The WORST vacuum cleaners, Ever made. In History.

[super-sweeper]

What's some of the worst vacuums cleaners in the history of vacuum cleaners?
(Let's say 1920-2013).

This includes modern and vintage, flops, the poorly designed, and the ones that where
just plain-out horrible in any way possible.

What do you got?
One would defiantly be the Eureka we all cower in the corners from...
The one with nothing more than a filter to retain dirt...


This thing!


 


How on earth is in $99.99, with a 4 star rating!?



http://www.staples.com/Eureka-Maxim...t_904576?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:904576&KPID=904576

 

[parwaz786]

all vacuums with filters in bins are total crap in the UK, well mostly

 

[ilikeoddvacuums]

honestly,

any hoover uprights made since 2009 why? BECAUSE THAEY ARE ALL THE SAME THING!!!!! THE SAME REBADGED T SERIES GARBAGE
also let me guess,this is a response to my last post

 

[vacman1961]

I would have to say the first Regina Housekeeper with the idler wheel on it was the worst vacuum I ever came across.

 

[vacuumman206]

Reginas were certainly junk for actual cleaning, but now serve as cool pieces for collections. Any vacuum made within the last 10 years by the popular brands is unatractive junk. Dirt devil and Bissell especially; the cleanview platform Bissell has been tirelessly reusing since its introduction is garbage, yet they continue to modify and duplicate it. For dirt devil, the first mistake vac i think they made was the swivel glide(though that goes pre-2003). the swivel wheels were a pain, the handle release easily broke, they had a very loud annoying sound to them, and the design as a whole made every component easily breakable in any situation. with their introduction of the crappy breeze line, they like bissell has continued to modify and duplicate under other names. Eureka is the only company i would say that their repetitious designs aren't too bad. The platform they use for all their cheap/mid-line machines is cheap, but has some positives. for one, of all modern vacuums, eurekas are the only machines to propell themselves. a downside to the cheap upright line is those dust bins are so so hard to open without breaking the latch.

 

[ncovert]

I can point fingers at a few:

-Hoover Elites (loud, flimsy, basically the 90's equivalent to Plastivacs®.)
-Any Bissell made after 2000.
-Everything with the word Dirt Devil in it.

 

[vacman1961]

OK, how about the original Electrolux upright, I think it was the model 1451 ? Magnetic clutch when something got caught in the brush it sounded like it was going to explode, also the intricate duct ork that the dirt had to go through before it got into the bag, machine was so prone to clogging, the plastic handle would snap off, cord hook would break, it was a disaster.

 

[parwaz786]

The British Dyson DC01 is an amazing and durable machine considering it was launched 20 years ago! as for the DC02, that was a cylinder version, excellent vac, the DC03 had almost industrial grade filtration and the motors are always like new! It's hard to kill a British made Dyson, the DC07 non clutched is like everywhere, especially the yellow DC01 and lime DC04, these groom carpets nicely, and the DC08 had SOOOOO MUCH SUCTION (12 cyclones) it goes for over £50 on ebay even for a broken one! and the contact heads for them go for quite some value too! the suction i the greatest out of any other Dyson, at 350 AW

 

[madabouthoovers]

Parwaz - we are talking about the Worst vacs, not what you consider the best ones lol.
I cant help thinking this topic has come up time and time again, but I'll say the worst vac ever was the Hoover "The One" - the most useless, unreliable hunk of junk ever to be sold under the pretence of a vacuum cleaner.

 

[parwaz786]

Lol, Sorry Steve, and yes I agree so much, my Uncle had owned a repair shop and he had a Hoover the one at the back of the shop, and I seen quite a few at the carboots, lots on eBay, etc


Vax are rubbish, mainly the cylinders


Asda smart price cylinders are also terrible


 

 

[dysondestijl]

Asda vacuums
Mainly all bissels
Vax swift
Panasonic bagless uprights aren't the best
Quite a few vax's

 

[dysonman1]

Perhaps because I'm many decades old, there seems to have never been a time when some 'brand' or type of vacuum was considered 'the worst piece of junk'. When I was a kid, the Shetland Lewyt was hailed as 'the worst' because they were so very cheaply made and didn't last but a year or so. When the Hoover Elite came out, I was standing in a Wal-Mart looking at the brand new Elite 200. I remarked that it looked like the cheapest piece of junk I'd seen since the Regina Housekeeper.

What's interesting is that what one generation considered 'junk', a newer generation considers collectable.

If I had to name one vacuum that was absolutely worthless 'as a vacuum cleaner', it would have to be the pink Regina 1000 Housekeeper.

 

[vacman1961]

Yes Tom, I agree, we are from the same era, the Sheltand Lewyt canister with the electric broom motor and plastic fan was among the worst, only to be beaten by their new Life Long line that came out right after that. And yes, I see you agree the Housekeeper 1000 was the worst vacuum ever built, when customers used to bring them into my store with the clear idler pulley belt burned off I would say to my self "why are you bothering?" oh well, it's only getting worse out there.

 

[tolivac]

I think the Premier plastic "pancake head" vacuums were the worst--Had one marked as "Mastercraft" sold thru a janitor supply place-HORRIBLE machine-noisey-vibrated the handle in your hand-stampted steel fan that broke easier than a plastic one-and the plastic base broke when the fan did.Used the machine at a radio station transmitter site-replaced the Mastercraft with a metal Royal commercial upright--MUCH BETTER-put the condenmed Mastercraft on the curb----the neighborhood trash company's E-Z Pack trash truck had a crunchy meal!loved seeing the plastic bits drop into the hopper after the pack cycle!And it got packed again!!!Somewhere I saved the bag from it-black cloth-"Mastercraft" printed on it-and it used F&G type paper bags inside.Just haven't been able to find it-went thru several moves.

 

[super-sweeper]

Yes,

@ilikeoddvacuums, your previous post inspired me to post this thread.


 


I didn't find elite to be to bad- they appear to last, and i find them everywhere


However, I do remember taking in a newer Cormericial Elite, with the Elite 200's style of hood in black.


The motor had thrown some bits off the Amruture!


 


I also recall reading somewhere (Some consumer complaint site) that An Main-Drive of a Hoover Elite/ Turbopower (Doesn't mattter, they used the same motor) 's motor had, well, Frankly "Exploded", leaving a gash of a hole in the plastic casing


of the motor (This plastic was quite brittle on early elites, My near-mint Hoover Elite 200 came to me with a crack trough it's motor housing, along with brittle bits of "Screw holding" plastic stubs on the fan chamber.


 


All in all,the Elite was a famously popular vacuum, which many comperitors made a copy of:


 


EUREKA-BRAVO


SINGER-POWER AMP-


BISSELL- POWER PARTNER (COPY OF SINGER "POWER AMP, BISSELL BOUGHT OUT SINGER'S DESIGN).


KENMORE- POWER CENTER


DIRT DEVIL- DIRT DEVIL LITE/LITE PLUS


PANASONIC-(No name avalible).


 


That's all I can recall.


 


While defianantly not practical, nor durable, those "Pancake head" General-Electric/ Premier cleaner where quite intresting.


 


And, If you would please excuse me, what exactly is an "Asda" vacuum?


 


 

 

[ilikeoddvacuums]

Aw set

ASDA=British Walmart
Also,so it's
1.hoover "the one"
2.shetland lewt canister vac
3.electrolux model 1451
I would love to see some more flops not personal experiences

 

[turbo500]

Going through a lot of my old brochures and catalogues, it appears that once upon a time, one could've spent any amount on a vacuum cleaner and got a relatively decent machine. For example, the Goblin Laser was for a long time the cheapest upright in the UK. Whilst it's hose suction is pretty pathetic, as an upright, it's not a bad machine. The only thing against it, really, is it's appalling build quality - feels like it's made of playdough. From the same era, the Goblin Rio was again a pretty decent vacuum with good suction, but let down by it's poor tools. The Goblin Housemaid was pretty useless though. The Dyson DC01 & DC03 were pretty much a joke performance wise.

The Hoover "The One" is probably the biggest disaster of a vacuum in a recent years. There was a LOT of hype around the development of The One with rumours rife amongst competitors about a swanky new cleaner that would put all others to shame. But on launch, it prove to be horrible in everyway - loud, awkward to use, heavy, poor performance, unreliable and poorly constructed. I think it was another member on here who recalled every single one of The One machines sold in a local Currys store were returned. The Hoover Dustmanager is equally as awful and has been on sale for years - god knows why people insist on buying them.

My biggest objection in the UK market at the moment is brands like Electrolux, Bissell, Vax and Hoover selling cheap, low efficiency direct filter cyclone cleaners for ridiculous prices. People can say what they want about Argos Value bagless uprights, but at least the low price reflects the quality of the machine and nobody is going to expect mircales from a £40 cleaner. But particularly Vax and Hoover are selling machines of a similar design with price tags well over the £100 mark. A general consumer would expect to get a quality machine for such a price. See link for a good example.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4066174.htm

 

[knoxfrzb]

not a vac but

the bissell steam vac carpet shampooers are huge wads of junk

 

[kenkart]

In my opinion...

There are no cheaper, noisier, pitiful machines than any of the bagless machines made today and worst of all, Eureka Bravos and Hoover Elites, all you need to do is use a Hoover Convertible or a Eureka 260 and see just how much better they are.

 

[keiththomas]

Well I have researched into vacuum cleaners and it appears the Hoover One which I recalled was given a bar review by the British Consumer magazine "Which". I did look at the machine out of interest and they wanted as much as a Dyson. A Very Ugly looking thing I thought. I am not certain what year it was launched and when it ended. But it has suddenly dropped. Trouble is they are all made at a price and to not last too long.

 

[durango159]

Eureka Power Plus bagless and it's twin the yellow Maxima bagged!!! Awful polluters and sound terrible.

 

[turbo500]

Hoover "The One"

I agree with Keith, the original The One is probably the worst machine I've ever used. It was pretty much a complete disaster. It was a LONG time in development and had a lot of manufacturers worried that Hoover were working on a completely radical, new vacuum that would take over the market.

When it finally arrived, it was a complete joke. The cyclone was the most stupid design I think I've ever seen and clogged up almost instantly. The brushroll was sparse and the bristles were like baby hair they were so soft. The All Floor cleaning system didn't switch the brushroll off - it just released a set of brushes like on a Numatic floortool, with the brushroll still spinning, so it scattered dirt across floors rather than picking it up. The build quality was also pretty shocking.

A friend of mine who was working in Currys at the time told me that every single machine they sold was returned.

Hoover pretty quickly redesigned a lot of the machine. The later models weren't as bad and came down quite dramatically in price, but by then the damage had been done.

 

[turbo500]

Eureka Power Plus bagless

We had those in the UK as the Electrolux Vitesse Pet Lover. It upsets me greatly that the word "Electrolux" was on such a horrific machine. Absolutely awful vacuum.

US guys, wouldn't the Hoover Z be considered quite a flop?

 

[kenkart]

Most over rated

Has to be any Dyson, cheap plastic dustblower, when they were first getting established in the States, Jimmy martin brought one to my house, I had my little dog then, and had not vacuumed in a week, so we thought it would really pich up some dirt and hair, we vacuumed a good sized area and got almost no dog hair and very little dust, I had a Rainbow E, I went over the same area once and the water was full of dog hair and sand...as far as I was concerned , case closed, because I dont consider a Rainbow very good!

 

[cocoaboo48]

connies

One of my favorites is the connies from the early 60's. They are very simple and powerful. A lot of the early brands like Eureka,Lewyt were very good machines but now they are crap. I was never a Lux fan. Every old lux I came across needed a new hose because they used the old woven type hose.

 

[ultralux88]

The Regina Housekeeper was very crappy, certainly one of the most poorly built and shortest lasting machines I've known to exist, but for being in the vacuum business they are really before my time, in fact I've only ever worked on two of them myself since working in the business since 2004, which says that despite the many thousand sold very few actually lived while I see many Hoovers Eurekas and most other machines from that time. However the Hoover Windtunnel V2 s very much in my time and very much a horrible piece of crap! The big issue that was never resolved was the fact that the brushrolls would strip out where the drive shafts went, originally they had the solid molded brush roll with the round hole with a flat spot on both sides for the drive shaft to go, the plastic would strip right out as soon as too much resistance was applied. They tried to fix this by using a metal insert in the end of the brushroll for the shaft to go in, thinking that would solve it, but all that would happen is the insert would strip inside the brush, yes this took longer, but it still happened. the bearings on the other end would always fill with hair and melt up, and the hair would collect against the gearbox and the bruhroll and melt that up, and the gears had a nasty habit of stripping out as well, and they weren't too fun or easy to change either. They had a lovely habit of the brushes stripping the first time you ran it. Thankfully I only worked on one or two myself, and never did any serious in-depth repairs, but I watched others do it many times, and I heard all the horror stories. I don't think there is a single worst vacuum ever, but there are definitely many tied for that place. too many good and unique ideas gone terribly wrong...

 

[sries]

This is just my opinion but...

The Dyson Dco everything.

 

[super-sweeper]

Muhahahaha!

I like your style, Sries! Board up the doors and Telephone ports, because this thread is about to flood due to Dyson fans!

 

[sebo_fan]

The worst uprights I've ever tried are the Dirt Devil (UK company based) bagged uprights based on the old Electrolux Contour uprights. A chore to push, awful plastics and even if later models were fitted with HEPA cartridges, these heaps were too noisy as well.

Also sold under Swan and JMB catalogue versions.