Help the Hoover!

[Katia_k]

So, as we all do our mad holiday cleaning, I got curious. How do all of you keep your vacuums alive? I've seen a few sagas of poor machines being brought low by our tresses, and was curious what people's solutions were.

So far, roommate and I peel hair out of the furniture attachment, and it goes..badly. I suspect she may murder me soon. We're both growing our hair out, but she is not nearly as much of a shedder as I am. Current plan is to try out a box cutter. But if this fails, our vacuum will still be sad, *and* she'll have a box cutter. (I feel perfectly safe in reality but still).

So, any good tips, or even just funny stories? Because this has to be more fun than actually vacuuming, right?

[Rowdy]

I've never had a vacuum die on me and I shed ALOT. I wait until the little roller thing is pretty much cocooned in hair and then I cut a line all the way across with scissors. The hair is then easy to grab and pull off.

[Zesty]

I periodically pick hair out from around the vacuum cylinder with a seam ripper. And if I'm straight up cleaning hairballs, I pick up what I can by hand and then use the hose.

[Jo Ann]

Use scissors and/or a box cutter to get the sheds off the roller/beater brush.

Keep a supply of vacuum cleaner bags on hand. Also, when replacing your vacuum bag, clear out the bag connector and check the suction of your hose. See next and last paragraphs, respectively.

Keep an unbent wire coat hanger in a safe place, preferably with your vacuum and cleaner bags--very helpful for pulling clogs out of your hose.

Disconnect the power cord from the outlet if you DO take apart your vacuum to clear out clogged hoses, clean the roller/beater brush, etc, and PLEASE tie your hair back or put it up!! When testing said vacuum after you've cleaned it, keep your hair WELL out of the way!! Vacuums take NO time at all to connect with your tresses and pull you down to it's level! Patience pays to get yourself untangled, but be prepared for snaps, crackles, tugging and other unpleasantries as you *ahem!* disconnect yourself from said vacuum... :shocked:

[neko_kawaii]

Seam ripper to cut the collected hair off the beater. So much easier than trying to get scissors in there and does less damage to the plastic.

[Jo Ann]

I forgot to add one thing--keep at least one vacuum belt on hand. You WILL need to disassemble the vacuum to replace the belt, and it's easier than it looks. Definitely remember to unplug the little sucker before you take it apart--they're usually easy to put back together, but the new belt can make replacing the beater brush a little hard/tricky. How will you know if the belt needs to be replaced? If the beater brush gets "stuck," or you smell rubber burning are good signs. The belt should only go down about 1/4" or so--if you can depress the top belt to the bottom belt, your belt is stretched and should be replaced.

[EdG]

I used to remove hairs from the beater brush after every vacuuming. Eventually, hairs would get caught in the bearings and could not be removed. Then, the beater brush needed replacement.

After going through three brushes in 16 years, my final solution was to get rid of the beater brush and to cover the belt opening with a small piece of foam insulation. The vacuum cleaner works adequately well without the beater brush.
Ed

[Shorty89]

I used to remove hairs from the beater brush after every vacuuming. Eventually, hairs would get caught in the bearings and could not be removed. Then, the beater brush needed replacement.

After going through three brushes in 16 years, my final solution was to get rid of the beater brush and to cover the belt opening with a small piece of foam insulation. The vacuum cleaner works adequately well without the beater brush.
Ed

Interesting idea! I also try to run a cat brush over the carpet to pick up hairs before vacuuming.

[Alex Lou]

Ever since my hair immediately destroyed a brand new vacuum when I was 19, I only buy ones without the beater attachment. But I only have wool area rugs that clean nicely with just the brush.

[Nique1202]

Ever since my hair immediately destroyed a brand new vacuum when I was 19, I only buy ones without the beater attachment. But I only have wool area rugs that clean nicely with just the brush.

This. I got a nice canister vacuum with good suction, a washable filter, and no beater bar. It can be a little too strong on the kind of vinyl sheet flooring you find in some bathrooms (my vacuum is more powerful than the glue) but it's great for everything else, in my experience. It's also so much smaller and lighter, technology's come a long way since the old days.

[lapushka]

In Belgium most vacuums (except maybe Hoovers) don't have "beater brushes". Just a pipe, for air suction, that's it. Which is *great* if you have hair. If you can find a vacuum like that, jump on it!

My mom however, just sweeps here (big floors) and so she never finds a hair, maybe one or two. Due to me keeping my hair up and detangling at the sink.

[leayellena]

Hahaha I had to throw a good laugh at this. My man has collarbone length wavy-curly (like the real 2c) coarse hair. He gave up vacuuming long time ago. We use a broom for cleaning up the coarse hair. My hair is conditioned and bunned or sometimes braided so there's almost to 0% chance of shedding. There can be some shedding when I let my hair down after oiling or so... But the few fine strands can easily vanish and be found later. Oops! I shed a bit lol.
PS: I do the detangiling in the sink.

[akurah]

I have a Dyson. I just take it to the maintenance/repair shop periodically. To get hair off the bar, i use a seam ripper.

[EdG]

In Belgium most vacuums (except maybe Hoovers) don't have "beater brushes". Just a pipe, for air suction, that's it. Which is *great* if you have hair. If you can find a vacuum like that, jump on it!Unfortunately, nearly all vacuum cleaners in the US have beater brushes. US houses have a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting...
Ed

[lapushka]

Unfortunately, nearly all vacuum cleaners in the US have beater brushes. US houses have a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting...
Ed

We have carpeting here too (at my mom's), but it's just the regular vacuum for that too. Odd, isn't it. How things can be so different.

[EdG]

We have carpeting here too (at my mom's), but it's just the regular vacuum for that too. Odd, isn't it. How things can be so different.Another factor may be your 220 volt electricity compared to the US 120 volts. I remember reading an article about the EU creating a law to limit the power of vacuum cleaners.
Ed

[Reyn127]

I just use scissors to cut the hair off the spinning brush, and pull it off. My vacuum pretty much stops working if it gets clogged with hair.

I also collect all my sheds and make sure the hair doesn’t get on the floor. Maybe you could try keeping your hair up at home, and when you comb it out make sure that the hair goes in the trash, never on the floor.

[embee]

I brush my hair in only one part of the house and have it in a bun every day otherwise. Before I vacuum I sweep whereever there are not rugs. Every now and then I use either box cutter or seam ripper to remove any stray hairs that the vacuum found.

[Lizabeth94]

My hair is currently short, but i have a long haired collie, so his fur always cloggs the vacuum. The only solution is to constantly clean out the rollers on the bottom, scissors usually work best. I have to do this every single time i vacuum or it will break.

[LornaDoone]

My vacuum has a self-cleaning beater bar. I love it!

[Groovy Granny]

I have used manicure scissors on the beater brushes of my vacuum and my carpet sweeper; thankfully I have never clogged the vacuum hose :p

The seam ripper is a great idea :thumbsup:

[Hexen]

Before I vacuum, I use an oversized lint roller that looks reminiscent of an old push reel lawn mower.

Not really.

But I bet if I did, it would help. :p

[Alex Lou]

Unfortunately, nearly all vacuum cleaners in the US have beater brushes. US houses have a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting...
Ed

I've never had a problem finding them. They tend to be low-end models which is a bonus as far as I'm concerned since I'm frugal.

[lapushka]

Another factor may be your 220 volt electricity compared to the US 120 volts. I remember reading an article about the EU creating a law to limit the power of vacuum cleaners.
Ed

Yes but that's only been in recent years - has nothing to do with beater brushes. :)

[EdG]

Yes but that's only been in recent years - has nothing to do with beater brushes. :)220-240 volts enables more powerful appliances than 120 volts, which may reduce the need for a beater brush.
Ed

[Katia_k]

I just use scissors to cut the hair off the spinning brush, and pull it off. My vacuum pretty much stops working if it gets clogged with hair.

I also collect all my sheds and make sure the hair doesn’t get on the floor. Maybe you could try keeping your hair up at home, and when you comb it out make sure that the hair goes in the trash, never on the floor.

If I were to collect all my sheds, I would have time to do nothing else. I don't generally comb, so they all just kind of drift all over the place. If I find them they go in the garbage, but there's only so much one woman can do against a head of curly hair.

It is a canister vacuum, so it could be a lot worse. It's just the attachment that we use for beds and couches that really takes a beating, but the rest of it holds up pretty well. My roomy just gets aggravated because it gets tangled up every time she vacuums.

Really this is just a thread to make sure she still loves me in another year and I don't wake up being smothered by a pile of my own hair. :D

[czech it out]

My approach was to invest in a high end vacuum with all metal parts. Even though I was cleaning the brushroll multiple times per room vacuumed, my hair was still getting stuck in the plastic workings in other areas and burning/melting them. Now I have a vacuum with a metal brushroll (Simplicity brand) and no complaints. Before I used the Eureka pet hair vac.

[lapushka]

220-240 volts enables more powerful appliances than 120 volts, which may reduce the need for a beater brush.
Ed

Yeah but that's not the reason we don't have them here. There's a wattage difference, not a voltage difference that's been applied, Ed. 900 Watts is all we can go to for vacuums now. We've always had 240v here in this country. Always.