Vacuum cleaners

[Replies From View]

I remember there was a whole family of vacuum cleaners in the Henry range, and they annoyed me because their colours didn't match up with what they would be in the world of Thomas the Tank Engine.


I can't remember them all now but I'm pretty sure there was a tall green cylinder vac, complete with trusty face, called George. 

[steve98]

I believe George is yellow. They're all named after Kings of England (Except Hattie)... (and Leeroy)

EDIT. No, you're right and I'm wrong: George is green (It's James that's yellow.)

[MojoJojo]

Since this has been brought up about roombas a couple of times:

Unless you have stairs, a pet or child or anything on the floor.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/08/15/pooptastrophe-man-details-night-his-roomba-ran-over-dog-poop/88667704/

Not an uncommon story.

You have to be a bit silly for that to happen. The dream of just scheduling the hoover to run at night and then forget about it is rubbish for most - never mind that you still need to empty it*. In practice you have a quick walk around picking crap up off the floor - something you need to do anyway, and maybe putting chairs up on tables if you can be bothered. Something that takes less than 5 minutes. Then you set it off and go to work or a walk or something. Then you come back and it's either finished and you just need to empty it or it somehow got stuck and you shrug your shoulders and try again the next day.

They're not perfect, and you need something else to do the stairs and skirting board, but they do save a lot of time. I often hoover downstairs twice a week and upstairs once a week, which would be obsessive if it took up more than 10 minutes of my time total.

(*yes, there are self emptying ones, but they empty into a tower thing you still need to empty.)

[Dex Sawash]

No idea how you could sleep with a roomba running. The noise is somehow worse than a vac and it goes on for ages. It is a great primary device that keeps things sort of ok until you can bother to get out the real vac.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I don't see the point in roombas really, as mentioned you still need to clear the way for them, and in terms of other housework hoovering is quite a quick and easy job, almost nice to bookend other more unpleasant housework with once you've summoned the energy to actually do housework.

[touchingcloth]

No idea how you could sleep with a roomba running.

I didn't sleep a wink, mate. He's a real goer.

[Blumf]

Roombers have a really disconcerting trick to them; mostly they make bleeps and bloops, but occasional they'll talk, which just creeps you out. It's like if a dog suddenly sat down, looked at you, and said "Hello human, I'd like steak for dinner". They sometimes also 'snore' when charging.

As for Miele, just looked up a dishwasher as it wasn't long ago I got a new one. I currently use a narrow style, and the only model Miele does cost 1200 quid!!! Put that into context, they Hotpoint I actually got was only about 200 quid and should last at least a decade, so I could buy 60 years worth for the price of one Miele. I don't plan on living that long!

[Sebastian Cobb]

Don't buy one expensive dishwasher, buy two cheap ones, first you've got your redundancy, so there's that, then secondly you never need to have to unload a dishwasher into cupboards ever again, just perpetually alternate them between 'fill' and 'empty'.

You can actually get twin drawer machines but they're eyewateringly expensive.

[idunnosomename]

This thread has reminded me that the other day I was searching the internet for help with the brush bar on my Dyson DC25 and came across this forum which really confused me for a minute because I thought I was back on CaB. Can't remember seeing any other active(ish...) forums of this style still going!

bet they're loving this on the unofficial dyson forum

[Dex Sawash]

This thread has reminded me that the other day I was searching the internet for help with the brush bar on my Dyson DC25 and came across this forum which really confused me for a minute because I thought I was back on CaB. Can't remember seeing any other active(ish...) forums of this style still going!

Bookmarked for next CaB outage

[gabrielconroy]

Roombers have a really disconcerting trick to them; mostly they make bleeps and bloops, but occasional they'll talk, which just creeps you out. It's like if a dog suddenly sat down, looked at you, and said "Hello human, I'd like steak for dinner". They sometimes also 'snore' when charging.

As for Miele, just looked up a dishwasher as it wasn't long ago I got a new one. I currently use a narrow style, and the only model Miele does cost 1200 quid!!! Put that into context, they Hotpoint I actually got was only about 200 quid and should last at least a decade, so I could buy 60 years worth for the price of one Miele. I don't plan on living that long!

In contrast to the Miele advice I got on the vacuum cleaner front, the dishwasher repairman I got round to fix my Siemens (it was unsalvageable) that was there when I moved in expressly said it wasn't worth it for dishwashers. He advised on getting a Bosch which is apparently basically the same machine as one twice the price. So on that basis I'd say get a Bosch for £300 or so.

[seepage]

This thread has reminded me that the other day I was searching the internet for help with the brush bar on my Dyson DC25 and came across this forum which really confused me for a minute because I thought I was back on CaB. Can't remember seeing any other active(ish...) forums of this style still going!

What's with the advert to buy a police truncheon? Is that for smashing your Dyson to bits when you've had the last straw with it?

[idunnosomename]

Haha. The site is pleasingly bonkers

https://truncheons.co.uk/

[greencalx]

In contrast to the Miele advice I got on the vacuum cleaner front, the dishwasher repairman I got round to fix my Siemens (it was unsalvageable) that was there when I moved in expressly said it wasn't worth it for dishwashers. He advised on getting a Bosch which is apparently basically the same machine as one twice the price. So on that basis I'd say get a Bosch for £300 or so.

My hedge trimmer is a Bosch. I was about to say there is nothing that it can't do, but my attempt to wash dishes with it was not a great success.

[seepage]

Now this thread's drifted a bit, I'll mention how amusing I used to find the cleaners at work driving a bright yellow Karcher ride-on scrubber around the office, a bit like the video of the cat riding on a Roomba. According to the Karcher site, the scrubbers are now all a boring grey instead of yellow. Boo.

[Replies From View]

It's not straightforward.  None of it.


Let's call this 'The Henry Family' for the sake of argument.  Imagine a Christmas with them all coming around.



"Hello we are The Henry Family."  Hello Henry Family!!


Handful of alt-Henries there, but they are labelled clearly enough, and their shape and colour doesn't deviate away from the Henry form.  They are red, they are short, they have a round footprint, they are Henry.  George there - he's tall and green.  He's George.  Tall blue one?  Charles.  Don't miss Harry, the short green one or Hetty, the short pink one.  They're all wearing bowler hats for reasons best known to themselves, apart from next-gen James who looks designed for light-speed travel and is probably a nod towards James Dyson.  But one thing you can rely upon like the ground beneath your feet:  all red ones will be Henry, and all Henries will always be short and red.


What would you say to a completely different device being added to The Henry Family?  A floor scrubber, for example.  You'd want them to have their own name, right?  Clarence or something.

Well....



How can it change that much and still be called Henry?  It's further away from being Henry than George is!  Where is this floor scrubber's unique name?!


It gets worse, though.



"Henry," there.  A green Henry.  Not Harry.  A green Henry.




"Henry," there.  Not Charles, no.  A taller, blue Henry. 



I'm raging about all this.

[Blumf]

Another British vacuum brand; Freddy, for really greasy jobs:


https://www.freddy-products.co.uk/

They even do pink

[Sebastian Cobb]

Reminds me of the big pump we used at the boatyard for getting all the shit and piss out of the narrow boat's toilet tanks. It was powered by a big flywheeled diesel engine that you started by crank.

[Blumf]

https://www.freddy-products.co.uk/our-products/hepa-and-atex-rated-vacuums/KAV20H

The Freddy range of KAV vacuum cleaners has been purposely designed, built, tested and approved as suitable to pick up potentially explosive and conductive dust and debris in a Gas zone 1 and Dust zone 21

Bet yer poncy Dyson can't do that!

[seepage]

Another British vacuum brand; Freddy, for really greasy jobs:


https://www.freddy-products.co.uk/

I'm sure they've nicked that from the North Korean version of Robot Wars.

[steve98]

Where's The Dreamers? Fucked off?

[Mr Banlon]

When I was a kid, a West Indian friend of mine's mum had some American vacuum cleaner that was the tits. Some big, upright chrome thing that had a massive headlight on the front. Sort of Art-Deco crossed with a '58 Oldsmobile. Surprised it didn't have indicators on it.
I think his mam cleaned the vacuum cleaner more than she cleaned with it. It was kept in the best room/front parlor.

[Blumf]

When I was a kid, a West Indian friend of mine's mum had some American vacuum cleaner that was the tits. Some big, upright chrome thing that had a massive headlight on the front. Sort of Art-Deco crossed with a '58 Oldsmobile. Surprised it didn't have indicators on it.
I think his mam cleaned the vacuum cleaner more than she cleaned with it. It was kept in the best room/front parlor.

Was it a Kirby?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBoF-6v7Hx8

[Mr Banlon]

Was it a Kirby?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBoF-6v7Hx8

Pretty similar to that. Maybe a tad older styled than the one in the video.  The bag was a sort of blue checked moquette.

[touchingcloth]

When I was a kid, a West Indian friend of mine's mum had some American vacuum cleaner that was the tits. Some big, upright chrome thing that had a massive headlight on the front. Sort of Art-Deco crossed with a '58 Oldsmobile. Surprised it didn't have indicators on it.
I think his mam cleaned the vacuum cleaner more than she cleaned with it. It was kept in the best room/front parlor.

Was it one of those front rooms which was only used for Sunday best?

[idunnosomename]

They even do pink

hubba hubba

[Mr Banlon]

Was it one of those front rooms which was only used for Sunday best?

Oh yes.

[touchingcloth]

Oh yes.

My partner's grandparents had one of those. It's incredible, like one of those rooms where someone has kept their drowned ten year old's possessions in place, without the need for a drowned ten year old.

[Mr Banlon]

My partner's grandparents had one of those. It's incredible, like one of those rooms where someone has kept their drowned ten year old's possessions in place, without the need for a drowned ten year old.

My godsons' mum (who is younger than I am) is the only person I know who has maintained anything near that kind of aesthetic for her front room. Even so, it's nowhere near as hermetically-sealed/trapped-in-time looking, but it is kinda kitschy and doodad heavy.
She's Jamaican-born rather than British-born like my other WI mates are, so that's probably the reason.
I don't think any of my friends who are the children of the Windrush generation kept any of that stuff after their parents died.