The Cardboard Vax!

[sebo_fan]

Mm not such a silly idea then : )

Frankly I think that it is very much the same with packaging. When you look at the 1970s when oil produced plastics and polythene came into use - food bags previously made of paper were replaced by plastic and thus spun out other variations like the Zip Lock bag (U.S), and Cling film.

However, I much prefer to what the Americans did in our Scottish town - when they came - they also brought huge brown sacks with them to hold their groceries. I remember them well, thinking they were a better idea than the oil based supermarket bags, certainly from a recycled point of view and I also preferred the white paper bags at the local grocers, now replaced by horrible oil based plastic bags.

 

[jmurray01]

Well I remember last year I used a piece of cardboard to light the BBQ and when I had lit the coals, I blew it out, or thought I had and threw the piece into an old Daz box.

Well, 10 minutes later the whole washing powder box was ON FIRE.

Don't tell me cardboard is fireproof, ha ha!

 

[gsheen]

Thinking about it, why put this machine in a retail box , just make the box the machine 

 

[sebo_fan]

That could well happen, you never know - just a slip of outer cardboard showing the price from a store - as for the cardboard Vax being fireproof, it is possible to have it fireproof treated. But then, whilst it is justified that cardboard is easy to set fire, appliances made out of the stuff isn't any less lethal than burning plastic. Yes plastic is stronger in some cases, more robust and durable but plastic isn't as eco-friendly when it burns.

 

[vacbear58]

Cardboard Cleaners

Well now you have all got your rants about modern cleaners and their poor quality off your chests can I just point out that Goblin in the post WW2 period produced several iterations of one of their cylinder cleaners with a cardboard body. I currenmtly have two at the moment and I know of others in the same model range - actually they seem to have held up quite well compared to metal bodied cleaners.

If I am not mistaken Hans (Kenkart) has at least one vintage US vacuum made of cardboard too.

 

[rugsucker]

Cardboard vacuums

Can they make a cardboard vac that works?!As above, they have in the past and many still work just fine.Most common was the BOL Eureka/Montgomery Ward of about 1950 and beyond.It was a tank type with metal cover,cloth bag and then you see from the inside it is similar to cardboard rolls for carpeting.Outside is vinyl covered similar to metal MoXXX.Also the quality,expensive Filtex and dry pick up shop vacs of 60s from Craftsman and others.Any others?

 

[twocvbloke]

Thing is, a lot of the old "cardboard" vacs were basically a plasticised or varnished paper, so it was an early form of plastic construction, rather than being something that looks more like the inside of a toilet roll coated in paint...

Plus, making cardboard vacuums in the sense of the Vax one, it's not really green in an ecological sense, as if it's designed to be thrown out, then it's going against what people are trying to avoid, unnecessary waste, financially and of natural resources. Cos when you think about it, where does most of the paper that makes the cardboard come from? Trees, and I doubt that there'll be any justification to plant forests of trees just to supply the world with disposable vacuums...

And the fire part, well, you cannot make card or paper fire *proof* without making is unusable, just fire *retardant*, meaning it contains chemicals that produce CO2 gas to extinguish flames if it gets hot enough, but if the heat is intense enough, even fire retardants can be overwhelmed...

It's an intriguing project for a student, but to me, that's all it is and will be, it's not a sustainable product, and doubtful that it will make it to market, and even if it does it won't last long...

 

[sebo_fan]

I doubt though that it would become landfill in terms of it being chucked out though - if it is made of CFC friendly cardboard AND inside is also reasonably eco-friendly, it's entirely possible that the whole thing could be burnt. But then again, Vax could do what Dyson did in the early stages with the "Re-Cyclone" process. Get rid of the exterior body, retain the motor and just put it back on sale with a new "shell."

And I've just had a thought spun from this opinion - in the same way that BMW are doing MINI with retro bespoke patterns/creating removable panels, it will probably be the next thing on vacuum cleaners to have removable "colour" coded removable panels to make them blend into the home. If SEBO do it with the Felix already, there's every chance other brands may well offer the same soon. Dirt Devil in Germany already offer "bespoke" patterns on cylinder/compact canister vacs ("Fantasy") that were already on sale in the U.S under the "Tattoo" tagline.

Of course the difference here is that, with the cardboard exterior of the Vax, if it was sold in plain brown could give owners the incentive to design their own without removable panels/transfers -notwithstanding plastic stick on jewels that would go down a storm in certain parts of England...

 

[twocvbloke]

You have to remember, where does the cardboard come from before it's made, and where does it go after it's beyond use? New, strong, structural cardboard comes from trees, and not a lot comes from recycled paper as you can only get so much from recycling as the fibres become too weak, so they have to mix recycled with new to get something strong enough to be useful, until it's got so much recycled fibres in it that it's barely even useful as toilet paper...

So, pretty decals aside, making cardboard vacuums would not be ecologically viable, I prefer my trees to provide structures, furniture and firewood, so personally, I'll stick to my metal and plastic vacs that can actually be molten down and re-cast into something new, if they ever actually end up in the recycling bin (doubtful)....

 

[rolls_rapide]

Cardboard vacuum cleaner

I am very doubtful that it is sufficiently durable. I have used an industrial Nilfisk which had "cardboard" extension tubes: they were not very durable at all.

I will stick to plastic and metal machines that can be recycled.

No doubt another pointless exercise in "form over function". The watchword should be "Don't."

 

[sebo_fan]

Cardboard extension tubes? Good grief!

 

[rolls_rapide]

Yes, they were a combination of glue and cardboard type material, possibly mica might have been in the mix too. They were especially made to be lightweight and non-conductive, important in factories where overhead bus-bars are used carrying 400 odd volts.

 

[sebo_fan]

Ah I see! Good to know!

 

[kenkart]

Cardboard and Masonite vacs!

I have a late 40s Eureka built Montgomery Ward tank that is basically a cardboard tube covered in a leatherette material, the Filtex was a masonite board type material.