Vacuum Frustration
OK, so my family is a bit hard on vacuums. I'll admit that right up front. To be quite candid, after only one or two days with no vacuuming, our carpet looks like a fertile garden of crumbs, shreds of paper, dirt, flour, broken crayons, toys and . . . well, you get the picture. Still, I don't understand why a vacuum can't last longer!
Terence and I bought our first vacuum right after our honeymoon. We had no kids yet, and I could vacuum our apartment about once a week and leave it sparkling. Things got a bit tougher when we moved to Escondido because of all the dirt that constantly made its way into our house, but still, the vacuum chugged through it. But by the time M was nearly two and J was a newborn, our vacuum gave up the ghost. My mother generously bought us a new one. It was a nice Hoover Windtunnel, and I was really impressed with it.
However, this vacuum simply could not survive the conditions in Sanders. Our house had carpet in the the dining room and the kitchen (yikes!), and we had a preschooler, a toddler, and a baby. By the time we moved to our new home, our vacuum was missing parts and groaning every time I dragged it across the floor. My parents came to the rescue once again, this time generously giving us a fancy Hoover Windtunnel 2 for Christmas.
I was so impressed with it at first. It has all the fancy gadgets, including an automatic cord rewind even! It even looks about as stylish as a big vacuum can. However, it has now been about 10 months, and I want to throw the vacuum out the window. First, the plastic cover that the faceplate screws into has been cracking, leaving us with only two measly screws holding the face plate on. Difficult, but the vacuum still works. Then, the roller bar snapped in half! Have you even heard of that happening???? Unfortunately, since the vacuum was a gift and my mom didn't keep the receipt, I couldn't get warranty service. So I bought a new roller bar-- which cost $35.
Then, the vacuum quit picking anything up. I've dealt with clogged vacuums before, but this was unusually difficult. To get to the blockage I actually had to unscrew a whole section of the back panel. When I finally managed it, a torrent of debris poured out onto my carpet, some it stuff I remembered vacuuming four weeks ago. Still, I had an utterly blocked tube that I couldn't quite reach, even with my nifty dryer vent cleaner. I ended up using a long boning knife, only to discover that my blockage was not caused by over-zealous vacuuming. Instead, there was a valve in that part of the tube that had gotten stuck shut. Aargh!!! I managed to get it open and put everything back together, but by the time I did I was sweaty and covered in four weeks' worth of nasty gunk.
Why, oh, why can't carpets be self-cleaning like ovens?
Terence and I bought our first vacuum right after our honeymoon. We had no kids yet, and I could vacuum our apartment about once a week and leave it sparkling. Things got a bit tougher when we moved to Escondido because of all the dirt that constantly made its way into our house, but still, the vacuum chugged through it. But by the time M was nearly two and J was a newborn, our vacuum gave up the ghost. My mother generously bought us a new one. It was a nice Hoover Windtunnel, and I was really impressed with it.
However, this vacuum simply could not survive the conditions in Sanders. Our house had carpet in the the dining room and the kitchen (yikes!), and we had a preschooler, a toddler, and a baby. By the time we moved to our new home, our vacuum was missing parts and groaning every time I dragged it across the floor. My parents came to the rescue once again, this time generously giving us a fancy Hoover Windtunnel 2 for Christmas.
I was so impressed with it at first. It has all the fancy gadgets, including an automatic cord rewind even! It even looks about as stylish as a big vacuum can. However, it has now been about 10 months, and I want to throw the vacuum out the window. First, the plastic cover that the faceplate screws into has been cracking, leaving us with only two measly screws holding the face plate on. Difficult, but the vacuum still works. Then, the roller bar snapped in half! Have you even heard of that happening???? Unfortunately, since the vacuum was a gift and my mom didn't keep the receipt, I couldn't get warranty service. So I bought a new roller bar-- which cost $35.
Then, the vacuum quit picking anything up. I've dealt with clogged vacuums before, but this was unusually difficult. To get to the blockage I actually had to unscrew a whole section of the back panel. When I finally managed it, a torrent of debris poured out onto my carpet, some it stuff I remembered vacuuming four weeks ago. Still, I had an utterly blocked tube that I couldn't quite reach, even with my nifty dryer vent cleaner. I ended up using a long boning knife, only to discover that my blockage was not caused by over-zealous vacuuming. Instead, there was a valve in that part of the tube that had gotten stuck shut. Aargh!!! I managed to get it open and put everything back together, but by the time I did I was sweaty and covered in four weeks' worth of nasty gunk.
Why, oh, why can't carpets be self-cleaning like ovens?
Comments
I went through three vacuums with nothing but frustration. And then I went to Sears. (I could totally do commercials, don't you think?)
Seriously though, the Kenmore vacuums are super high on the consumer reports - have even been #1 - and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my canister! That metal wand just pops out of the vacuum thingy for edging, and there's no stupid dust cup to empty. Just a good old fashioned bag. So nice, so easy, and it's at least as powerful as any other vacuum (except for a Kirby, but who wants to lug one of those around?)So that's my two bits - Good Luck!!
Thanks for visiting me:)