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

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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.
 
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
 
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
 
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?
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
I think on some level the country of manufacture does matter. I try (when I can) to remain loyal to my country and buy items that are made or at least assembled here in the USA.

The other day I was in a store looking for a laundry basket. There were about 5 different ones to choose from, but only 1 or 2 were labeled as Made in the USA and by a woman-owned business. I chose one of those that were made here in the USA over the others that were not.

For me, this carries over to other things like kitchen appliances. I definitely look for previously used items in thrift stores over things I can buy new in a retail store since a majority of what is sold in stores close to me is not made in the USA; it's generally made in china junk that is not worth the cardboard box it comes in.

50 or 60 years ago when the average consumer went into a retail store like Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Wards, there were no other options but to buy USA made items because manufacturing was still in this country and that is all that the retailers sold.
 
My house is ~2400 SF, including the finished basement, which makes it 3 stories, with no rooms that are particularly large. It is mostly hard wood with area rugs except for 2 rooms with Berber. My Miele C3 Alize cannister is my vacuum of choice. While plastic, it seems quite sturdy and the easily changed attachments make it quite versatile. The filtration is amazing. It is not US or China produced, rather Made in Germany. While I love the shine and sturdiness of a Kirby it would be a nightmare in my house.
 
I have to echo the sentiment of Blackheart in reply #3. Circuit boards are the root of all evil in modern appliances. As I've said numerous times in various threads, they're little more than self-destruct mechanisms, an intentional weak link designed to force consumers to replace otherwise reasonably durable appliances on an unnecessarily frequent basis.

For most of the 20th century, there was little question or choice for most American consumers but to buy American because we had most of the world's manufacturing capacity and shipping costs made imported items more expensive, often prohibitively so. But domestic manufacturing peaked somewhere in the late '60s or early '70s as manufacturing costs crept up and shipping consts went down. By sometime in the '90s, the equation had reversed itself to the point that cheap overseas labor and falling shipping costs made it prohibitively expensive to manufacture products domestically and that downward pressure on price led to a corresponding downward pressure on quality.

When it comes to vacuum cleaners, one thing that boggles my mind is manufacturers' commitment to messy bagless models. By doing this, they're basically cutting out a steady revenue stream for consumables. I guess it's more profitable to sell a consumer another plasticrap vacuum cleaner every two or three years instead of another package of disposable bags every few weeks or months.

All that said, I do believe 'Made in USA' matters. I also opt for older, second hand items over newer, inferior products whenever its feasible. Why pay $50 for a plasticrap vac from Walmart when I can pay $10 for an Electrolux in great shape from Goodwill?
 
bagless vacuums

Part of the reason so many junk bagless models exist is because that is what consumers want and that's all they are willing to pay for. Most consumers are not willing to pay for good quality anymore. Even brands that were once top of the line vacuums are now mostly junk, I'm thinking of hoover and eureka. Kind of makes me wonder when these brands really went down hill. I know in the 1970's and even in to the 1980's, they were still making very good vacuums, so I'm guessing the 1990's is when things started going down hill. The only kind of bagless vacuum I would ever suggest is one that uses water filtration like a Rainbow or Sirena. These are bagless, but you really don't have to come in contact with what you vacuum up. Dump the water down the toilet and then take the basin right over to the sink and wash it like a pot or a pan. Between dumping the water and washing the basin, everything that has been vacuumed goes down the drain, no cloud of dust to deal with. And if the separator is dirty, take it off and put it in the basin and wash them both at the same time. I definitely find that I am buying more dish washing soap since I got my Sirena but I don't mind.
Mike
 
Rainbow and other watertrap vacuum bins---NEVER dump them down your house plumbing!!!!Dump the bin outside!The debris you picked up will sometime clog your plumbing and harden in your lines.I know of someone this happened to-A costly Roto-Rooter bill and the Roto Rooter guy showed me the rooter blades that were worn down from having to cut thru and dislodge the hardened debris.I was using a Rainbow in my brothers house and after that dumped the water bin outside in the gutter or plant bed.If you can't dump the bin outside-pick out the large pieces of debris and put in the trash.Poor the contents of then bin thru a strainer and put the strained stuff in the trash as well.Since my place is on a septic tank-I don't want to fill it with vacuum sweepings!Keep in mind most of what you pick up won't decompose in a septic tank.
 
dumping water filtration vacuums

Interesting, the folks at Sirena and Rainbow encourage dumping it down the household drain system. There are also central vacuums that work this way, while vacuuming, water flows in to the power unit and when it's full, it drains itself. So far I have not had a problem, but I don't have any large objects to dump out, and I live in an apartment, so if the drain clogs, it's the apartment company's responsibility to fix it, not mine. I live on the second floor so I'm not about to ccarry that downstairs to empty it, I can understand why you would not want all of that in a ceptic tank though. Really pondering getting a rainbow E2, I really like how the Sirena works and I know the rainbow will be similar. What do they usually sell for new? Aren't they around $3000?
Mike
 
backpack vacuums made in the U.S.A.

If you're a fan of backpack vacuums as I am, you have a few options for U.S.A. made models. Powr-flite is owned by Tacony and makes their vacuums here. The Sandia backpacks are also made in the United States, and the Mosquito backpacks are made here as well.
Mike
 
Up until recently I have always dumped my Rainbow and Sirena down the toilet.  I am on public sewer, however, as I can understand not wanting to burden the septic system.


 


Now, during the winter months I dump it directly on the garden.  During the summer I dump in the compost bin.  Most of my contents are dog hair, some dirt accompanies. 


 


 
 
Its Drainvac central vacuums that can "auto dump" into your drain system-No thanks for me!even if I didn't have a septic tank.Your landlord can get after you if you clog the drain system-I used to live in an apartment some time ago.And clogs can occur in their systems far from your apartment-and could flood someone elses.Just be careful.
 
drainvac and aqua-air

Both Drainvac and Aqua-air make central vacuums that can dump directly down the drain, of course, you do pay extra for this and they take more work to install, they need access to both a water line and a drain. I suppose vacuums like the Rainbow and Sirena do the exact same thing, you just need to empty them manually. Actually going to meet with the local Rainbow distributor tomorrow, who knows, I might get a new toy.
Mike
 
Kirby G6 Rebuild

This may be off topic but I found a Kirby G6 at goodwill for 2.00$! Should I send it off to get it refurbished or should I do it my self the unit itself works but it defiantly will need techdrive work. What should I do?
 
HooverMan,
Two bucks for a Kirby is an absolute steal! The route you take fixing it up really comes down to how much you're willing to spend vs. how much satisfaction you'd derive from doing it yourself. My understanding is Kirby's rebuild service runs $300-$400 if you aren't the original owner, but as Bud said, it'll come back essentially as the equivalent of a brand new machine. You may also be able to find a better deal on a rebuild from a third party and you will certainly save money doing it yourself as you shop for the best deals on parts and you pick and choose what does and does not need replacing. Despite their complexity, G-series Kirbys are easy to work on if you have some decent screwdriver skills and a little bit of patience. I bought a G5 a couple of years ago and gradually replaced the worn or damaged parts for about $80 and it's now functionally just as good as either of my Gsix Kirbys. I may have spent too much on it, compared to what I have in my two Gsixes combined, but that's okay. I had fun working on it and more importantly, I learned a lot by doing it.
 

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