the rise in popularity of cylinder vacuums in the UK

[sebo_fan]

Thats a tricky one. Yes it will naturally be better on pick up being a dirty fan, but because of the one we owned had the hellish push on bag to dock principle, the bag had a tendency of coming off compared to more modern ones with a bag push in and lock holder.

Regardless of the updated bag holder, the main problem with the Oreck is the airflow/suction channel inside the spine at the back leading to the bag - terribly narrow and a tendency to clog. So although it might have better pick up than a Dyson, the Dyson has more modern and wider suction airflow channels to pass the dirt to the bin.

 

[parwaz786]

Brilliant answer, thank you Was considering an Oreck to play with, thought it was a cute design, but heard they are noisy so no really tempted anymore lol

 

[vacerator]

Oreck

The older upright Orecks did get noisy when the brush roll bearings wore out, which was frequent.
The only Oreck which ever tempted me was the Dutch tech canister (cylinder).
Long gone as well, as David Oreck has sold his company to TTI floor care, aka (Hoover, Dirt Devil, etc.)
Now they are all imported from China.

 

[turbo500]

David Oreck had nothing to brag about. He didn't even invent the Oreck vacuum. It was a design that Whirlpool had ditched that he bought the patents for. It was originally sold as the McDonald Electric upright here in the UK. All David Oreck did was stick his name on a discarded design.

 

[sebo_fan]

Well the Oreck design keeps the bag at the front but its not as easy as the original MacDonald upright. I quite like that MacDonald design over the Oreck.

 

[turbo500]

Nar, the McDonald Electric and the first Oreck are the same vacuum. They use the same design, but with a different name stamped on it.

Here is the Oreck branded version and McDonald Electric side by side. Oreck evolved over the years to become the more familiar design, but the basis of them all was the original, which David Oreck had no involvement with the design of at all.

Incidentally, the McDonald Electric was one of the loudest vacuums I've ever known to exist.

 

[vacerator]

McDonald

Wow! Thanks for that info. I was just about to comment, it looks very similar to an Oreck. I'd like to see the Whirlpool prototype.
Hence the loud noise and low price point.
Several people used to tell me their Oreck always broke.
An old Eureka upright used to vacuum up pennies suffered broken fan blades, but that was only a $6 part, and easy to fix.

 

[vacerator]

McDonald same as oreck?

I wonder about that? I did some searching online. Only an Avanti came up. All older Orecks had stepped motor hoods, which tells me they had a larger motor.
Nothing on A lightweight Whirlpool upright either. Prototype or production.

 

[turbo500]

Vacerator, look at the 2 photos I posted. The first Oreck was, screw for screw and bristle for bristle, a McDonald Electric, which was made by Whirlpool. Not produced by the same company, but using the exact design. Over time, Oreck made their own adjustments, but the basis was always the original patent that David Oreck bought from Whirlpool.

 

[kirbysthebest]

One thing I will hand to David Oreck

He was a marketer.   As for the vacuum, I once heard it described as "a Hokey with a motor."


 


 

 

[sebo_fan]

Chris -= respectively though just because David Oreck didn't invent anything doesn't make anything wrong. Look at Bissell - they go about lauding up the fact that they were probably first to market the carpet upright washer, yet for years they actually only came to market in the 1990s with their carpet upright washers. Not exactly "years of experience" Infact Bissell market themselves as having 135 years in the cleaning business but Im sure the average buyer would mistakenly think Bissell have been making vacuums for 135 years.

 

[vacerator]

Turbo500;

Ok, but that is not the identical motor hood as an Oreck, as I can tell by watching the video above.
News also to me that Whirlpool was even in the UK back then.
The joint venturted with Philips in the 90's, and bought Bauknecht after that.
No European Whirlpool products are like our US domestic ones still. Unless you order a US style washer, or refrigerator there.
Only in Australia, where Omalleys built them under license.
Did you know the Canadian Whirlpool division was called Inglis?

 

[turbo500]

Vacerator, here is the first Oreck.

 

[turbo500]

And here is the McDonald Electric.
They're the same cleaner. They're absolutely identical.

 

[sebo_fan]

Vacerator, Chris is spot on both with info about Oreck and about these models.

As for Whirlpool, well of course the U.S products are different but it doesn't mean all brands act in the same way.

 

[turbo500]

Like I said, the Oreck cleaners may have evolved over time with redesigned hoods and larger motors, but the original Oreck as pictured above was a direct copy of the McDonald Electric. The ME was not in itself a popular seller and David Oreck knew that, hence he very cleverly aimed the early models exclusively at the commercial floorcare market where this type of cleaner would excel, before launching into the domestic market.

Numatic in the UK have done a similar thing, although I don't think that was ever intentional as Oreck and has happened over a much longer period of time.

 

[vacerator]

Turbo500,

That Oreck was never sold in the states. Seems to me Mr. O-Wreck wanted into the UK market, so did a deal with McDonald.
Here in the states, by the mid 70's, Whirlpool was out of the vacuum cleaner business. Panasonic bought it.
The last Whirlpool branded machines in the 80's were made by Panasonic, also the Sears Kenmore supplier.

 

[turbo500]

It was sold in the US as a commercial vacuum - it was never sold in the UK branded as Oreck as per the picture above, which belongs to a US collector and was posted on here some time ago. It was old sold here as McDonald Electric, which wasn't made by Oreck and pre-dates the Oreck by a good few years.

Why would David Oreck start a company in America only to sell the product in the UK? That's madness, not to mention expensive. Given that we know Mr. O was pretty much broke and bought the patent with the last of his savings.

 

[vacerator]

Oreck cont.

That makes sense. I didn't mean he only went into business to sell in the UK, but was trying to copy Eureka, like when they sold the 1959 Parnall there. A re branded for the UK Mobile Air Vibra-Beat.
My mom had one. I called it the farter.

 

[eurekaprince]

I have come to believe: uprights are best for carpets, and suction only canisters/cylinders are best for everything else. The combination machines are too heavy, bulky, complicated, over-engineered and prone to problems. Which is why you saw a lot of companies marketing "cleaning team" pairs in the 1950's.

I first use a simple, quiet, powerful suction-only Miele with an arsenal of attachments to clean a room from top to bottom. I finish the job by deep cleaning the wall-to-wall broadloom with my sleek Hoover Lightweight bagged upright Oreck clone- working from far end to entry so I don't leave any footy-prints on the carpet. My vacuum team together cost under CAD$1,000 and does not take up any more room in the closet than a power-nozzle canister.