Will the current vacuum industry ever change to something like it used to be?

[DesertTortoise]

I agree in part Gr8DaneDad, my whole life I have practiced buying good quality items and then taking very good care of them. That is why my "daily driver" is a thirty year old Kenmore canister and why I am now so adept and disassembling Powermates and resurrecting them when they die. My fiancee rolls her eyes at the age of some of the stuff I use and how careful I am with it. She tears things up like most people do then expects new. Then the fight begins .........

For most working families coming up with that initial $800-$900 to purchase a high end vacuum is daunting with all the other demands on one's finances. I don't know if you ever spent any time down in the bottom of the heap, but I did and I remember what a struggle it was, and I was one of the smarter ones who never, ever for any reason borrowed money or used credit. I always had some money in the bank, just in case, but coughing up that much money in one chunk for a household product? I hit the thrift stores or prowled the Penny Saver for second hand items when buying big ticket household goods. This is, I think, why cheap nasty vacuums will be with us for a long time (same with washer/dryer combos, boy have they all gone down the tubes, anyone remember the stainless steel drums of Speed Queen washers and dryers?). What I cannot get over is how chintzy the top of the line Kenmore Intuition canister is for how much Sears is asking for the thing. That, friends, to me is an insult.

 

[Gr8DaneDad]

DesertTortise,


 


I've been at the bottom of the heap for a good portion of my life. I'm there now due to illness/health issue and location, though things have gotten better over the last 2 years. Even so, I've never bought garbage. I've scoured thrift stores, yard/garage sales and even the streets on trash day to find better quality that I could afford. If that wasn't an option, I saved and then negotiate the best cash deal I can.

 

[luxman107]

GreatdaneDad

"it's not difficult to justify the expense of a good vacuum. Invariably, over 10 years you will save many $$ and with care a well built vacuuum, such as the brands you list, will last 15-20 or more years and the savings just multiply. Just went through this exercise with my sister... in the last 5 years she's bought 7 vacuums at an average of $137 each ($959). That would have paid for any of those vacuums and it would still be working instead of in the trash, a pile of broken plastic. False economy just costs more."


I agree 100. % in addition to the fact that those bargain cheaply made machines just pump half the dirt back onto the air

 

[sebo_fan]

£29, £39, £49, £59

Hi-LO, you're expecting the same cost price of all those cheap small bagged cylinder vacs that Argos used to sell in the 1990s.

For the cost price then, it simply 'aint gonna happen now. The recession has meant prices hikes have had to go up.

The Daewoo model you speak of may well be a bargain but I bet finding bags will be hard on the high street. Unless you solely shop online, or you are that kind of a buyer, then yes it is probably a bargain. I thought the AFK model I bought from Makro many moons ago was a bargain - it came with free dust bags and then I learnt that sourcing bags for it to be a major problem!

Hoover's 2.3 litre capacity Whirlwind cylinder vac at £59-99 is a budget special bargain. Okay, so it may not have the same capacity as the Daewoo but you can bet you'll be able to source bags for at a wider source of stockists; same with Electrolux and other brands.

Some buyers are now beginning to realise that by buying the cheapest isn't the easiest in terms of added consumables required. Even with bagless vacs like Tesco or ASDA's own machines, obtaining a spare filter if the original one has perished can be difficult. I found the same with the Argos bagged upright - a terrific vacuum cleaner but unless I returned to Argos all the time (and not always in stock) to buy the bags or consider sellers online, there is no other clear or easy way to obtain dust bags for that model.

 

[hi-loswitch98]

I didn't mean 1990's machines, I meant the ones sold in the early 2000's from £25-£50.

I have found a stockist for the Daewoo bags & Wilko also sell their own version too.

Hoovers Whirlwind Bagged Cylinder uses Electrolux Powerlite Cylinder Dust Bags also. I was comparing the Daewoo Cylinder vac as a good alternative to some Hoover & Vax cleaners.

 

[sebo_fan]

Does the Daewoo come with metal or plastic pipes?

 

[hi-loswitch98]

Metal extension pipes.

 

[djub85]

Do American-made vacuum companies even advertise anymore? How is anyone to know that Aerus is the new name for Electrolux, or that they're even for sale? Much less that they're made in America...


 


Granted, I doubt Aerus would ever put an ad in Car & Driver magazine (the only genre of magazine I subscribe to), but you'd think there would be some television advertising at least. I see Dyson all the time on TV, but they're made in Malaysia, I think.  It would be nice to see Aerus on TV reminding people that they exist and that their products are made in the USA.


 


As a whole, American-made vacuums have little-to-no advertising time. I think seeing that change would brighten the future and doom fewer brands to Chinese manufacture in the future.

 

[DesertTortoise]

In decades past Sears advertised their vacuums just about everywhere.