Windsor Versamtic!!!!

[pulsator]

YAY!!! After wanting one for over 10 years, I finally was able to get myself one!!! I used to use one of these everyday in my after-school daycare during my kindergarten days. I have been looking for one on eBay for a while, but the ones that were on there were rather beat up and still sold for a lot of money, so I made the decision to buy NEW! Anyway, I thought I'd share my happiness in what will hopefully be my daily driver even when I get a house of my own!!

 

[pulsator]

One of my favorite features... How low can you go?

 

[colovacman]

very nice

what a great looking machine! How well does it work? We had one at my last job, but the maintenance crew practically destroyed it and they had to replace it twice. I never had the chance to try it out to see what kind of power it has.

 

[vacuumkid3]

My school has a...

Bac-Vac! I want to ask if I can use it, but I feel as though kids will start to make fun of me for it. I mean, they have done this all along, but oh well. I like Windsor a lot. They seem like cool vacuums. I hope to try it out eventually!

The only problem with a Kirby is: it can't go that low! haha

 

[swingette]

well, my understanding is that those Versamatics are workhorses. in household use it should last for a LONG time.

 

[sukething]

colovacman....

We have a industrial cleaning supply here in Denver that sells this machine as well as the bags and so on. It is located on Sante Fe. I had to go there to get bags for my Windsor, house hold edition which was brown instead of blue. It was a great machine I did love it. I bought my brown Windsor at out at the Flea Market.


David

 

[luxg]

Hi Jamie, that is really a nice looking machine!! I too remember seeing a few of them over the years. Just wondering as well, I just got back from a short trip to Cancun and stayed at the Ritz Carlton hotel, of course I had to check out the vacuums they used. It was one that looked very much like the one you have but the name on the machine was Karcher, that is one I have never heard of. They had the uprights on the carts but I also saw a really neat canister model with the same name. Just wonder if anyone has heard of them.

 

[bisonian]

Versamatics

These are great machines. A two-motor built by Sebo, they've been on the U.S. commercial scene for a couple of decades now. I used to work in hospital and nursing home housekeeping departments, and they very quickly became a standard there, thanks to their low noise, high performance and near-indestructible build quality.

Colovacman, I shudder to think what that maintenance crew did to destroy one of these machines -- was a sledgehammer involved?

 

[compactc9]

Actually, the Windsor company is not far from Denver in Englewood.

 

[bisonian]

Sure, Windsor's in Englewood

But those Versamatics all have a little tag on 'em that says "made in Germany." Or more likely at the time I was responsible for purchasing them, "made in West Germany."

Sebo offers basically the same machine for home use as the "Sebo Electronic 370."

Windsor, in my experience, is one of the best companies in the pro cleaning equipment business. They offer excellent products at good prices. Easy to operate, easy to maintain, and well-designed machines. Granted, we're talking 20 years ago, and my understanding is they've been bought by another company fairly recently.

Rick

 

[bisonian]

And just to clarify that Sebo/Windsor link, with a very good description of the Versamatic's features ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...loc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget

 

[bigbubbacain]

Windsor/Sebo

All of my Windsor Sensor uprights have had the on-board tools with small lettering on the the plastic which read: Sebo. I guess Windsor didn't do a very good job of putting their name on everything. The Versa-Matic is an excellent machine, only to be later out done by the Versa-Matic plus. I saw one in '82 for the first time at a YMCA camp in Colorado, not realizing the connection with the product being made in that state. It was just the first upright I had ever seen with on-board hose and tools. My jaw dropped open at the time. I believe this was Sebo's first model, possibly Windsor's too. Sebo also used to make these machines available to Servicemaster. I had one of those in turquoise with their logo on it. I think the Karcher is the same machine, but in the U.S. I've only seen a single motor Karcher upright.

 

[bisonian]

Yes, ServiceMaster turquoise!

I was working for ServiceMaster when I first saw one of these machines in 1985! ServiceMaster private-labeled everything when they managed hospital housekeeping departments. If they lost the contract, all the machines and supplies went with them, and it made it a little harder for the replacement manager (often in-house instead of another contract company) to find the equivalent product.

Believe me, in 2 1/2 years, I saw enough ServiceMaster green to last a lifetime.

 

[compactc9]

Windsor is located in Englewood, but as someone said, they are made in Germany by Sebo. Windsor only makes their large floor machines everything else is for the most part European made.

 

[bigbubbacain]

ServiceMaster

Hi Bisonian!

I had a friend who also worked for ServiceMaster and relayed similar stories to me like yours. He wasn't quite as polite as you are about their shade of turquoise.

 

[bisonian]

ServiceMaster

BigBubba:

While I'm not a huge fan of ServiceMaster in many respects, I can't really be too harsh. They gave me a job when I was first out of college, and had no real-world experience at all. That led to lots of other good things, such as meeting my wife when I worked in a hospital. But no, that turquoise is NOT one of my favorite colors!

Rick

 

[bigbubbacain]

Something I just realized,

Being a part-time artist/designer, I'm always stumbling upon little tidbits of color theory, color history and aspects of marketing trends for color in the design world (blah blah blah). Anyway, Windsor's signature color for the VersaMatic, VersaMatic Plus, FlexaMatic and Sensor is one that is referred to by some paint manufacturers as 'Royal Blue'. Other paint manufacturers refer to it as 'Windsor Blue' (as in House of Windsor/Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, etc.) This must have been some type of inside joke of Windsor Industries, but I guess the color significance got lost on their market. Anyway, the machines are amazing.

OMG I just forgot about all of those Royal machines done in a very similar shade of blue.