Sweeper-Vac "Handette" Model 47

[madman]

Model 47
Serial H-61730
210 watts

Saw this on ebay, and for $16, I figured why not?

The rubber cord is rotten and very frayed at the motor, but it's still intact enough to run the motor, which sounds quite fine. It was sold with the description saying that the bag was stuck closed and had a hole. As I got it, it had about a pound of dust in the bag, despite the hole. Sorry, I forgot to snap a pic of the bag before I turned it inside-out to clean and inspect it. But it looks really good, the writing is still perfect. Despite looks, though, the fabric is dry and a little brittle. There's a hole in the back, and it was probably the bag support wire thingy that poked a hole through the back, it was kinked into a sharp bend on the back, nothing a pair of pliers couldn't fix.

The clip was rusted stuck to the bag, and despite how careful I was with it, I managed to poke another small hole in it, where the clip goes.

Also, this little vac is small. I have two other old hand vacs, and they're a lot more substantial to handle, not so much in weight, but in size. And this vac is more akin to a dust buster. The suction seems pretty good for its size, though.

So what's the consensus on patching fabric bag holes? My first thought was to hand stitch the rip closed, but now I'm worried the stitches will pull through the old fabric. I could sew a piece of denim over the hole with a tight machine stitch. Or use an iron-on patch. Ideas? Is there any way to recondition the fabric to be a little more workable?

While we're on the topic, if I want to make a new bag (which I'm going to do for my old Cadillac upright), does anybody know what fabric to use? Something particular, maybe?

 

[madman]

Actually, here's the ebay picture.

 

[huskyvacs]

I'd say take it 'round to a seamstress or a sewing shop, if there's anyone that would know how to work fabric it would be them. I'm thinking maybe hand soak it in some fabric softening solution that would loosen up the fibers and rejuvenate it. For patching the holes, remember that a bag expands, so if you sewed the torn areas directly together they would rip the seam apart again or the bag would look funny when inflated. Same goes for the type of fabric used for the patch, you want something as close to the texture of the bag as possible. I'd say once the bag is as close to what it was when new as far as flexibility, measure out the hole when the bag is inflated and sew on a fabric patch to fit the hole. I highly doubt it will affect the price (not that value should drive a collection) as it is not something that can be avoided.

 

[madman]

I thought fabric softener was a bad idea because it makes the fabric fibers fluffy and blocks the pores... or something.

 

[huskyvacs]

Oh no not like detergent soap, something like Woolite or similar. I think just a bath in general would soften it back up. You can follow the general vintage vacuum bag washing topics on here and it should still apply, I'm not sure what vacuums bags this old were made from.

 

[ultralux88]

Making the fibers fluffy actually improves the filtration. The fibers were fluffy when the bag was new, but they get all filled with dirt, so you do want to wash it gently in something like Woolite, and I’d recommend doing it by hand, the silkscreen lettering is the most delicate thing about this when cleaning an old bag...