Made in the USA, does it matter? What is truly built to last?

[GM1982]

Being one of the most used and abused appliances in the household, Today one sees Dirt Devil, Hoover, Bissell, Shark, etc. Made in Chinas, line the shelves of stores and many people buy them, lasting a short time before they break and you see them curbside.

So what vacuum brand has been truly built to last for the end user? Does built in America, really hold up better? Share your thoughts.....

 

[utahprideboy]

yes american dose mater

I love Aerus but i still think a Kirby is one of the best and longest lasting Vacuums out there! i feel there still built to last 30 or more years with proper maintenance! there still made with metal parts and american quality
this is My Thoughts!

 

[suckolux]

Agree

 

[blackheart]

Longevity

Frankly i think keeping the design simple really effects longevity. It seems like a lot of newer machines that have circuit boards develop issues in them, and when you look back vacuums rarely had circuit boards and without them to go wrong and a good solid motor they would run for years on end.
As for which vacuums hold up well i would say Kirby does Sebo does i could see silver king and patriot lasting a while as well.

Now does american made matter? It more matters that the company tries to make a long lasting vacuum, though typically the ones made in american are pretty high quality

 

[caligula]

Made in America, Kirby!

In the front talk of the Kirby demo, we used to stress that the Kirby was a division of the Scott & Fetzer company which had it's main factory in Cleveland, Ohio, and a die casting plant in Andrews Texas. Also on the packing box were the words 'Made in Cleveland, Ohio.' And in later years, 'Made in America!'

To learn more about the 'front talk' go to the thread 'Do you work or own a vacuum shop' in off toppic, where I've been telling about my years as a Kirby training manager.

 

[kirbyvacuum]

Kirby all the way

Hi All My fanily has a Kirby 1935 that still works Also a 1949 still working fine. With care Kirby will last at least 30 years. My best friends dad sold Kirbys for years he would always say during a demo If you take care of your Kirby it will take care of you so true Doug

 

[caligula]

Hi kirbyvacuum.

Take a look at thread 19312 in off topic. As the question is 'What's it like to own/work in a vacuum cleaner store?' I've been posting a lot of my memories as a training manager for Kirby.

The 1939 Kirby you speak of is the model 2-C, and was basically the design used up to the Kirby Classic when the rug nozzle was enlarged.

I've always liked Kirby's and aside from my love of Electrolux for style, design and a fantastic bag ejecting system, it's Kirby all the way!

Aside from Electrolux, Kirby is the only other brand I have the history of, though others are in various stages of completion. If you want to talk Kirby, send me an email. My history of Jim Kirby goes back to his childhood.

Alex Taber.

 

[luxman107]

I go out of may way all the time to buy made in America or more specifically wont buy made in china products.

 

[caligula]

The Kirby display

at the Vacuum Cleaner Collector's Club museum, Naperville, Illinois.

 

[aeoliandave]

I have 14 different Kirby models and here are 12.


 


I'm in a 50/50 quandary over Kirbys. On the one hand they are extremely well made all polished metal vacuums with a myriad of options when i comes to accessories. In the other hand...they are heavy and cumbersome particularly in a small house, condo or apartment.


 


If I had a very large house with generous room proportions and acres of carpet, the Kirby would be ideal, power-drive or not.


 


The cumbersome aspect is the likely reason most of my Kirbys have been tossed-to-the-curb finds, with the others gifts from Petek, who finds them cheap at ReStores and such.


 


Once the contemporary  housewife inherits Gramma's Kirby they find out for themselves what a complicated boat anchor it is and out to the curb it goes.


 


I rarely use them; they are display sculpture of the first order. The models prior to the Blue are much more like other uprights of the day and are a relatively lightweight pleasure to pilot. From Blue (or whichever had the first wide nozzle) on they are Man-scaled Vacuums and good for forearm muscle development.


 


We must, we must, build up the bust!.


 


Dave


 


 

 

[vintagerepairer]

Of the US built cleaners which have been sold in the UK, only the Kirby and the 1970's Hoover cleaners have been of a quality to match those on sale at that time in the UK.

The rest have always been of as poorer build and finish, overall, whether the cleaners on sale alongside it were built in the UK or elsewhere.

I did wonder if it was only the models sent here from the US which lacked a bit of quality, but having seen many pictures on this forum, the design of many is such that it looks a lot like the US cleaners on this side of the pond.

 

[GM1982]

Lot of Kirby thumbs up....

Interesting, so is a Kirby also good for hardwood floors? Is it able to get underneath beds (Attachments are separate I see)

 

[ctsooner]

GMa

That's why I went canister and Sebo. No Chinese made parts and a solid machine that can get anywhere in my house I need it to. I got my ex to get the Kirby last year though and she loves it. She had all carpet and I'm half wood, half carpet. Canister made MUCH more sense for me and the Kirby made sense for her. I will possibly borrow her's for carpet cleaning though, lol.

 

[caligula]

Great display Dave!

The six from the right are models I have (in storage). I also have a G-4 and several earlier models.

While I agree, for the smaller house, apartment, mobile home, etc. the Kirby IS huge, I also agree that it can be a monster! Heavy, hard to push, and a beast to lift (if not done right), but the earlier models work great. I live in a house with hardwood floors and large area rugs my daily driver is my Electrolux LX (duh!) and a Kirby 517 to deep clean the rugs.

I guess it comes down to what works best. I know a friend who's not into vacuum cleaners, and loves his Kirby Classic Omega, (got it from his mother) but uses it in tank/canister mode with the long handle and heavy rug nozzle still in the box.

 

[rainbowd4c]

In my own opinion...

Any vacuum is going to last a while. It's all a matter of upkeep and how well you treat your vacuum. Yes some maybe built better than others but even a cheep Bissell will give you a few years of good service.

For myself I say Rainbow and will always say Rainbow. When I got mine it had only maybe been used once which was to see how well it worked. It happen to be stashed away in a corner in a basement and was found when the salesmen was heading into his retirement. He filled it up turned it on and it worked. I bought it and that was back in 1997. I've had it ever since. I have forgot how many moves that vacuum has gone on how many times I took it over to friends helping them clean and having two vacuums instead of one but all the same it just keeps going and going and going. And it's made in my home state of Michigan.

 

[caligula]

Right RainbowD4C.

I forgot about that, Rainbow is made in Troy, Michigan. Started out as Rexair. I have the first two models the B which I think was black, and the C, which I recall is Hammeertone Gray. Going on memory as they are in storage.

I've got a few friends in Fenton, Michigan, and spent a year there in the early 1970's.

Here a look at my last display room, and some of my classic canisters.

 

[caligula]

Another picture of

the display. I needed on an angle to get the wall of attachmnts in.

 

[williamr1248]

Made in USA. Does It matter?

Bob,
I think you are corrrect about Rexair-Rainbow. My machine is about 2 years old and EVERY part is stamped "MADE IN USA" the machine itself is stamped "Made in Troy Michigan,USA". I checked out the instruction book and it says "printed in USA".

You would not think they would be a long lived product but mine have proved to be very durable and trouble free. We owned one in our store years ago and it took a LOT of abuse in the commercial setting and still was working when we sold the store. My old Se has had 18 years of use and still no repairs and now the new machine is proving to be trouble free too.

 

[vacbear58]

@ Dave


A bigger size will be the prize
for all that bl**dy exercise

*ducking and running from a flying Kirby*

 

[vacbear58]

@ Alex


Thanks for more great pictures. Thanks to VL I can recognise quite a few of those models, including the "drag around tradgey" GE. Could you kindly tell us a bit more about the Remington and the Filtex(?) on the bottom shelf?

Many thanks

Al

 

[classicfan1]

Check this out...

In the off-topic area, I have a "crappy" Dirt Devil Swivel Glide that is 13 years old and still running! It was made in the USA before Royal outsourced. YES MAde in USA does matter!

Keep our fellow Americans employed, pay that extra dollar, BUY AMERICAN. Most people that say they want to buy American-made products are all talk and no walk. They won't put their money where their mouth is. I'm one of the few that does what they say they will do. If I see an American-made alternative to a product, I pay up for it!

The chinese may get our government's money, but they WON'T get MINE.

 

[GM1982]

Classicfan1

Some of these "originally all American made companies" Dirt Devil, Hoover, etc. outsourced their production why? Maybe because the owners and higher ups, got greedy and figured they could mass produce more cheaply and score big profits. There should also be more incentives for producing locally (keeping our fellow americans employed).... If they preach and want you to buy American, they should advertise and promote it, sell it in more venues! Simplicity, Riccar, Rainbow and the Kirby are difficult to find, unless you call for an home demo. The average American doesn't know crap about what's Made in America and where to buy it....In suburbia all they know is Best Buy and Target! I would buy American made vacuums, but I would not rule out German made Sebo and Miele....which are all German made. Half the line of simplicity/riccar still says Made in China or Korea, not Made in USA

 

[caligula]

Remington and Filtex.

There's little I know about either machine other than the Remington was a tank made by Apex, and the Filtex dates back to about 1945. Both of these I got just for fun, at different vacuum cleaner shops on a few trips. Whenever I go to a new city or town I try to get a souvenir vacuum cleaner, these were two of them. Somewhere I have the instruction book for the Filtex, but that, like everything else in in storage in another state. In both cases, I got just the base machines not the hose, wands or attatchments.

If any of our members want to chime in, I'd welcome learning about these myself.

 

[diabeticdoode]

Like others have iterated, I feel that any brand will last you years on end with proper maintenance. I'll argue with anyone on here who says that Bissell is the worst current brand you can buy, I know for a fact that if you take care of them and not abuse them, they will last. They are surprisingly serviceable should a problem arise, and if you go to their website, almost all their replacement parts for any of their machines are relatively affordable. I think it's just a question of people's perception. Even if everyday knew that they could get replacement parts for their vacuum (any brand really) in this day and age I don't think people would (obviously so, which is why so many vacuums end up in the garbage.) I think it's just hows today's society has advanced. Shame.

 

[caligula]

Vacuum cleaner abuse.

Having loved vacuum cleaners since I was 2 years old (60 years and counting) I have great respect for the vacuum cleaner, as do the members of this club. However, most people, do not. It really angers me to hear about the way a lot of people abuse their vacuum cleaner.

The first time I encountered this was back in 1968, at a demo for a new Electrolux 1205. I was up against a badly dented and scratched model E. "How did it get these dents?" I asked. "I don't know, must be from my tossing it down the stairs" she said. (Grrrr!) Other people have told me they lifted the vacuum by the hose, kicked it from room to room, yanked the cord from the wall socket, or let the kids ride it like a pony. When I was selling Kirby's there were brush rolls wound with string, fishing line, or dog/cat hair so thick at the ends, that it could hardly spin, (and they wonder why the belt wears out so fast?) I sold a Kirby to a woman because there was no suction from her tank machine. Back in the office, I found the problem, several of her husbands socks were in the hose. More times than I care to remember, I've heard this comment. "It's just a vacuum cleaner, why should I be gentle with it?"

 

[jfalberti]

How about Filter Queen ond Oreck?

Are they still made in the USA?

 

[kirbyultimateg]

IMHO, Kirby/Rainbow/Filter Queen/Thermax/Aerus Electrolux/TriStar/Riccar/Simplicity are equal in build quality and reliability. They are the best vacuums currently being made today.

 

[kirbyultimateg]

Sadly, The build quality and reliability of Royal/Hoover/Eureka/Sanitaire is not like it used to be in the 1980s.

 

[KirbysNphones]

My favorites that I've used are Kirby, the older Royals (90's & earlier), Filter Queen (love it!)and my Rainbow.
It definitely makes a difference where it's made.

Think of it this way: You have an employee in the USA who takes pride in his/her work and good work actually means something, gets paid well, and you've got a 10 year old Asian kid who's forced to work for a pittance, and work insane hours. Who's gonna do better quality work? (not to mention the quality control in place)

Now I'm not against stuff NOT made in USA, if some other country can do it as good as us or better, good for them, as long as the overall quality is good. I prefer US made, but there is some good foreign made stuff too. (someone mentioned German vacs)