The first people to clean their floor with a vacuum must have believed black magic was afoot. One second there’s a piece of debris on the floor, the next second, it’s gone!
It’s easy to take vacuums for granted today because it feels like we’ve had them forever. In a sense, it’s common to think that vacuuming is nothing more than circulating across your home to suck everything up. There’s more to it than that, and learning a few tips about the new machines on today’s market will improve how you clean.
Plus, the Hoover origins story should help you appreciate how vacuums didn’t just make cleaning faster and easier, but healthier too.
Some History
The Hoover story begins in 1908 with a janitor and sometimes inventor from Ohio named James Murray Spangler. Spangler believed that the carpet sweeper he used at work contributed to his asthma, so he sought to make a device that would eliminate the dust rather than transfer it to a dustpan then place it into the garbage.
Spangler mounted an electric fan motor to a carpet sweeper, then added a broom handle and soapbox. He refined the design and patented the Electric Suction Sweeper, then set about producing them with his children. They made only about three of these primitive vacuums a week.
Spangler gave one of these machines to his cousin, Susan Troxel Hoover, whose husband and son ran with the product. They bought the patent from Spangler, founded the Electric Suction Sweeper Company, and retained Spangler as a production supervisor until the time of his death when the company changed names to the Hoover Suction Sweeper Company.
A designer named Henry Dreyfuss worked for Hoover, and his work helped create the vacuum we recognize today. Until he came around, the mechanical workings of the vacuum weren’t concealed. He was the first to cover up the ugly parts with a tear-drop cover.
So you see, the history of Hoover is the history of the vacuum! Today, most vacuums from other manufacturers borrow from these designs. Hoover is still innovating and offers a range of cutting-edge products that meet different needs.
A Hoover Vacuum Can Do a Lot: What Can It Do
Hoover vacuums are designed to fulfill various aims, depending on their shape, size, and design.
Many Hoovers are lightweight and cordless, so you don’t need to keep plugging and unplugging them while moving throughout the home. They come in upright and blade shapes. Some vacuums use bags, while others are bagless or come with reusable filters.
Many can block allergen particles. Vacuums suck up visible debris but also the smaller bits that aren’t immediately apparent to the naked eye.
Some vacuums are specifically designed for hardwood, others for carpets. Most vacuums are made for both, and all you need to do is change modes when switching from one to another.
Over the years, Hoover not only created the vacuum but refined it repeatedly, improving the way it looks and works. There’s a Hoover vacuum for all your cleaning needs.
Styles of Hoover Vacuums
Let’s look at a few different models of Hoover to appreciate how the company has expanded from its original design and scope.
The Smartwash PET Automatic Carpet Cleaner gets dust and debris out of carpets in a way that other vacuums can’t. Our furry friends tend to shed hairs, and machines like the Hoover spotless portable carpet and upholstery cleaner eliminate the particles that dirty our homes, even when we have trouble seeing them.
Spot cleaners use suction, but they target the messiest messes. Some vacuums are designed to clean a broad space. This one is meant to tackle concentrated stains. Hoover makes among the best carpet cleaner for old pet urine – as we all know, sometimes the training of housebroken pets, well, breaks.
The upright vacuums might be larger than the stick vacuums, but they also hold up to three times more dirt. They are among the best vacuum cleaners for carpets for pet owners. The type of vacuum you need probably depends on the amount of floor you need to clean. Those living in an apartment compared to a large house will be OK using a blade vacuum, where lesser dirt capacity and shorter run time isn’t a problem.
The cordless stick vacuums usually run for about 40 minutes. The Hoover spotless portable carpet and upholstery cleaner might not provide enough time to vacuum an entire mansion, but it should be more than enough for a one- or two-bedroom apartment. When you’re done, just plug it back in, and it’ll be ready for your next job.
If you need to vacuum for hours, you can’t use a machine that only works for 40 minutes at a time before needing another charge. Just make sure you have a multi-layer HEPA filtration, so it traps all but a tiny fraction of the dirt in your home. The Hoover air cordless 2 in 1 reviews are in – this is a lightweight, easy-to-use vacuum that works effectively.
For situations that are messy and moist, a wet/dry cordless utility vacuum is the ticket! They’re rugged machines that pick up all manner of debris, making them perfect for use in the shop, basements prone to flooding, and other places. Ensure you’re using the right setting for what you’re trying to clean — change it to wet mode when vacuuming moisture or even standing water, or the liquid will damage the dry filter. Prep the bin properly, too.
Hoover makes streamscrubs that don’t even use suction. The power of steam applied to sealed floors will clean more high-maintenance surfaces beautifully. While not technically a vacuum because it uses steam rather than suction, Hoover has transcended their original designs to provide all manner of cleaning.
Fun Hoover Vacuum Tips
Who says cleaning can’t be fun? There are a few ways you can improve how you clean while also enjoying yourself along the way.
Want perfect “vacuum lines” on your floor? Your home will look like it was cleaned professionally when the vacuum leaves behind it a trail or pattern. To get the perfect vacuum lines, just push the vacuum forward towards the wall, then pull it back at a diagonal angle and repeat.
The floor will have inverted triangles that resemble a backgammon board. This approach also makes it easy to see where you have and haven’t vacuumed, so you don’t miss a spot or double back over the same areas.
The Hoover max extract 60 will make a breeze of carpet cleaning. Get nice vacuum lines on a carpet that will look like new.
The vacuum cleaner was the first paradigm shift in indoor cleaning in perhaps centuries. Suddenly, there was no need to stoop over a dustpan. Microscopic dust particles that people didn’t even know existed were suddenly getting shot up off the floor and into a bag, ridding homes of dust inhabitants would breathe in unbeknownst to them. It’s not hyperbole, then, to say that the vacuum made people’s homes cleaner than they could have ever imagined.
Hoover was right there from the beginning to the point that Hoover is synonymous with vacuums the way Kleenex is with tissues. Keep the above advice in mind so that only your vacuum, not your cleaning routines, suck.