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A month or so ago a member of my church named Oley Owens came up to me and said, "I read in the newsletter about the work you did on Earlean Walker's Kirby vacuum.* I also have an old Kirby. Would you have a look at it?"
I said I would, and a couple of weeks later when I got out of my car one Sunday morning I looked up the street and saw Mr. Owens pushing an old Kirby up the sidewalk!
When he got up to me, I could see that the model was a Dual Sanitronic 50, from the year 1964 -- making it an even 50 years old! I could tell that other than needing a good cleaning up, it was in very good condition. So I said I'd take it home and give it a "spa treatment."
I brought it home and took it apart and cleaned and renovated all the housing and motor parts and gave the bearings a lube-job. I discovered that the cloth bag needed to be replaced as there was a small hole down at the bottom. I also put in a new belt and light bulb.
When I was finished with it, I delivered it to Mr. Owens. He seemed pleased with his "new Kirby" and gave it a test run around his living room.
I was happy to do this for him -- rebuilding old vacuum cleaners is something that has brought me great pleasure and satisfaction over the years. I see it as a special way of helping others through my affection for vintage vacuums. It's always a real treat to find someone who is still using one of those great old cleaners.
Now that Mr. Owens' Kirby has been made as-new again, there's no reason it couldn't last for another 50 years!
Here's a bunch of photos.
~~~
* Ms. Walker is another member of my church - - she now has an as-new 1961-vintage Kirby!
~
A month or so ago a member of my church named Oley Owens came up to me and said, "I read in the newsletter about the work you did on Earlean Walker's Kirby vacuum.* I also have an old Kirby. Would you have a look at it?"
I said I would, and a couple of weeks later when I got out of my car one Sunday morning I looked up the street and saw Mr. Owens pushing an old Kirby up the sidewalk!
When he got up to me, I could see that the model was a Dual Sanitronic 50, from the year 1964 -- making it an even 50 years old! I could tell that other than needing a good cleaning up, it was in very good condition. So I said I'd take it home and give it a "spa treatment."
I brought it home and took it apart and cleaned and renovated all the housing and motor parts and gave the bearings a lube-job. I discovered that the cloth bag needed to be replaced as there was a small hole down at the bottom. I also put in a new belt and light bulb.
When I was finished with it, I delivered it to Mr. Owens. He seemed pleased with his "new Kirby" and gave it a test run around his living room.
I was happy to do this for him -- rebuilding old vacuum cleaners is something that has brought me great pleasure and satisfaction over the years. I see it as a special way of helping others through my affection for vintage vacuums. It's always a real treat to find someone who is still using one of those great old cleaners.
Now that Mr. Owens' Kirby has been made as-new again, there's no reason it couldn't last for another 50 years!
Here's a bunch of photos.
~~~
* Ms. Walker is another member of my church - - she now has an as-new 1961-vintage Kirby!
