New color Royal bag...

[tolivac]

The Royal hand tools work just as well as the Kirby-its a little harder to put on the hose to the Royal than the Kirby-the Royal doesn't have a belt lifter as the Kirby has-you use the lifter tool that comes with the Royal to remove or put back the belt on the motor shaft-the floor nozzle stays on-not removable as the Kirby is.Since the debris picked up goes thru the fan-you have to be mindful what you pick up.Large items will hit the end of the motor shaft as on the Kirby.It will make a noise signalling you to remove the item.You can use the Royal as a blower like a Kirby-remove the bag and put the hose on the fancase discharge opening.Disconnect the belt so the brush isn't spinning.

 

[Kelpie]

Still it's nice to see things that are American made. I like to support US workers, esp. since my job involves supplying manufacturers with plastic and nylon. I've made up my mind to get another Kirby (used). This time a self propelled, more lightweight Sentria. Thanks for the replies to my question.

 

[ornery]

Price Of "Made In USA"

If the current price of a new Kirby is any indication of the cost to have things made by American workers, it's no wonder everybody is moving production overseas. Not even the people screaming about this issue are willing to pay that price!

As stupid and poor the decision is to buy inferior, disposable junk, that's what drives the corporate decisions of what to build and where. Royal Vacuum sales grew from just under $5 million in 1981 to approximately $408 million in 2000. They went from building quality metal vacuums to plastic, disposable junk. Consumers drove that direction. Catering to the few people willing to pay for quality would NOT have produced that growth.

 

[tolivac]

The "price" of building stuff in China may change---Their workers are now starting to organize and are demanding higher wages,better working conditions,and shorter work shifts. And to top it off-the price of fuel for ships is increasing quickly-ships docking at US ports will now have to burn lower sulphur fuels-this puts the price of operating the boats much higher-esp if raw material(as in Kirby or other bags)is shipped to China to fabricate the bags and then shipped back to the US for sale.The metal uprights are still being built by TTI Royal--just think it was also BAD relations to the US and customers to close the factory in Ohio where the metal machines were built and unwise decisions of discontinuing the Metal "Pony" style canisters and the Prince hand vacs.The newer TTI hand vacs are junk compared to the older DD and Prince ones.