Cohka’s Place

There are many places that you can use to find parts for a vacuum cleaner that is broken, providing you have someone around that is handy enough with tools to take a swing at fixing it. The part that breaks the most on most less expensive vacuum cleaners is the drive belt. It’s the rubberized belt that is around 6 inches long, that when stretched out turns the brushes on the bottom of the vacuum.

When you take the vacuum over objects that don’t belong in the vacuum cleaner, such as pieces of rope or a cat’s tail and the unit comes to a screeching halt, the burning smell that will soon fill up the air is your drive belt slowly melting away.

Luckily, the drive belt is available at several locations, so many in fact that your local drug store may even carry them! They are cheap to buy and a snap to replace with a screwdriver and a bit of common sense. For other types of problems that you may encounter, there are a lot of resources at your disposal just in case you decide to tackle the problem on your own.

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Unlike the use of wheels that most vacuums have, the Dyson DC15 upright vacuum has a large yellow ball that will allow the vacuum to pivot and roll with the greatest of ease. With the DC15, you simply turn your wrist and the entire vacuum cleaner will change direction. The ability to maneuver this easily is something that is commonly associated with canister style vacuum cleaners.

In addition to the unique yet innovative ball design, the Dyson DC15 also offers quite an interesting filtration system. No matter what you may think or hear, Dyson vacuums don’t use filters in the way that most vacuum cleaners do.

With the Dyson DC15, the air and dirt are sucked into the container where the outer cyclone removes large particles such as food, hair, and even fibers. The air will then move into the shroud and inner cyclone where it is rotated with a higher velocity to drop fine particles of dust out of the air.

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As history indicates, the first model vacuum cleaner wasn’t even a vacuum cleaner at all, more of a carpet sweeper. This was invented by a man named Daniel Hess, who in 1860 patented a machine that featured rotating brushes on the bottom and bellows that helped to create suction.

However, there is no evidence that this very machine was ever produced. Some 40 years or so later, in 1908, James Spangler of Canton, Ohio received a patent for the very first portable electric vacuum cleaner. It was in fact his cousin in law, William Hoover, who lent his name to the legendary company that produces quality vacuum cleaners even today.

For more than 150 years, the vacuum cleaner has been improved upon greatly. From doing your weekly vacuuming of your home, doing a spring cleaning, or simply leaving the vacuuming up to the robot, there is a vacuum out there suited to your needs. With upright, canister, HEPA filtered, bagged and bagless, there is always a vacuum cleaner for your needs on the market.

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The major criteria involved with choosing a canister vacuum cleaner is what floor surfaces you plan to clean versus the power of the vacuum. Almost all canister vacuum cleaners offer 3 choices of tools for the surfaces of floors:

1. A bare floor hard plastic brush that’s about 10″ - 12″ wide with soft bristles.
2. Turbo brush that features a spinning drum roller with harder bristles.
3. A power head brush that is similar to the turbo brush although it is powered by a seperate motor.

Both the turbo brush and power head brush vacuums have a spinning drum roller with bristles that resemble that of an upright vacuum cleaner. While the brushes look and perform pretty much the same, the power head brush vacuum has a smaller seperate motor that turns the brush on the bottom of it, therefore making it more powerful and much more aggressive than the turbo type brush that is turned by the flow of air being pulled past it.

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With the creation of the carpet, the invention of the carpet cleaning machine wasn’t far away. The very first hand held carpet cleaner was designed and tested in Chicago in 1860, while the first power operated vacuum cleaner was invented in the 1900s by Cecil Booth.

Around the same time Cecil Booth finished his invention, a man by the name of James Spangler came up with his own invention - a vacuum cleaner that he later sold to his cousin Hoover. As everyone knows, Hoover has since became one of the most dominant names in the world of vacuum cleaners and is certainly one of the most popular household names in the world.

For many housewives, the vacuum cleaner was deemed a blessing, as it helped to keep the house clean in a fraction of the time. From the beginning, vacuum cleaners were only able to suck up dust and dirt, although with modern technology these days, inventors are able to design wet cleanes that can steam carpets and kill germs at the same time.

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Deep cleaning vacuums
The typical features with these types of vacuums include rotating brushes that agitate the carpet pile and loosen the dirt for better clean. There are some models that offer a handy automatic tool conversion button or switch that you can push or flip as you move from carpet to hardwood floor.

Hand held vacuums
Hand held vacuums are light weight, can be corded or cordless, and you can even mount most of them on the wall if you prefer. The performance of the cordless models will depend on the charge of the battery, as the battery power drops, so will the suction power.

The two types of hand held vacuums include straight suction and suction with a power brush. If you are considering a hand held vacuum cleaner, you should consider its primary purpose, if you plan to use it on a regular basis or occasionally on smaller jobs.

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The belts for vacuum cleaners can come in many styles and hundreds of different sizes. Normally, vacuums use a belt to drive an agitation device, which is also known as a brush roller. With very few exceptions, most vacuums will use either a flat belt, round belt, or a geared style belt.

The type of belt that your vacuum uses is very important, not only for durability, but performance as well. The condition and type of belt your vacuum uses will have a lot of impact on the systems ability to clean carpet. The proper use of agitation is almost 70% of the cleaning ability of a vacuum cleaner.

Suction is also very important. The suction is what pulls the dirt that is removed from the carpet into the collection area of the vacuum. The suction, or airflow, is the key when cleaning hard surfaces or when using attachments. Without suction, a vacuum cleaner could only bring more dirt to the surface of carpet. Even though both agitation and suction are important with vacuuming, the agitation is what actually cleans them.

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As with most things in life, there is really nothing free. The two most claimed advantages to bagless vacuum cleaners were lower operating costs and better performance. As far as the cost issues go, all vacuums must filter the exhausting air they use to carry the dirt into the collection area, as they would otherwise simply pick the dirt up from the floor and spit it right back out.

Whether you have a bagless HEPA filter, a pre-filter, or disposable bags, they all need to be changed at some point. With the average life of a vacuum cleaner, you can expect to spend the same on either collection system for filters, but if you value your time, you can expect to spend quite a bit more on a bagless system.

To keep your bagless vacuum cleaner operating at peak levels, you’ll need to empty the dirt container when it is full and perform regular maintenance on the filter. The type of filter the vacuum uses will determine just how much service will be required, although most use a pleated HEPA filter.

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The carpet market is a vast market, with many types to choose from. Below, you’ll find the several different types of carpet and what they will offer you and your home.

Woven
Woven carpet is produced on a loom that is very similar to woven cloth, being cut pile. There are many different colored yarns being used and the entire process is capable of producing very intricate patterns from designs that are pre-determined. Normally, woven is the highest quality of carpet on the market.

Tufted
This type of carpet is produced on a tufting machine by using either a single colored or sometimes a non colored yarn. If non colored is being used, then the carpet will be dyed or printed with a design as a separate process. Carpets that are tufted can either be cut pile, loop pile, or a combination of both. Machines can produce a lot more meters of carpet than weaving, and they are normally at the lower end of the market.

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Going beyond beige
Long ago, when the choices of carpet were limited to basic beige, the designers tended to treat it more often than not as a neutral background for rooms. These days, with numerous patterns, textures, and colors to choose from, the carpet is quickly emerging as the focal point in many interior designs.

Although you may think the need for neutral carpet has faded away, it hasn’t, as Berber is still an excellent choice. Unlike the plain choices of the early 1990s, the versions of today offer more pattern and texture. Even the traditional types of Berber carpet offer more visual interest with more extreme differences in pile being cut thicker, with deeper loop textures.

Color being sprinkled against a neutral background will add interest and dimension while helping to mask spots and spills. The flecks of color are now appearing against tan, beige, and cream type backgrounds as well as in other neutrals as well.

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