The fresh smell of 1993

[electroluxxxx]

Every morning and throughout the day I usually scroll through Facebook market place because it’s about as good as going thrifting. Saturday morning I was scrolling through as usual and a BNIB kenmore heavy duty Carpet cleaner popped up. Well for someone who is trying to thin the herd I couldn’t say no. I contacted the lady selling it and went and picked it up yesterday afternoon. Story was, thy bought it to use and opened the box but never used it, so it sat.

Usually I like to leave things new in box if vintage but for some reason I couldn’t with this. I have never used one of these before and was curious to see how well it worked. I was pretty surprised that it was somewhat quieter than the Bissell big green and it seemed to have just as much power with the exception of the pump. This thing has a 2 speed pump and I feel that it actually has more pressure than the big green. The receipt for the machine is stapled in the manual and it was bought in 1993. I also have a NIB big green that I picked up a couple of weeks ago but that won’t be seeing any use any time soon.

 

[fan-of-fans]

AWESOME finds!

I always wanted one of those Kenmores as a kid seeing them in the catalogs, but I never saw any around until I saw one at Habitat a few years ago for $20. It was so big and I didn't want to carry it downstairs so I passed, but still wanted one. Then about a year ago I saw one at an estate sale for $5 so I got it.

Yours is one of the last ones before they went to the turtle ones. They had one more white with hunter green trim in 94-95 and the turtles came in 1996. Yours was the top of line and has pretty much all the attachments ever offered.

Also, if you didn't know it was made by Singer/Ryobi. The dry power nozzle is like they had on the Singer canisters at the time.

Mine is an older light gray with orange trim and they didn't have the dry power nozzles back then. But I got one like yours on eBay for mine. Yours uses bags (shop vac bags will fit too) but mine uses a cloth filter.

I still want to get a Spraymate for mine and some of the small tools (it just had the hose, wands and carpet tool with it).

The Bissell is very nice too, I always liked those also especially the one that came with all the attachments like the Kenmore, and the one with the Powerbrush.

 

[electroluxxxx]

I was told that the spraymate was not the best at scrubbing or picking up water, I did have the bissell big green with the power head and was not a fan. I felt that a piece of paper did a better job of picking up water than that thing did.
thank you for clarifying that it was the top of the line machine as I was not too sure. The receipt said that it was $213 new in 93' and i take it that was a lot for a deluxe shampooer considering the big green I got had the price of $149 on the sticker that is on the box. I have never used a singer power nozzle like the one that came with it and I am not too sure I want to use it due to it being very rare to find something like this NIB. What are your thoughts on the power nozzles from these machines? It does seem to be very well built for what it is.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I was pretty impressed with the power nozzle. It is not that big, and the bristles seem soft, but it seemed to clean really well. I think mainly because the suction is pretty strong on this unit. I think but am not certain that the brush roll is the same one they used on the Twin Fan uprights.

I never even knew they offered a dry power nozzle until I came on this site.

The Spraymate I too heard didn't pick up as well as the extraction nozzle, but I heard it had pretty good agitation. I want to get the matching orange/gray one for my machine but I haven't gotten to it yet. I hear they are very loud due to the gear reduction system it uses for the motor.

I think when your machine was sold there was another unit in navy blue/light gray that was the regular one but I'm not sure. Typically they'd have one unit with the two speed pump and metal wands and then a cheaper unit with one speed pump and no switch (just plug in to turn on/off pump) and plastic wands. But all of the accessories could work with either model.

The bundles started coming in the 1993 when they started using bags and the dry power nozzle. In the earlier years in the late 70s/early 80s there was even a model with a heater for the solution, similar to the newer Bissell Proheat cleaners.

Overall these canister machines seem much more popular in Europe than they do here. Bissell, Kenmore and Vax are the only ones I really saw here in the US, and Bissell is the only one that still sells something like this here. Like upright vacuums, it seems everyone wanted the upright carpet cleaners instead. I do believe they are easier to set up though and store than these tank style.

 

[2011hoover700]

@electroluxxxx have you tried the big green carpet nozzle on the Kenmore I find it the most effective nozzle for extracting the water with my Kenmore and I'll walk you through disconnecting the tube at the Kenmore nozzle and attaching it to the bissell nozzle.

 

[electroluxxxx]

Upon using the machine, I noticed that with the nozzle having a more open slot for intake was and is actually more effective than the Bissell with the narrow opening. The dry time for what I did was far less than if I were to use the Bissell if I remember correctly, and also my non commercial consumer grade rug doctor. There were some spots on the carpet that needed touching up and they managed to dry in about 45 min as to where the same spots would easily take 2 hours with the Bissell or rug doctor.

Fan-of-fans,
I greatly appreciate your input on these as I never knew much about them other than seeing them and that being said, they are a rather odd machine. Extremely versatile but rather bulky and they definitely move a good amount of air. I do have to agree with you on the whole upright storage and set up thing. These canister machines take at least 10 min to set up after digging them out, as to where the uprights are pretty much a 1,2,3 thing. They are also rather heavy when full but that’s to be expected with a machine full of water.
Now I have seen a navy and light gray machine and I have also seen the red and black machine. As a matter of fact I know where there is a red and black heavy duty kenmore carpet cleaner with the box and also an early “cream” colored carpet cleaner with the spray mate. The cream colored one is not in the best of shape and I would not consider getting it.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Yeah the first late 70s ones were blue and white and may not have had a Spraymate then. Then a cream and brown in late 70s/early 80s. Then the mid-late 80s gray with orange trim. The red/black Heavy Duty was early 90s and there was a dark gray or black Cleanmore BOL with it. Also somewhere was an all white Cleanmore and an all light gray Cleanmore BOL. Then yours I think and the navy/gray BOL and finally a white/hunter green was the last TOL.

The turtles came out in 1996 and these still used the same attachments and Spraymate, I don't know if a dry power nozzle was offered. That one was also sold under the Singer name, I never saw a Singer branded of these older ones.

In 1996 Bissell bought Singer and started making the turtles. They changed the attachments to the ones from the Big Green and the Spraymate changed to the Bissell Powerbrush. They also made a green version of the turtle under the Big Green name in green. I think about late 90s/early 2000s were the last of them.

Overall I like them. I think they'd make a great garage/car cleaning vacuum or outside the house since they are so versatile wet/dry shampoo/blower. And easy to keep clean/wash off since they're all plastic. For vacuuming inside the house as a vacuum I think would be awkward since as you say they are bulky. And also a bit noisy.

The dry power nozzles seem to come up often on eBay. I think people didn't use them much as usually they look brand new in the box.