Vintage appliance household lover saying hello.

[SANTI]

Hello gang.
My name is Santi, an Art Deco / vintage appliance guy who turned Mid-Century lover when I moved West. Our home is from 1963 and doing our best to restore it to its swanky atomic Rat Pack golden era of Las Vegas. We have a 1958 Streamline (airstream) trailer, a 1958 Chevy Bel-air, 1955 Hotpoint fridge, and 1951 Chambers stove and many other vintage clothing and items we use daily. My goal is to acquire a mid-century pair of matching washer and dryer machines.

Lastly, the reason I'm here is to find a nice 50s-60s-era floor polisher for my VCT floors. No carpets.

Here's a pic of my retrofied kitchen slowly developing. New floors and cabinets coming soon.

Looking forward to learning from you all.
Thanks
Santi

 

[paul]

Welcome, Santi! Your Mid-Century belongings list is impressive; great job on the retrofitted kitchen so far.

I'm not sure if you were thinking of purchasing a floor polisher from a participant on this site or just looking for suggestions. In case of the latter, here are mine: a triple-brush Electrolux Model B-7 (single-tube "T" handle, two-speed made from 1959 to 1963—in gray & white or aquamarine green); more difficult to find) and the similar Model B-8 (single-speed w/wrap-around tube with an inverted "V" handle typically with the shampoo "Carpet Beautifier" set-up, although those made prior to 1966 lacked it; successive colors were aquamarine green, light bronze, teal blue, honey gold, dark bronze, and silver; made from 1963 to 1983 and quite easy to find for sale). The colors matched each era's vacuum cleaners; so you may want to consider a color-matched or mix-and-match set. Replacement parts and accessories would be easier to find for the B-8s.

Recently I saw a Twin-Brush G-E Model FP-5 (listed by its category # P11FP5) with a chrome hood trimmed in green to match the Swivel-Top Model C-7 canister. G-E only made their floor polishers for a dozen or so years, though, so parts and accessories would be more challenging to locate. But the chrome would sure look nifty.

Vintage Hoover twin-brush floor polishers are also plentiful and color matching with some Convertibles, Constellations, Portables, and Slimlines. The company also made a Floor-A-Matic with a wet pick-up, but they are less common and parts and accessories are difficult to find.

There were other mid-century makes, too, such as Eureka, Sunbeam, Shetland; but they are less common due to their limited production spans. Still, you might find one at a garage sale. A Kirby 500-Series vacuum with a floor polisher attachment is also something to consider.

Online auction websites such as eBay offer some research and buying options, too.

Keep us updated with your floor polisher-scrubber search and your kitchen upgrades.

Again, welcome to Vacuumland!

 

[SANTI]

Thanks for accepting my request and for the warm and detailed welcome Paul.

I'm certainly searching for a classic floor machine for VCT tile. No carpet. I was looking at both the Electrolux B7 and B8 models, but I will also look at the others you've mentioned. I have a few questions.

Is there an advantage to having the double speed on the B7 over the single speed of the B8?

Why is the B-12 version so cool looking and were these ever available in the States?

 

[eurekaprince]

Welcome Santi! You are definitely going to need a vintage 1950’s Regina Elektrikbroom to hang in your broom closet! Most suburban homes in North America had one!

 

[hygiene903]

Welcome aboard Santi! Even though you don't have carpeting, I think you would find a good mid-century tank or cannister vacuum cleaner quite useful. Electrolux, Air-Way Sanitizor, Hoover Constellation, Westinghouse, Silver King, Royal, or GE would all be good choices.