compactelectra
Well-known member
PS
It's not only a beautiful machine, it's a damn good vacuum to boot!
It's not only a beautiful machine, it's a damn good vacuum to boot!
Kirby 561
- Thread starter kirbfan94
- Start date
Help Support VacuumLand:
"For some reason these models just don't age too well"
Black trim, black bag, and the surprise of just seeing a pre 505 cleaner make them age better. Black just hides the flaws. Dirt on red or green or tan trim is far more obvious. The Classic series, well, I have no purely logical reason for not liking those so much. Perhaps I don't like brown and stick on wood trim, and candy apple red looks bad unless its in mint condition. That's odd, because I think fake wood in cars is perfectly fine.
Bottom line: All of these cleaners, no matter how ugly the starting point all have potential for greatness when the right person puts the time and effort into it. I'd personally like to try doing a impressive restoration on a Tradition, Legend II, and just for the heck of it, a Classic III. I'll probably need a better polisher then what I have now.
Black trim, black bag, and the surprise of just seeing a pre 505 cleaner make them age better. Black just hides the flaws. Dirt on red or green or tan trim is far more obvious. The Classic series, well, I have no purely logical reason for not liking those so much. Perhaps I don't like brown and stick on wood trim, and candy apple red looks bad unless its in mint condition. That's odd, because I think fake wood in cars is perfectly fine.
Bottom line: All of these cleaners, no matter how ugly the starting point all have potential for greatness when the right person puts the time and effort into it. I'd personally like to try doing a impressive restoration on a Tradition, Legend II, and just for the heck of it, a Classic III. I'll probably need a better polisher then what I have now.
briankirbyclass
Well-known member
I agree,,this 561 is absolutely beautiful. Another Kirby that is equally as stunning (imho) when its been highly polished, and restored back to A1 condition is the Kirby Tradition.
The bright deep shiny polished silver with the dark blue trim is awsome. Unlike any other Kirby.
I'll have to say the last time i sent in my Classic 1CR for a factory rebuild,,it came back looking especially beautiful.
The new gold bag next to the shiny metal, and the polished bell shaped rug nozzle,and brown trim together is kinda cool looking,almost regal,like it should be used to clean an elegant room of a stately home,,something about it just says Classic Kirby!
I remember a neighbor lady who bought a new Kirby Classic Omega in around 1973,,with all attachments.
The neighbor wouldnt let me plug it in or use it,(for fear of it getting damaged!) but she would let me look at it. You cant let a kid "Play" with something so expensive! If she would have recognized the truth,,she could have had her house vacuumed for free, as often as she wanted!
She had gold/brown/green kitchen carpet, and kept the Kirby in the corner where she could grab it in a hurry. She also had that long long gold shag carpet through out her house, popular at the time,,,and used the Shag King Rake on her Kirby whenever she vacuumed her living room.
I remember walking by her house once when she was vacuuming with the living room windows open,,of course i recognized the "tone" of the Kirby motor and had to stop and watch. Thought it was really great! haha,,didnt take much to entertain me as a kid!
The bright deep shiny polished silver with the dark blue trim is awsome. Unlike any other Kirby.
I'll have to say the last time i sent in my Classic 1CR for a factory rebuild,,it came back looking especially beautiful.
The new gold bag next to the shiny metal, and the polished bell shaped rug nozzle,and brown trim together is kinda cool looking,almost regal,like it should be used to clean an elegant room of a stately home,,something about it just says Classic Kirby!
I remember a neighbor lady who bought a new Kirby Classic Omega in around 1973,,with all attachments.
The neighbor wouldnt let me plug it in or use it,(for fear of it getting damaged!) but she would let me look at it. You cant let a kid "Play" with something so expensive! If she would have recognized the truth,,she could have had her house vacuumed for free, as often as she wanted!
She had gold/brown/green kitchen carpet, and kept the Kirby in the corner where she could grab it in a hurry. She also had that long long gold shag carpet through out her house, popular at the time,,,and used the Shag King Rake on her Kirby whenever she vacuumed her living room.
I remember walking by her house once when she was vacuuming with the living room windows open,,of course i recognized the "tone" of the Kirby motor and had to stop and watch. Thought it was really great! haha,,didnt take much to entertain me as a kid!
briankirbyclass
Well-known member
Ha, i just remembered something else funny about that story,,that time i heard that neighbor using her new Classic Omega,,she was vacuuming her living room shag carpet with the Shag King, and i noticed she had the belt lifter turned OFF,,so i yelled at her thru the open window that she wasnt using the Kirby the right way,,that the belt should be turned on,,and it would do a better job of cleaning and grooming her carpet,,ect.
Being the smart vacuum savvy little 7yr old,, i naturally noticed this indescrepency(sp?)and felt it was my duty to set her strait on the correct path to using a Kirby and vacuuming her carpet!
She yelled at me that she knew what she was doing and didnt want the brush to beat her carpet to death, and to go away and mind my own business. HAHA
I still think she was doing it wrong,,but then, hey, to each his own!
Being the smart vacuum savvy little 7yr old,, i naturally noticed this indescrepency(sp?)and felt it was my duty to set her strait on the correct path to using a Kirby and vacuuming her carpet!
She yelled at me that she knew what she was doing and didnt want the brush to beat her carpet to death, and to go away and mind my own business. HAHA
I still think she was doing it wrong,,but then, hey, to each his own!
thermokid
Well-known member
Beautiful Kirby 561
That is one of my all time favorite Kirby's I still have the first one I got when I was five years old way back in 1963.. And there isn't any sound sweeter than a 561 running with a metal fan..Such a wonderful Low and Powerful roar.. When I was little I would take the rug nozzle off of it so the fan was exposed and motor wouldn't run and I would leave it on all night as a night light!!!
That is one of my all time favorite Kirby's I still have the first one I got when I was five years old way back in 1963.. And there isn't any sound sweeter than a 561 running with a metal fan..Such a wonderful Low and Powerful roar.. When I was little I would take the rug nozzle off of it so the fan was exposed and motor wouldn't run and I would leave it on all night as a night light!!!
I'm confused?
With all due respect, if the birthdate on your profile is correct, you would've been five in 1958. The 561 wasn't introduced until 1961, and I doubt anyone's parents would have bought their child a Kirby new to play with. It was a lofty investment even back then. Are you sure it was a 561?
With all due respect, if the birthdate on your profile is correct, you would've been five in 1958. The 561 wasn't introduced until 1961, and I doubt anyone's parents would have bought their child a Kirby new to play with. It was a lofty investment even back then. Are you sure it was a 561?
thermokid
Well-known member
I'm Confused ! !
Yes I am sure it was and is a 561.. And I didn't say my parents bought it for me. It was my mothers and she hardly used it because she didn't like it.. she said it was to heavy, so she bought a Blue Electrolux automatic G which she still has and doesn't use anymore... I use that old Kirby every once in awhile and it still works as good as the day it was made... And I'm not that old that I don't know when we got that wonderful Kirby..
Yes I am sure it was and is a 561.. And I didn't say my parents bought it for me. It was my mothers and she hardly used it because she didn't like it.. she said it was to heavy, so she bought a Blue Electrolux automatic G which she still has and doesn't use anymore... I use that old Kirby every once in awhile and it still works as good as the day it was made... And I'm not that old that I don't know when we got that wonderful Kirby..
My vacuums still look wonderful...
Sadly, my vacuums are still in storage due to my health issues right now, so I can not take pictures of them but will when I can. The same gentleman that polished Fred's Kirby, also did mine almost 30 years ago and still look great as when they were frist done. I also try to keep them looking that way by keeping them covered and never getting dusry. He polished a GE upright, a Hoover 700 and my Kirby model 509 they were and still are stunning, as well as he did others over the years. He has a couple more of mine to do one day I hope to retrieve. He really truely does an outstanding job. I am proud of his work.
David
Sadly, my vacuums are still in storage due to my health issues right now, so I can not take pictures of them but will when I can. The same gentleman that polished Fred's Kirby, also did mine almost 30 years ago and still look great as when they were frist done. I also try to keep them looking that way by keeping them covered and never getting dusry. He polished a GE upright, a Hoover 700 and my Kirby model 509 they were and still are stunning, as well as he did others over the years. He has a couple more of mine to do one day I hope to retrieve. He really truely does an outstanding job. I am proud of his work.
David
atrac
New member
I'll second the request -- what do you polish them with???
I just bought a 515 and would love to have it look like a mirrored finish!!!
Is it steel wool and sand paper???
I just bought a 515 and would love to have it look like a mirrored finish!!!
Is it steel wool and sand paper???
compactelectra
Well-known member
The Only Way
To get a shine like that 561 is with specialized equipment. Here is the buffing machine at Kirby. They also sandblast the aluminum before various stages of buffing with buffing compounds you can see next to the wheel. Very dangerous as well. I got a buffing machine from Sears, but have never been able to get the kind of shine a professional can. I leave it to them. These machines are dangerous as well.
To get a shine like that 561 is with specialized equipment. Here is the buffing machine at Kirby. They also sandblast the aluminum before various stages of buffing with buffing compounds you can see next to the wheel. Very dangerous as well. I got a buffing machine from Sears, but have never been able to get the kind of shine a professional can. I leave it to them. These machines are dangerous as well.
