these models ranging from the Hurricane to Cyclean. Anyway, Hoover UK thought it would be a good idea to bring out plastic bags - I remember them well - a plastic bag to line the canister bins so there would be no mess at all come the time to empty.
But most people I know just ended up using sandwich food bags...or nothing at all.
But most people I know just ended up using sandwich food bags...or nothing at all.
Well, those cheap turbo pet brushes count as hopeless. I'm talking about the ones about the size of a fist that go onto the end of a wand or hose. There are some well made ones, but the cheap ones are louder than heck (screamers: hearing protectors required), vibrate like crazy, and break real quick. Sometimes the mechanism gums up and there's so much friction in the rotating parts that it's essentially useless.
As for the overpriced attachments from Dyson, they aren't the only offenders. I just went online to look for a bare floor attachment for my Electrolux Ultralux. They also run $45 to $50! How can they be charging that much for a bare floor attachment? It really upset me.
As for the overpriced attachments from Dyson, they aren't the only offenders. I just went online to look for a bare floor attachment for my Electrolux Ultralux. They also run $45 to $50! How can they be charging that much for a bare floor attachment? It really upset me.
twocvbloke
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The most useless accessory I have is the turbo-nozzle that my miele came with (as seen in my first Tristar vs. Miele video), the brushroll is loose, by design, so that it can bounce up off the surface it's meant to be cleaning, so barely sweeps carpeting to any effect, and has soft bristles, so even if it does sweep, it doesn't really do much, all it needs is a couple of springs with enough tension to push the brushroll out to keep it in contact and to keep it stable, but, nope, they omitted that idea and the thing just sits in a box, unused and unwanted...
And one other accessory, that little clip-on brush that goes onto Kirby crevice tools, doesn't do anything for me, gets in the way, and often falls off, I understand the idea of it, but, nah, doesn't win my vote...
And one other accessory, that little clip-on brush that goes onto Kirby crevice tools, doesn't do anything for me, gets in the way, and often falls off, I understand the idea of it, but, nah, doesn't win my vote...
The only hopeless tool I have, is with my '08 JMB SC1056 Bagged cylinder.
It has a crevice tool, which in itself is great, as I LOVE the rubber bit on the end which stops any scratching to skirting boards, BUT, instead of also having a floor tool, all it has is a brush thing that slots into the end of the crevice tool.
It falls off all the time, and even if it stayed on, what use would it be!? Because it is so small I would be forever in a day getting anything cleaned with it opposed to the larger standard floor tools most Vacuum Cleaners come with.
Ugh, hate it.
Apart from that, all my other tools work fine...
It has a crevice tool, which in itself is great, as I LOVE the rubber bit on the end which stops any scratching to skirting boards, BUT, instead of also having a floor tool, all it has is a brush thing that slots into the end of the crevice tool.
It falls off all the time, and even if it stayed on, what use would it be!? Because it is so small I would be forever in a day getting anything cleaned with it opposed to the larger standard floor tools most Vacuum Cleaners come with.
Ugh, hate it.
Apart from that, all my other tools work fine...
danemodsandy
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Khoi:
Your comments on the cost of tools for your Lux and TriStar machines is one of the reasons I wish people had a little more sense when it comes to taking care of vacuums. Even when people have paid a lot of money for an appliance, it somehow never occurs to them that replacement parts will be expensive. This makes it very costly to be careless with tools and attachments.
On your Lux, just be patient. The particular color of floor/rug tool (Fog Gray) that is correct for the Ultralux is not hard to find, and it turns up in thrift stores and yard sales. If you're patient, you can find good deals on eBay, too. The most expensive tools are the ones you have to have NOW.
I am a long way from being rich, but I have managed to put together full sets of attachments - in the correct colors - for four Lux machines and a TriStar. Patience is the key. The last time I needed a set of turquoise tools for a Lux 1205, it took a year - and then I suddenly found them dirt cheap.
Your comments on the cost of tools for your Lux and TriStar machines is one of the reasons I wish people had a little more sense when it comes to taking care of vacuums. Even when people have paid a lot of money for an appliance, it somehow never occurs to them that replacement parts will be expensive. This makes it very costly to be careless with tools and attachments.
On your Lux, just be patient. The particular color of floor/rug tool (Fog Gray) that is correct for the Ultralux is not hard to find, and it turns up in thrift stores and yard sales. If you're patient, you can find good deals on eBay, too. The most expensive tools are the ones you have to have NOW.
I am a long way from being rich, but I have managed to put together full sets of attachments - in the correct colors - for four Lux machines and a TriStar. Patience is the key. The last time I needed a set of turquoise tools for a Lux 1205, it took a year - and then I suddenly found them dirt cheap.
sebo_fan
Well-known member
JM - the beauty of most cheap vacuums these days is that they measure 3.2cm/32mm at the end, so you could use any tool even from your Hoover Turbopower collection. I used a lot of my old Hoover tools when I had my Numatic James as the Numatic tools as good as they were, came across as too bulky - especially the round, long bristle type dusting brush. Much prefer the square one that came with the Turbopower 2/3 that was also part of existing kits for the Arrianne, Telios and Alpina cylinder ranges.
Miele tools can be quite expensive too. I was quite surprised that at times it was cheaper to source from Miele than Comet who at one time sold a whole long line of different accessories like the STB 205 turbo brush that comes with the S5 Cat and Dog model. I think Comet realised that some savvy buyers were buying the base S5210/S5211/S5 model and then upgrading in their own time instead of shelling out more money at the time for specific models with these kinds of tools as standard.
Another "tool" of total wasted money is the "Vac Saver," a kind of two way plastic bagless cyclonic dust bin that fits over one suction tube at the top and another at the bottom as a go between if you want to change your canister vac to a bagless vacuum. Good idea in theory but the plastic top and bottom was never long enough to suitably grip the suction tubes in (plus you'd need a vacuum with separate pipes).
Miele tools can be quite expensive too. I was quite surprised that at times it was cheaper to source from Miele than Comet who at one time sold a whole long line of different accessories like the STB 205 turbo brush that comes with the S5 Cat and Dog model. I think Comet realised that some savvy buyers were buying the base S5210/S5211/S5 model and then upgrading in their own time instead of shelling out more money at the time for specific models with these kinds of tools as standard.
Another "tool" of total wasted money is the "Vac Saver," a kind of two way plastic bagless cyclonic dust bin that fits over one suction tube at the top and another at the bottom as a go between if you want to change your canister vac to a bagless vacuum. Good idea in theory but the plastic top and bottom was never long enough to suitably grip the suction tubes in (plus you'd need a vacuum with separate pipes).
sebo_fan
Well-known member
Im not a fan of the 3 in 1 tool that Vax have with their Mach Air series. Not discounting the pet hair tool which is okay, it's the cup design of the slide on, slide off upholstery tool I hate. Absolutely lousy and of little use at all.
Thanks for the words of encouragement, Sandy. I'm always on the lookout, so hopefully those tools will turn up soon at an affordable price. Fingers crossed!
Another hopeless tool: some of those generic hard floor tools that turn out to have no sound engineering behind them. I picked one up for my Tristar recently. It wasn't cheap - $24.
It sure felt good to push around, what with the natural horse hair and the two little wheels on the sides. But the nozzle opening is way too big. Just a big rectangular opening with no engineering to it. While there's a lot of airflow right where the wand enters due to the Tristar's powerful motor, there's just no suction across the width of the nozzle due to the lack of proper engineering. It can only pick up the finest, lightest dust. Even a small wad of paper the size of a small spitwad gets left behind unless it's right under the hole where the wand enters it. A true piece of crap, and I warn everyone to stay away from this design! A truly hopeless tool if there ever was one.
Another hopeless tool: some of those generic hard floor tools that turn out to have no sound engineering behind them. I picked one up for my Tristar recently. It wasn't cheap - $24.
It sure felt good to push around, what with the natural horse hair and the two little wheels on the sides. But the nozzle opening is way too big. Just a big rectangular opening with no engineering to it. While there's a lot of airflow right where the wand enters due to the Tristar's powerful motor, there's just no suction across the width of the nozzle due to the lack of proper engineering. It can only pick up the finest, lightest dust. Even a small wad of paper the size of a small spitwad gets left behind unless it's right under the hole where the wand enters it. A true piece of crap, and I warn everyone to stay away from this design! A truly hopeless tool if there ever was one.
kirbylux77
Well-known member
I am not a huge fan of the Kenmore floor brush that comes with their canisters. Sure, the design with the brushes in the centre is effective & cleans floors well, BUT the angle that the nozzle neck is at means that for a tall guy like me, I have to stoop down a bit while pushing it across the floor! It's annoying enough that I don't even use it anymore, I just use a generic floor brush with my Kenmore's.
Rob
Rob
By the way, out of the four hard floor tools that I had on hand, the only really good one was a medium sized grey one with natural hair that came with a supplementary hose and tool set meant for a Carpet Pro CPU 1 or 2 upright vacuum. Incidentally, the head profile of this tool is very similar in shape to that of the Sebo Felix parquet floor tool.
Lesson learned - not all tools work as they are supposed to. Word of mouth suggestions from hard learned lessons are gold, here.
Lesson learned - not all tools work as they are supposed to. Word of mouth suggestions from hard learned lessons are gold, here.
floor-a-matic
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<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">Turbo powered brushes; once suction/airflow has greatly diminished. An electric PN cleans far better & more efficient than a turbo brush ever could</span>
<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"> </span>
<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">Even a Lux SideKick will outperform a Hoover WindTunnel brush like this one</span>
[this post was last edited: 3/6/2014-20:28]
View attachment floor-a-matic++3-6-2014-20-27-58.jpg
<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"> </span>
<span style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">Even a Lux SideKick will outperform a Hoover WindTunnel brush like this one</span>
[this post was last edited: 3/6/2014-20:28]
View attachment floor-a-matic++3-6-2014-20-27-58.jpg
hi-loswitch98
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Hoovers 3in1 Tool. Useless because the air is being forced through the narrow tool & it makes a load so noise. Plus mine cracked a lint picker off & made it even more useless.
adamthemieleman
Well-known member
I think Dyson tools are pretty good, they have one of the best dusting brushes in the market, and that brilliant flexible crevice (very handy for cleaning under fridges).
May be optional, but at least Dyson offers the user a choice, who was it who showed the cacky tool that comes with new vax machines?
Not only are they pointless, but the holder isn't much use either, I constantly have to keep going round re-attaching them. Says it all really, nasty cheap rubbish!
Aeg's multi tool is OK though, it has a good dusting brush on it.
I'm constantly being asked why a machine for £60 has rubbish attachments as well as being, you know, generally rubbish. Seriously, what do you expect for peanuts?!
May be optional, but at least Dyson offers the user a choice, who was it who showed the cacky tool that comes with new vax machines?
Not only are they pointless, but the holder isn't much use either, I constantly have to keep going round re-attaching them. Says it all really, nasty cheap rubbish!
Aeg's multi tool is OK though, it has a good dusting brush on it.
I'm constantly being asked why a machine for £60 has rubbish attachments as well as being, you know, generally rubbish. Seriously, what do you expect for peanuts?!
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