[The topic of re-sealing vintage woven-cloth hoses came up on one of the Facebook Vacuum Forums. I blew the dust off of an article I wrote about it, revised it a bit, and posted it. I thought I'd post it here as well.]
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THOSE OLD CLOTH HOSES
How To Restore Old, Inefficient Hoses To Their Former Airtight Glory
by Charles Richard Lester
How many of you have old vacuum cleaner cloth or woven vinyl hoses that look great but fall far short of having a good seal for cleaning?
Those old hoses were pretty complicated affairs - their construction and manufacturing details vary somewhat from brand to brand; but basically, first there was an inner cloth or rubberized cloth layer, then a coiled steel innerspring to keep the hose's round wall shape, then a layer of tightly wound twine, then a layer of thin canvas or other cloth, then a thick rubber layer and finally the outer decorative woven cloth or vinyl layer.
In many cases, the old hoses may, from the outside, look brand-new yet are not functional for cleaning because they leak air so badly from the inside.
The reason for this is that the rubber and cloth inner linings have deteriorated, in some cases to the point where all that's left inside is some dry-rotted fabric and the steel innerspring - the rubber having long-ago crumbled away.
I have many beautiful hoses in my collection, most of which - in fact, ALL of which, except for one or two notable exceptions, are absolutely useless for cleaning. Yes, the machines sit around looking beautiful but I can't have any fun vacuuming with them because I have to use some hideous plastic replacement hose so the darned things will actually cleaned!
And I don't know about anyone else ... but to me the original hose is very important in terms of having the machines "look right." Those who know what I mean "will know what I mean;" the others among us will just think I really have lost it and am totally certifiable, and that's fine. Just keep your nets and straitjackets away from me!
Anyway ... over the years I had tried to devise various ways to remedy this. I looked around for some sort of plastic sleeves to insert into the hoses to make a seal. Even if I could have ever found such a sleeve, which I never could, it would probably not have worked very well. The plastic would not be very flexible so the hose would not bend properly, and there would be a problem in sealing the plastic lining to the inner wall of the hose to hold it in place and to give a tight seal at both ends.
Well, one day I had an enormous brainstorm -- no little feat given the little amount of brain matter in my skull!
I was looking at some of my hoses and musing about the inner linings being made of rubber. Then that word hit me in the head like a brick - RUBBER!! Of course!! They key to the tight seals inside these hoses is the RUBBER lining! So then, the next matter for consideration was, "How do I get a tight rubber seal inside this old hose?"
In a flash, my mind shot back to the old days when I was active in community theatre and became very proficient at elaborate character makeup. One of the tools of that trade is latex, in various forms - foam, solid, liquid, sponge, and so on. Liquid latex is readily available (at least, it's readily available here in Los Angeles -- Land of Make Believe!). It is used for many things, including old-age makeup and making rubber "appliances" such as noses, cheeks, jowls, bald heads, wounds, monster and alien masks, and so on.
The makeup artist can either apply the latex directly to an actor's face, which is quite an ordeal because the latex is suspended in ammonia and smells like a nasty old cat-box! Or, it can be poured and "sloshed" into molds to make artificial features.
And this is where the old hoses come in! I just happened to have in my closet a gallon jar of liquid latex left over from a very ambitious Halloween project a couple of years ago. I got to thinking, I wonder if I could slosh some latex into an old hose, let it dry, and produce a tight seal?
To cut to the chase ... IT WORKED!!
-ooOoo-
HERE'S HOW I DID IT.
If you try this, please heed a couple of warnings and save yourself some heartaches:
First, make sure the hose is clean inside. Connect it to the vacuum cleaner and let it run for a minute or two to remove any dust or excess loose rubber or cloth.
To make sure there are no clogs or obstructions in the hose, get a long 3/4"-diameter wooden dowel that's about a foot longer than the hose. Carefully push the dowel through the hose. If there is a curved handle end, you'll need to remove it first -- which you will need to do anyway before the latex treatment. Anyway, push the dowel all the way into the hose and then jiggle it around and back and forth.
If there's a really bad obstruction that won't give way, then forget about trying to give it the latex treatment. If there is a bad clog, dumping latex into the hose will soak into the clogged matter and totally and completely clog up the hose for all eternity!
Second, DO NOT try to hasten the drying process by connecting the hose to the blower OR the suction end of a cleaner and turning the motor on.
If you connect it to the suction end you are going to suck liquid latex into the dust bag. If it's a cloth bag it is going to get ruined. Once latex has solidified, there is absolutely no way to remove it from fabric. Which is a good thing in terms of sealing your hose, but a bad thing in terms of what it will do to the bag. If it's a paper bag, the latex could seep through the paper lining and get into the motor, which would make a terrific mess and probably ruin the motor.
And if you put the hose into the blower end, it will cause the liquid latex to bubble up and close off the inner walls, ruining the hose. Trust me. I learned the hard way and ruined a perfectly good Electrolux XXX hose on my experiments. Well, not really ruined. It still looks beautiful. But it's totally blocked up; no air can pass through at all.
You must let the latex dry slowly and naturally.
-ooOoo-
OKAY, =NOW= HERE'S HOW I DID IT. (FINALLY - GEEZ!)
Okay, first off you'll need to remove the curved handle end if the hose has one. How to do this depends on the type of hose you're treating.
Get a cardboard core from a paper towel roll and cut it into four equal pieces. Then slit two of the pieces lengthwise. (Discard the other two pieces.)
Coil up one of the cores and stick about half of it into one end of the hose. Use your fingers to work it around to the same diameter as the inside of the hose. Holding the core between your thumb and index finger to maintain its diameter, pull it out and secure it with duct tape to hold its shape. Then stick it back into the hose and make sure it fits snugly and stays in place. Do the same for the other end. (The purpose for this is to keep the latex from building up inside the ends of the hose as it drips out. It will build up on the cardboard collars instead, which will be removed.)
Make a hanger for one end of the hose from a wire coat hanger. Pull apart a hanger into a straight line. Cut off a length about 2 ft. long. Coil it a couple of times around one end of the hose and tape it in place with duct tape. Make the other end of the hanger wire into a hook by which you will hang the hose on your clothes line or a nail high off of the ground. The hose will need to hang straight and free. It can't be looped or coiled and it can't touch the ground.
You'll want to be very careful not to slop any of the latex onto the outside of the hose. Wrap the hose in saran wrap and tape it in place on both ends.
OKAY, HERE WE GO!
Vigorously shake the bottle of latex. Pour about 2 cups into a measuring cup. (Don't worry about using your good glass measuring cup -- the latex will not stick to it!)
Take the hose in one hand, holding both ends of it. Carefully and slowly pour the latex from the measuring cup into one end of the hose. Gently manipulate the hose up and down to slosh the latex all around inside the hose. If a little bit slops out of the ends, that's okay -- as long as you took care to cover the hose with saran wrap.
Hang the hose up and leave it alone. You should put a large piece of cardboard or a plastic tarp under the hose to capture the latex that drips out of the end.
After the latex has thoroughly dried (I would allow at least overnight; preferably a couple of days to be safe), dump a pretty good amount of talcum powder into the hose and work it around so that all the latex gets covered.
The reason to do this is that fresh latex sticks to itself, and to a lot of other things, so you could get a nasty clog either by sucked-up stuff clinging to the sticky latex, or by it's clinging to itself when the hose bends and flexes. The talc renders the latex UN-sticky so this extra precaution will help avoid possible trouble.
Carefully remove the saran wrap and the cardboard cores from each end. Re-attach the handle.
If you did this correctly, you'll have a beautiful woven hose with a perfectly tight seal!!
-ooOoo-
I conclude with the caveat that you must do this carefully! If you ruin a prized old hose, I cannot take any blame or responsibility. Do this at your own risk! I say this not to scare you or discourage you, or to make you think it won't work. It will work. At least, it did for me. But I'm making this disclaimer to protect myself from some lawsuit-happy member who ruins her beautiful 1921 Hoover cloth hose and starts looking for someone to blame!
I would strongly suggest doing your first tryout on an old hose that's not all that important to you. Pick one you have doubles of, or that is not cosmetically immaculate. Don't start with your ONE gorgeous Electrolux XXX hose.
Do not get any liquid latex on good clothing. It will never come out. If you do happen to slop a little on your shirt or pants, immediately douse it with cold water to thin the latex spot and gently rub it with your fingertip until it dissolves. There's no guarantee that it will completely come out, however, so it would be better to wear old clothes when doing this.
Oh --- I guess you'll want to know where to get the latex. Those who live in large cities can start with theatrical makeup supply stores. Some costume shops also sell theatrical makeup but those that do usually have limited inventories, and probably won't carry liquid latex in large quantities. They usually sell ounce bottles and at, what, 5 or 10 dollars an ounce -- your hose restoration project will get quite expensive! The best way to go is to buy it in bulk on-line. LiquidLatex.com has the best prices I've found. You'll want to get "Clear Body Paint - Liquid Latex."
I'd be thrilled to hear of other's hose restoration projects --- let me know how it goes! And if you have any tips to share from doing your own hoses I'd love to hear them.
-ooOoo-
THE ROGER PROEHL HOSE TEST
There is a very simple, foolproof method to test woven hoses for their effectiveness -- the Roger Proehl Hose Test.
1. Put the hose in a single loop and hold both metal ends in one hand, the ends pointing upward. Make sure the suction reduction valve (if there is one) is fully closed.
2. With the flat palm (not fingers) of the other hand, vigorously pat-pat-pat the opening of the larger end of the hose.
3. If you hear a resonant, hollow "tonk-tonk-tonk" sound -- an almost percussive or bell-like sound-- then the hose is good. If you hear a flat "pfft-pfft-pfft" sound -- a flat, flaccid and dull sound -- then the hose is shot. This is relative to the condition of the hose. Most older cloth or woven vinyl hoses will fall somewhere between perfect and lousy --- you may get some "tonk-tonk" but it won't be as clear and "resonant" as it would be with a new solid-vinyl hose.
The reason for this is simple physics: In a good, sealed hose, when you pat one end of it, the resultant air-pressured sound wave (caused by the patting of your hand) has to travel through the entire length of the hose and out the other end, because the airtight walls of the hose prevent any air or soundwaves from escaping. It's the same sort of effect as singing in a large, resonant room. An "echo" or "reverberation" is made by the resonant space.
On the other hand, a lousy hose allows air to escape and thus you don't have that hollow, airtight-seal sound because the sound wave diffuses out all over the place through all the leaks in the hose's layers.
A good aural benchmark for determining what a really well-sealed hose sounds like would be to use a new coiled-plastic hose. These hoses - while hideous in appearance - do have a perfect seal and will allow you to hear what a perfectly efficient hose sounds like.
Roger Proehl, a long-time friend and fellow collector, was the first to demonstrate this simple but effective test to me, so in his honor I have unofficially named the test the "Roger Proehl Hose Test!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
THOSE OLD CLOTH HOSES
How To Restore Old, Inefficient Hoses To Their Former Airtight Glory
by Charles Richard Lester
How many of you have old vacuum cleaner cloth or woven vinyl hoses that look great but fall far short of having a good seal for cleaning?
Those old hoses were pretty complicated affairs - their construction and manufacturing details vary somewhat from brand to brand; but basically, first there was an inner cloth or rubberized cloth layer, then a coiled steel innerspring to keep the hose's round wall shape, then a layer of tightly wound twine, then a layer of thin canvas or other cloth, then a thick rubber layer and finally the outer decorative woven cloth or vinyl layer.
In many cases, the old hoses may, from the outside, look brand-new yet are not functional for cleaning because they leak air so badly from the inside.
The reason for this is that the rubber and cloth inner linings have deteriorated, in some cases to the point where all that's left inside is some dry-rotted fabric and the steel innerspring - the rubber having long-ago crumbled away.
I have many beautiful hoses in my collection, most of which - in fact, ALL of which, except for one or two notable exceptions, are absolutely useless for cleaning. Yes, the machines sit around looking beautiful but I can't have any fun vacuuming with them because I have to use some hideous plastic replacement hose so the darned things will actually cleaned!
And I don't know about anyone else ... but to me the original hose is very important in terms of having the machines "look right." Those who know what I mean "will know what I mean;" the others among us will just think I really have lost it and am totally certifiable, and that's fine. Just keep your nets and straitjackets away from me!
Anyway ... over the years I had tried to devise various ways to remedy this. I looked around for some sort of plastic sleeves to insert into the hoses to make a seal. Even if I could have ever found such a sleeve, which I never could, it would probably not have worked very well. The plastic would not be very flexible so the hose would not bend properly, and there would be a problem in sealing the plastic lining to the inner wall of the hose to hold it in place and to give a tight seal at both ends.
Well, one day I had an enormous brainstorm -- no little feat given the little amount of brain matter in my skull!
I was looking at some of my hoses and musing about the inner linings being made of rubber. Then that word hit me in the head like a brick - RUBBER!! Of course!! They key to the tight seals inside these hoses is the RUBBER lining! So then, the next matter for consideration was, "How do I get a tight rubber seal inside this old hose?"
In a flash, my mind shot back to the old days when I was active in community theatre and became very proficient at elaborate character makeup. One of the tools of that trade is latex, in various forms - foam, solid, liquid, sponge, and so on. Liquid latex is readily available (at least, it's readily available here in Los Angeles -- Land of Make Believe!). It is used for many things, including old-age makeup and making rubber "appliances" such as noses, cheeks, jowls, bald heads, wounds, monster and alien masks, and so on.
The makeup artist can either apply the latex directly to an actor's face, which is quite an ordeal because the latex is suspended in ammonia and smells like a nasty old cat-box! Or, it can be poured and "sloshed" into molds to make artificial features.
And this is where the old hoses come in! I just happened to have in my closet a gallon jar of liquid latex left over from a very ambitious Halloween project a couple of years ago. I got to thinking, I wonder if I could slosh some latex into an old hose, let it dry, and produce a tight seal?
To cut to the chase ... IT WORKED!!
-ooOoo-
HERE'S HOW I DID IT.
If you try this, please heed a couple of warnings and save yourself some heartaches:
First, make sure the hose is clean inside. Connect it to the vacuum cleaner and let it run for a minute or two to remove any dust or excess loose rubber or cloth.
To make sure there are no clogs or obstructions in the hose, get a long 3/4"-diameter wooden dowel that's about a foot longer than the hose. Carefully push the dowel through the hose. If there is a curved handle end, you'll need to remove it first -- which you will need to do anyway before the latex treatment. Anyway, push the dowel all the way into the hose and then jiggle it around and back and forth.
If there's a really bad obstruction that won't give way, then forget about trying to give it the latex treatment. If there is a bad clog, dumping latex into the hose will soak into the clogged matter and totally and completely clog up the hose for all eternity!
Second, DO NOT try to hasten the drying process by connecting the hose to the blower OR the suction end of a cleaner and turning the motor on.
If you connect it to the suction end you are going to suck liquid latex into the dust bag. If it's a cloth bag it is going to get ruined. Once latex has solidified, there is absolutely no way to remove it from fabric. Which is a good thing in terms of sealing your hose, but a bad thing in terms of what it will do to the bag. If it's a paper bag, the latex could seep through the paper lining and get into the motor, which would make a terrific mess and probably ruin the motor.
And if you put the hose into the blower end, it will cause the liquid latex to bubble up and close off the inner walls, ruining the hose. Trust me. I learned the hard way and ruined a perfectly good Electrolux XXX hose on my experiments. Well, not really ruined. It still looks beautiful. But it's totally blocked up; no air can pass through at all.
You must let the latex dry slowly and naturally.
-ooOoo-
OKAY, =NOW= HERE'S HOW I DID IT. (FINALLY - GEEZ!)
Okay, first off you'll need to remove the curved handle end if the hose has one. How to do this depends on the type of hose you're treating.
Get a cardboard core from a paper towel roll and cut it into four equal pieces. Then slit two of the pieces lengthwise. (Discard the other two pieces.)
Coil up one of the cores and stick about half of it into one end of the hose. Use your fingers to work it around to the same diameter as the inside of the hose. Holding the core between your thumb and index finger to maintain its diameter, pull it out and secure it with duct tape to hold its shape. Then stick it back into the hose and make sure it fits snugly and stays in place. Do the same for the other end. (The purpose for this is to keep the latex from building up inside the ends of the hose as it drips out. It will build up on the cardboard collars instead, which will be removed.)
Make a hanger for one end of the hose from a wire coat hanger. Pull apart a hanger into a straight line. Cut off a length about 2 ft. long. Coil it a couple of times around one end of the hose and tape it in place with duct tape. Make the other end of the hanger wire into a hook by which you will hang the hose on your clothes line or a nail high off of the ground. The hose will need to hang straight and free. It can't be looped or coiled and it can't touch the ground.
You'll want to be very careful not to slop any of the latex onto the outside of the hose. Wrap the hose in saran wrap and tape it in place on both ends.
OKAY, HERE WE GO!
Vigorously shake the bottle of latex. Pour about 2 cups into a measuring cup. (Don't worry about using your good glass measuring cup -- the latex will not stick to it!)
Take the hose in one hand, holding both ends of it. Carefully and slowly pour the latex from the measuring cup into one end of the hose. Gently manipulate the hose up and down to slosh the latex all around inside the hose. If a little bit slops out of the ends, that's okay -- as long as you took care to cover the hose with saran wrap.
Hang the hose up and leave it alone. You should put a large piece of cardboard or a plastic tarp under the hose to capture the latex that drips out of the end.
After the latex has thoroughly dried (I would allow at least overnight; preferably a couple of days to be safe), dump a pretty good amount of talcum powder into the hose and work it around so that all the latex gets covered.
The reason to do this is that fresh latex sticks to itself, and to a lot of other things, so you could get a nasty clog either by sucked-up stuff clinging to the sticky latex, or by it's clinging to itself when the hose bends and flexes. The talc renders the latex UN-sticky so this extra precaution will help avoid possible trouble.
Carefully remove the saran wrap and the cardboard cores from each end. Re-attach the handle.
If you did this correctly, you'll have a beautiful woven hose with a perfectly tight seal!!
-ooOoo-
I conclude with the caveat that you must do this carefully! If you ruin a prized old hose, I cannot take any blame or responsibility. Do this at your own risk! I say this not to scare you or discourage you, or to make you think it won't work. It will work. At least, it did for me. But I'm making this disclaimer to protect myself from some lawsuit-happy member who ruins her beautiful 1921 Hoover cloth hose and starts looking for someone to blame!
I would strongly suggest doing your first tryout on an old hose that's not all that important to you. Pick one you have doubles of, or that is not cosmetically immaculate. Don't start with your ONE gorgeous Electrolux XXX hose.
Do not get any liquid latex on good clothing. It will never come out. If you do happen to slop a little on your shirt or pants, immediately douse it with cold water to thin the latex spot and gently rub it with your fingertip until it dissolves. There's no guarantee that it will completely come out, however, so it would be better to wear old clothes when doing this.
Oh --- I guess you'll want to know where to get the latex. Those who live in large cities can start with theatrical makeup supply stores. Some costume shops also sell theatrical makeup but those that do usually have limited inventories, and probably won't carry liquid latex in large quantities. They usually sell ounce bottles and at, what, 5 or 10 dollars an ounce -- your hose restoration project will get quite expensive! The best way to go is to buy it in bulk on-line. LiquidLatex.com has the best prices I've found. You'll want to get "Clear Body Paint - Liquid Latex."
I'd be thrilled to hear of other's hose restoration projects --- let me know how it goes! And if you have any tips to share from doing your own hoses I'd love to hear them.
-ooOoo-
THE ROGER PROEHL HOSE TEST
There is a very simple, foolproof method to test woven hoses for their effectiveness -- the Roger Proehl Hose Test.
1. Put the hose in a single loop and hold both metal ends in one hand, the ends pointing upward. Make sure the suction reduction valve (if there is one) is fully closed.
2. With the flat palm (not fingers) of the other hand, vigorously pat-pat-pat the opening of the larger end of the hose.
3. If you hear a resonant, hollow "tonk-tonk-tonk" sound -- an almost percussive or bell-like sound-- then the hose is good. If you hear a flat "pfft-pfft-pfft" sound -- a flat, flaccid and dull sound -- then the hose is shot. This is relative to the condition of the hose. Most older cloth or woven vinyl hoses will fall somewhere between perfect and lousy --- you may get some "tonk-tonk" but it won't be as clear and "resonant" as it would be with a new solid-vinyl hose.
The reason for this is simple physics: In a good, sealed hose, when you pat one end of it, the resultant air-pressured sound wave (caused by the patting of your hand) has to travel through the entire length of the hose and out the other end, because the airtight walls of the hose prevent any air or soundwaves from escaping. It's the same sort of effect as singing in a large, resonant room. An "echo" or "reverberation" is made by the resonant space.
On the other hand, a lousy hose allows air to escape and thus you don't have that hollow, airtight-seal sound because the sound wave diffuses out all over the place through all the leaks in the hose's layers.
A good aural benchmark for determining what a really well-sealed hose sounds like would be to use a new coiled-plastic hose. These hoses - while hideous in appearance - do have a perfect seal and will allow you to hear what a perfectly efficient hose sounds like.
Roger Proehl, a long-time friend and fellow collector, was the first to demonstrate this simple but effective test to me, so in his honor I have unofficially named the test the "Roger Proehl Hose Test!"
