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

[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)

 

[vac-o-matic]

Orecks

Joe, the Oreck 9-10 lb. Orecks are still made here in Cookeville, Tn. The new Magnesium comes from China, as well as our air purifiers. Now, we have a bagless coming, I shudder to think what it's going to be like. I will only suggest it if they insist on bagless. Our back room currently has 4 abandoned Dysons, and a couple of other brands, from people who want to go back to a user friendly vacuum, with a bag. Four of our seven stores here in St. Louis, offer Miele as an aternative, especially if they want a canister. In some cases I have sold them a Miele S7 upright since they're already used to a heavy machine. Other than our lightweight Commercial being built here, the balance of the commercial line are imports from someone else, Perfect for instance, and badged with our color choice and name. Guess we're lucky having at least our series of uprights still being built in the states, at this point any way.

 

[thermokid]

Kirby's Last

and last. The vacuum I use everyday is a 53 year old Kirby model 560 and it still works great. It is still all original except for the brushroll, lightbulbs ocasionally, and a new belt every 2 to 3 months. The reason it has lasted this long is because I have taken it in for service every year or two. So yeah if you take good care of a Made In USA machine it will last you a long long time.... Dan

 

[GM1982]

I have noticed that with Oreck, some of its machines are made in China now... Is this another company on the verge of going China? Now they released a bagless vacuum cleaner..... Wait "bagless" isn't that the type they said is not good on they're infomercials. Interesting... so now the Magnesium Upright, Quest Pro Canister vacuums and the air purifiers are all made in China. Sad, furthermore, I cannot believe Miele wanted to put its products in some of the Oreck stores.

This is a greedy corporate country, no matter how you want to dissect it...big companies produce overseas at low costs to sell high. I don't think its hard to manufacture here, I think there are parts of the U.S. that are very low cost to do business and it can be done.

Outside of Kirby, I don't think any other vacuum is all made in USA. But the Kirby is not a practical vacuum for many

 

[heritageIIhd]

Is Kirby still US made? Just curious as I don't know.

Parts of the Simplicity line are US made and parts are quietly made "by our supplier in the Orient," although I had heard the canisters were supposed to be moving production to the US, which seems not to have happened yet?

 

[parwaz786]

Well, I dont know about made in the USA products, I believe they are good, yes, however made in the UK products, such as the early chunky VAX machines, Numatic Henrys, Early Dysons are all british made and they are all still being used all over the UK compared to a DC18 I saw in the dump and some other latest vacuums of all sorts! Hoovers are rarely in the dump, except for the new bagless purepowers, dustmanagers, springs etc all that rubbish

 

[jfalberti]

I believe

Kirby is still made in Cleveland OH and Andrews TX. I'm not sure if all parts are made by Kirby though. I have a sneaking suspicion some are outsourced. I could be wrong however ...

Joe

 

[kirbyultimateg]

Tom Oreck stepped down as the CEO of Oreck back in 2010. Doug Cahill replaced Tom in 2010.

 

[tolivac]

Kirby Filtrete bags are made in China-says so right on the front of the package.Strangely-the Filtrete matrial is made in the US and shipped to a Chinese factory that makes the bags-then shipped back to the US.TiStar bags are made in China,too.

 

[crazykirbydude]

Aerus is still made in the USA or at least some models are assembled here. other models are completely made here, such as the Lux Legacy and Lux Classic tanks, as well as the Guardian and ProLux uprights. other units such as the Guardian, Guardian platinum, FreshEra and centralux are assembled in the USA from domestic and imported materials. All of them are still very reliable machines, I can back up the USA part because I have seen the info plate on all of them.

 

[n0oxy]

vacuums that are made to last

For me, quality and being built to last is most important, if it's made in the United States, that's an extra bonus. Kirby vacuums are built well, I don't like uprights, I'm a canister only person but that's personal preference. If you are willing to deal with the fact that Kirbys are heavy and switching to attachment mode is a bit of work, they work well and should last a long time. Most of the Tacony vacuums, using the Riccar and Simplicity brands are made in the USA and are very good quality. The Aerus vacuums are also well made, I think the classic and legacy are made here. the Guardian Platinum is made in Europe I think. Sebo and Miele are two very good brands, I think all of their vacuums are made in Germany. For water filtration vacuums, the Sirena and Rainbow machines are made very well. The Numatic vacuums are made in the U.K. and are very good quality. Lindhaus is also a great brand, made in Italy. I would avoid anything that is currently made by Hoover, Eureka, Bissell, Shark Oreck or Dyson, not very good quality on any of those. The Electrolux ultra one series of vacuums is also made very well.
Mike