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A Subject that Really Sucks
Apr. 16th, 2005 07:01 pm
To recap a previous long post, I want a cannister vac for the bare floors in my house, because the current fashion, uprights, don't work worth beans on bare floors. Not only that, I want a powerful one with HEPA bags.
My boss recommended her "Big Vac," which she got mail-order for $400. Yeah, it looked pretty good, but that's a bit pricey for a plastic shell with a filter bag and a suction fan. Wasn't there something more reasonable?
I'm ashamed to admit how long it was before it occurred to me that I had a Shop-Vac out in the garage. I got it to suction water out of the garage when it flooded badly one springtime. I fixed what caused the flood, and haven't really used the thing much since.
The Shop-Vac is definitely powerful enough. Instead of a bag, it uses an air filter of the pleated paper, automotive style. I'd prefer a bag but the filter might catch dust well enough, I suppose. It's worth a try, since I already have the thing. Right?
Let's go down to the store and see whether they have accessories to let you use a Shop-Vac indoors. This looks like the asile. Down here, on the right...
Oh..
my..
god.
Replacement filters. Foam rings to use as prefilters for your paper filter. TEN-GALLON HEPA dust bags. Wands, hoses, bare floor brushes, an air-driven "turbine" beater brush for vacuuming carpets. Everything you could think of. How long has THIS racket been going on?
Got some bags, got a floor nozzle, went home, watched sand, cat food, lint, debris, small bits of paper, bottle caps vanish from the floor and rattle their way into a filter bag which, when I unfolded it, turned out to be six inches deep, eighteen inches high, and four feet long. This, folks, is one vacuum that really sucks! The Feline Contingent calls a vacuum cleaner a "Cat-Eating Machine," which is usually silly, but they're right to be afraid of this one.
The only problem is that its double-insulated, grounded power cord is way short. But duct-taping a 25-foot bright orange contractor grade extension cord to the vacuum's own cord not only solved that problem, it also won me another 27 Manly Man points. (I looked it up in the rule book. If you don't believe me, look it up yourself!)
If I were getting one JUST to use indoors, I'd probably get the 5-gallon model. But since I already have it, I guess I can put up with the 3 horsepower, 12-gallon Mega-Suck. Oh yeah. :)
My boss recommended her "Big Vac," which she got mail-order for $400. Yeah, it looked pretty good, but that's a bit pricey for a plastic shell with a filter bag and a suction fan. Wasn't there something more reasonable?
I'm ashamed to admit how long it was before it occurred to me that I had a Shop-Vac out in the garage. I got it to suction water out of the garage when it flooded badly one springtime. I fixed what caused the flood, and haven't really used the thing much since.
The Shop-Vac is definitely powerful enough. Instead of a bag, it uses an air filter of the pleated paper, automotive style. I'd prefer a bag but the filter might catch dust well enough, I suppose. It's worth a try, since I already have the thing. Right?
Let's go down to the store and see whether they have accessories to let you use a Shop-Vac indoors. This looks like the asile. Down here, on the right...
Oh..
my..
god.
Replacement filters. Foam rings to use as prefilters for your paper filter. TEN-GALLON HEPA dust bags. Wands, hoses, bare floor brushes, an air-driven "turbine" beater brush for vacuuming carpets. Everything you could think of. How long has THIS racket been going on?
Got some bags, got a floor nozzle, went home, watched sand, cat food, lint, debris, small bits of paper, bottle caps vanish from the floor and rattle their way into a filter bag which, when I unfolded it, turned out to be six inches deep, eighteen inches high, and four feet long. This, folks, is one vacuum that really sucks! The Feline Contingent calls a vacuum cleaner a "Cat-Eating Machine," which is usually silly, but they're right to be afraid of this one.
The only problem is that its double-insulated, grounded power cord is way short. But duct-taping a 25-foot bright orange contractor grade extension cord to the vacuum's own cord not only solved that problem, it also won me another 27 Manly Man points. (I looked it up in the rule book. If you don't believe me, look it up yourself!)
If I were getting one JUST to use indoors, I'd probably get the 5-gallon model. But since I already have it, I guess I can put up with the 3 horsepower, 12-gallon Mega-Suck. Oh yeah. :)
