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*