Throw away vacuums

[vacmadman]

A few weeks ago my friend and neighbor Dave asked me if I could fix his vacuum. Over the years I have seen him throw away a number of vacuums. So I was more then happy to help out. His vacuum is a Bissell power pet vac. It didn't take long to find the problem. His daughter tried to vacuum up shredded Easter grass. You can see the biggest problem with theses vacuums is the small 2inch hose that can get clogged easier. Having said that trying to pick up this amount of trash is asking for trouble. I took it apart washed out the canister and foam filter, and put it back together. It was this kind of thing that I saw all the time back in the day. It was a big money maker in our vacuum shop. Dave was very happy to get his vacuum back looking and running like new again. His son told me he was ready to throw this one away as well. I told him don't throw away anymore vac's just bring them to me.

 

[human]

Yeah, somewhere along the line, manufacturers have managed to convince consumers that vacuum cleaners no longer fall into the category of durable goods, but are instead disposable. This may be good for the manufacturers' bottom line, but it's bad for consumers and even worse for the environment. When I lived in an apartment complex a few years back, I routinely saw vacuums out by the dumpsters, mostly just needing a bag, a belt, and a good cleaning. I fixed up several and either sold them, donated them, or gave them away. The last one I rescued from there was a Kirby Gsix, which sort of changed everything.