Just a Broom Vac question

[eureka1998]

Even though the DD Broom Vac LOOKS like a miniature Kirby, I always wondered, would it be safe to say the Broom Vac was moreso Dirt Devil's answer to the Oreck lineup of lightweight vacs? Just something I always thought about.

 

[jo]

Having had one of these...

I felt it wasn’t as strong as an Oreck. Personally, I didn’t like that the front end of it would flip up if I vacuumed too fast with it. Also had to vac slow with it since the brush only has one row of bristles or it would “skip” some of the carpet. It was a convenient vac to take along with me to customer’s homes to clean up from a remodeling or repair project as it fit in the car easily, but not having attachments wasn’t so good and I had to bring along a small shop vac too...so they both got replaced eventually. Had a hard time getting bags for it too...I found something that fit but I don’t believe it was the correct bag. It was a trash find and I don’t remember what I did with it when I no longer wanted it. I may have given it to goodwill.

Jon

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I had to use one of them in my classroom

at a school where I taught, yrs ago.
I also was seeing someone who had one along with cheap Eureka and a Miele canister.
Was underwhelmed with them all.

 

[eureka1998]

What type of Miele?

Im kind of surprised you say the Miele was underwhelming with the Eureka and Dirt Devil. Honestly not surprised about the DD because 90s DD were underperfomers during their time.

 

[huskyvacs]

Keep in mind this was not intended to be an upright vacuum from the start. All they did was take their hand vac and add a stick and a big bag on it. It was the same motor, same design, etc. The conversion to an upright didn't do it any favors. The biggest deal was they kept the soft brushroll on it, which the hand vacs had on purpose because they were meant to clean cushions and upholstery without shredding them. But using that on a pile carpeting, it crippled the pickup capability of the vacuum because it was basically just mangling the bristles into the surface of the carpet instead of picking things up.

The people that bought these mainly were campers and people with small apartments or college dorms to where even a small upright was too big, so they had to go smaller, which led them to the Broom Vac. I never seen one used to do an entire house though. I think I seen one on TV in a TV sitcom once and it was sitting in the back patio area or mud room of the home in the show.

Also Dirt Devil had the budget vacuum market situated to a point where even the most basic Hoover at the time was nearly double what a Dirt Devil cost. So they shot themselves in the foot because they could not improve their vacuums much without raising the price and causing them to lose sales among their customer base and market position. So there was not a whole lot they could do in the situation to make their vacs better, so some of their vacuums did have cheapening done or had some design flaws, but damned if they weren't reliable. They also were not afraid to experiment with wacky things, like the cordless Broom Vac, or the Kone, or the Dash that had a full size mop as a hose attachment, or the SwivelGlide that had furniture casters for wheels.

 

[elecroluxmodel1]

I love Dirt Devil Broom vacs

Even though I have never owned a Dirt Devil Broom vac, I still think they are good vacuums.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

It was OK for the classroom

It was in my ex's house as an additional cleaner. prob leftover from an apartment.
The Miele was banged up, leaky hose, etc. prob from abuse from cleaning people.
The "owner" was the most disappointing, actually.

 

[eureka1998]

Hey Huskyvacs

Interesting you say it's nothing more than an upright hand held.i always thought the exact same. Honestly it seemed the same for the Ultra Hand Vac in that it's upright counterparts whether it be the Plus or the Powerlite sounded and looked identical to it. I also liked how DD offered a variety of colors for their machines, red looks great on the Swivel Glides! There was a rare variant with an all red handle that looked pretty cool.

 

[kloveland]

My grandmother bought me one new for my Birthday when I was six (almost 30 years ago).The motor and fan are slightly different than the hand vacs. The fan is a little bit larger. As an adult I had several. I guess some vacuums that I had as a child are no longer of interest to me as an adult. It’s OK for what it was. The head tended to raise up when pulling backward. Breaking the contact with the carpet.

 

[regularrett69]

Favorite Vac

I do really love these, as they have inspired my current vac collection. They are super cute and easy to work on, and don't take up much space. I'd say this was dirt devil's answer to more of a stick vac's needs. In the television commercials for it, it was shown demonstrating cleaning up dirt from a fallen pot, and some kitchen cleaning. In my mind, its the vintage version of a Dyson cordless. It was shows doing some work with attachments around a house, and was very lightweight for the older and weaker audience that needed to vacuum, but it shouldn't take too much effort. My grandmother uses a Dyson stick vac to clean all around her house, for pet hair, and the couch. She knows there's a lot of dirt down in the carpet, but the top layer of pet hair was what needed to be cleaned. I also agree that they don't clean well, but they are fun to work on, use, and have around the house. Having 4 broom vacs, it's easy to see how much I love them.


 


Best regards, Garrett

 

[eureka1998]

Hey Rett!!

There's something about 90s to early 2000s Dirt Devils that catch my eyes, particularly red ones. I saw your awesome vid on youtube opening a NIB Broom Vac. Thats gotta be like the RAREST thing to find. Though from time to time ive come across like a NIB MVP among others on seller sites.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I've always kind of wanted one of these. I've seen a few in the thrift shops and one in the trash even but so far haven't snagged any yet.

The early Dirt Devils, Hand Vacs, Broom Vac, Roommate, dirty fan uprights and the Magnum Power uprights have always interested me.

 

[eureka1998]

fan-of-fans

These things were sold up to atleast 2000! I know because long ago I saw a MVP at a National Wholesale Liquidator's which usually sold NIB vacs that were discontinued.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Yeah, that kind of fits with what I remember. There was a local store here called Bud's Outlet (named after Walmart founder Sam Walton's brother), which was a store which Walmart owned, which sold factory refurbished and other closeout items (similar to Big Lots).

They used to send out flyers in the mail and there were Dirt Devils in there, including the Magnums. I think they are in some of my early 2000s JCPenney catalogs too, remember a blue and orange or blue and red one.

 

[regularrett69]

New in box

Thanks, that video was really fun to make, probably one of the rarest types of a broom vac one can own (I'd assume, but Dirt Devil made so many variants of everything!). I've seen a NIB MVP with a bonus hand vac on craigslist a while ago, I think it's still for sale, but like most, the owner wouldn't ship it to me. I heard about a site that sold some pretty old unsold stock on here, but I tried to go on there and it was out of service. Oh well. I guess the best way to find some old stock items would to do some research, look at vacuum shops that are or were a dealer for the company you are looking for, and call about some items you're looking to purchase. In most cases the shop will want you to pay full price, but there's not much of a reason to pay less than full price because it's still brand new. I don't recognise the name Magnum Power, but I do know of the Magna Power! I'd like to get the Vibe version of it some day. And the Royal Privilege version of it is very cool as well.


 


Thanks, Garrett



https://www.ebay.com/itm/Royal-MRY7...459941?hash=item4b870f15a5:g:u0AAAOSwmOhfvTro

 

[eureka1998]

THATS THE LISTING

I couldnt believe it when I saw it. Absolutely looks like its in pristine condition, might be a rare one too since its packaged with the handheld! BTW did you say...Magna Power?

 

[eureka1998]

fan-of-fans

Magnums? Do you mean like the Ultra MVP or Magnum MVP?

 

[sanitaire]

I put a little weight on the front too keep it from popping up, I also got the better brush roll that has a extra set of bristles...good little vac. dd was a good company before TTI messed them up..