My hair killed the vacuum!

[SFreader]

Alright I was vacuming up hair balls, and I admit it has been a while but really. My shed hairs wrapped themselves around the brushes and burned out the motor.

what type a vacumes do you guys use?

Whould a shop vac last any longer?

[Johanna]

I use a bagless vaccuum, I only spent $70 and its still working perfect, no problems or hair getting wrapped where it shouldn't. I also put the brush bit down that your supposed to use on lino, I find it picks up much more hair that way. The only problem is having to de-hairball the head of the vacuum every few minutes.

[Mishka_84]

We have the Dyson Animal... (It's purple! :) ).

We love it, never have any problems with the bristles. It's bagless, and has great suction. My DH loves it so much he's recomended it to everyone we know. Best part is it also has a seperate attachment that is great for the couch; the suction spins the bristles on the hand held tool. Great for pet (and people) hair on the couch.

We read almost all of the reviews before we bought it. Almost all of them were great. The only ones that weren't were (IMO, don't mean to offend anyone here) lazy, didn't want to bend down to change from carpet to bare floors, or wanted a light on the front (I've never understood the light thing, do you vaccume in the dark?). But seriously, this is the best vaccume I've ever used. :D

[eadwine]

That Dyson.. which type number is it? I see various.. 07, 08, 16, 20, 25... list goes on heheh.

[Anje]

I picked up a refurb Dyson (DC07, I think -- basic yellow and gray model) that I really like. I do need to occasionally de-hair the beater bar, but it sucks amazing quantities of junk out of the carpet.

I've heard of longhairs using vacuums without beater bars, though I can't imagine them cleaning as well. The easiest solution, if you want to go that route, is to get a wet/dry shop vacuum. An added bonus is that, according to my parents, a wet/dry and water get stains out of a carpet better than most carpet cleaning products.

[DotDotDot]

We have the Dyson Animal... (It's purple! :) ).

We love it, never have any problems with the bristles. It's bagless, and has great suction. My DH loves it so much he's recomended it to everyone we know. Best part is it also has a seperate attachment that is great for the couch; the suction spins the bristles on the hand held tool. Great for pet (and people) hair on the couch.

We read almost all of the reviews before we bought it. Almost all of them were great. The only ones that weren't were (IMO, don't mean to offend anyone here) lazy, didn't want to bend down to change from carpet to bare floors, or wanted a light on the front (I've never understood the light thing, do you vaccume in the dark?). But seriously, this is the best vaccume I've ever used. :D

I work for a lady that uses that! I vaccumed her house with it once. She has two long-haired cats and one has a favorite cushion on the couch. Because of it, there was this giant pile of cat hair on that cushion. The vaccum did a good job getting it off without having any problems. It has a ton of really nice features, but you have to get the hang of everything that comes apart and how to put it back in! I spent an hour vaccuming that lady's house, but about half of it was just struggling to get things out and put things back where they came from. :p

We, on the other hand, have a cheap-o Bissel (dunno what model) from Wal*Mart. Before we vaccum, we have to run our toes over the carpet and pick up as much hair as we possibly can and throw it away. Every so often my mom has to sit down in the middle of the living room floor with a screwdriver and pry the human and animal hair out of the brushes and then throw it away. I would not reccomend this one, but so far we haven't had a problem with it.

[frizzinator]

I use an Oreck. Forgive me for asking what is probably a stupid question, but after you cut, pulled and cleaned off the hair from the beaters, did you push the reset button?

[MoonCreature]

I picked up a refurb Dyson (DC07, I think -- basic yellow and gray model) that I really like. I do need to occasionally de-hair the beater bar, but it sucks amazing quantities of junk out of the carpet.

I've heard of longhairs using vacuums without beater bars, though I can't imagine them cleaning as well. The easiest solution, if you want to go that route, is to get a wet/dry shop vacuum. An added bonus is that, according to my parents, a wet/dry and water get stains out of a carpet better than most carpet cleaning products.

Most people here in Finland use vacuums without beater bars, I actually don't recall ever seing one with irl (the first time I heard of them was here on LHC when people started talking about killing their vacuums!) . But on the other hand I don't know anyone with whole-floor carpets either. ;)

[BlndeInDisguise]

We just have an old (not sure how old. I think maybe 60's or something like that) Kirby vacuum. I don't know that we could actually KILL it with hair, but the hair does get wrapped around the beater bar.

My sister actually brushes her carpet before she vacuums. She just takes her brush and runs it along the carpet and gets big brush-fulls. Eeeew!!!

[Silver & Gold]

I have a Dyson as well. The best vacuum I've ever owned.

[Dulci]

We have a Dyson, DH loves it, he knows how to use all the brushes and crevice tools. Like DotDotDot, I haven't figured out how to take it apart and how to put it back together, but since I don't do the vacuuming it doesn't much matter LOL.

We have a long haired cat, and both my DD and myself have long hair. Weekly, DH will cut the hair wad off the beater bar with a long thin serrated letter opener knife he has.

[Chromis]

I'm very happy to not have any carpeting where I live now, but I loved my small shop-vac when I did! Those things'll suck up just about anything, and no bag to worry about. You can get a little attachment that allows you to hook up old Kirby bits to them too.

[Magdalene]

We have a Hoover that's alright. DH has to give the brush a haircut fairly frequently. We recently borrowed MiL's Dyson. If I ever can afford one, I'm getting one!

[wimsey]

My hair has now killed 2 vacuum cleaners this year! An Oreck and a Hoover. I ordered a Dyson DC25 Animal yesterday after affirming that the Hoover beater mechanism is not reparable.

It still has great suction, though. Maybe I can use it without the beater to pick up the hair before using the Dyson? I don't know...the hose clogs easily as well.

Maybe the Dyson will last a bit longer? I just hate spending money on things like vacuum cleaners. :justy:

[CopperHead]

Check out the belt. Sometimes it is the belt that burns out. I have destroyed several so far and have to take my Dirt Devil apart and remove the old belt. They can be replaced.

[Juneii]

eep! that happened to me many many times, my mom got so mad. thankfully I'm shedding less now and picking up the strands before we vacuum.

[Speckla]

I blamed the cat. The brush got clogged and burnt out the motor...bad kitty, bad! :( It's his 23" long hairs!
________
Ferrari 275 (http://www.ferrari-wiki.com/wiki/Ferrari_275)

[magpielaura]

I flipped my vacuum cleaner over for the first time a few weeks ago after someone on another thread mentioned murdering their cleaner.....Not a moment too soon! At first I thought "where are the brushes?" The brush bar was a solid cylinder of hair. I have learnt my lesson.

[Carolyn]

If you don't vacuum, you won't kill your vacuum cleaner with all the hair :gabigrin: Works for me :p Haven't you guys heard? Vacuuming isn't good for you...causes all sorts of bad things :D It's much healthier to spend you time surfing LHC ;)

[neon-dream]

We have a dyson, I don't know which kind it is. But we hardly ever have a problem with it =)
xx

[Elenna]

Funny, I just brought a new Kenmore last night. It was that or an upright Dyson.

The reason is that the Kenmore isn't dangerous to computers since the motor is separate from the foot. Vaccum cleaner motors generate an electric field that can interfere with computer equipment.

Human hair, cat hair and computers are a lovely way to make decisions!!!!! :rolleyes:

[magpielaura]

If you don't vacuum, you won't kill your vacuum cleaner with all the hair :gabigrin: Works for me :p Haven't you guys heard? Vacuuming isn't good for you...causes all sorts of bad things :D It's much healthier to spend you time surfing LHC ;)

Wise words indeed. We should let the hair build up into a layer that can be safely peeled up from the carpet. I might have done that the other day at the spot I usually end up standing to comb....:o

[Dolly]

I have an Oreck, and haven't had any trouble with it. I think it is because I used to have a long-haired daschund, and it I didn't take the vacuum apart and clean it every couple of weeks, it would clog.....so, taking it apart and doing that is just habit for me. Continuing to do that now that my hair is long just means that the beater bar doesn't get all wrapped up.....

Mine is already 10 years old and still going strong......

[wimsey]

Yep, the belt was burned out, but also, the metal part of the beater mechanism was bent and part of the plastic of the beater bar was melted/worn away. There was a thick coil of hair inside the end of the beater bar that had deformed the whole thing. Even though I got the metal part to straighten, it wouldn't stay that way because of the missing plastic and immediately burnt through another belt. :(

I suppose I could have tried just replacing the beater, but as it didn't last even a year, I'm not sure the trouble would have been worth it. If the Dyson doesn't work out for some reason, maybe I'll go that route. :shrug:

[danacc]

You know you're a long-hair when--you completely kill the vacuum cleaner.

After the first couple of vacuum funerals, we now happily own a Dyson.

[Siava]

I read this thread on Friday and vacuumed on Saturday. Keeping this thread in mind, I turned the suck/motor portion over and holy cow!! There was a HUGE knotted mess under there. I'm glad this thread got started. I would've burned my vacuum up. too!

[happymommy]

If I could marry my purple Dyson, I think I would. I've had it for three years and I have never managed to kill it.

Quite a feat when you consider I have a white German Shephard, an Akita (this one alone has enough shed to send professional groomers screaming!), and two longhaired people types.

[morguebabe]

I have long hair, my boyfriend has hair to just above what would be BS length on him if wore B's and I have 3 cats. In 4 years I've broke 3 vacuums.

[heidi w.]

http://www.amazon.com/Dyson-Cyclone-Animal-Upright-Vacuum/dp/B000079R7G

I think this is it: Dyson Animal C07 Cyclone (right?)
Brand new it's almost $600. Ouch.

I see there's used one just under $300...

heidi w.

[NeilTheFuzz]

Yeah I'm on 5 kills so far. :) The last vacuum we got has a removable bottom. So, I can see how much fuzz I drop :p

[atlantaz3]

Electrolux. It's the dh's - I had a regina housekeeper that I loved because all the attachments were attached rather than in a box like the e. However the "e" won't die - my mom had a tank version for over 30 years! About once a month the dh cuts all my hair off the roller/bristles.

[rileysmama32208]

now i wish my dh would have ought that clearanced dyson he found for $79 :(

ive killed vaccums.. now we just buy extra belts and make sure to pull and cut the hair out regularly, lol.

[pixi_stix]

I killed 2 cheap vacuum's in 2 years and a Vax after 6 uses. I should have stuck with the cheap cleaners

[Calista]

My hair has never killed a vacuum cleaner. I think it´s because German vacuum cleaners are built differently from US ones (ours have no rotating brushes). I have had the same vacuum cleaner for twenty years now.

If it´s any consolence to you: It´s better to have the hair kill the vacuum cleaner than vice versa! :p

[In2wishin]

I have an Oreck. I burn through the belts once or twice a year and need a new brush unit every couple of years.

[pixi_stix]

If it´s any consolence to you: It´s better to have the hair kill the vacuum cleaner than vice versa! :p

Why does that make me think of zombie films. :laugh:

[LadyLongLocks]

Funny...well not really! I have a trick before I vacuum. I take a large damp sponge and go in big circles on the rugs where I spend most of my time doing my hair. It works great on picking up shed hair.The bad thing is that is it scary to see all of the hair you get this way! When I get up the bulk of the hair, I vacuum. It saves lots of time cleaning out the vac brush and may even save your vacuum down the road!
I originally did this trick with the sponge when I had a dog with lots of hair (Keeshond) and could not vacuum every day. This works great on carpeted steps where vacuuming is a pain!
Believe me, you have to try this!You get up so much hair you can even skip the vacuum sometimes.:D

[white line]

I have a Kirby but doesn't matter the brand, if it has a beater bar, I have to turn it over every so often and pull out the hair that gets wrapped up.

[Khiwanean]

My parents have an Electrolux (not sure about the model, but it's really light and not an upright vacuum). They have me cut the hair off the brush roll every so often (since it's my hair that gets wrapped around the thing - my mom and dad both have short hair). I've heard of hair killing vacuum cleaners, but I've never had it happen myself.

[sweet*things]

We've got an Oreck we've had for about 12 years. I think we've been through 4 or 5 beater bars in that time. You can get generic replacement parts online and fix it yourself if you're handy.

[cm006j]

I've killed a lot of vacuum cleaners too, about one a year. I really want to try that animal one!

I also heard that you should brush your carpet first with a rubber broom like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Handy-Trends-Sweep-Rubber-Broom/dp/B0012XGLKM/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1AVKVPOVY815T&colid=17W7EQKMKZDLK

I haven't tried that yet!

[Madame J]

My husband took apart our vacuum this weekend while cleaning to unwind the hair from the brush. I didn't know that's why he'd stopped until he came out carrying what looked like a shaggy tribble and said "Look what I pulled out of the vacuum." He claims that he holds himself equally responsible, since he just got his hair cut short the day before, but he hasn't had hair half as long as mine for a few months now...

[ibleedlipstick]

Since I have what I feel to be short hair, pre APL, about 22, or 22.5 inches, I didn't think I needed to worry about this. My mom has slightly thinner hair that is about the same length, and we really haven't paid much attention. We vacuum and go our separate ways.

About five minutes ago, I casually strolled over, flipped over the vacuum, looked beneath it, paled, and then quickly flipped it back over and walked away quickly. Long story short, I know why the vacuum hasn't been picking things up well the past few weeks. I am NOT cleaning that thing.

I thought there was supposed to be bristles on that bar? Funny, because it is snugly wrapped with a large amount of black and gray hair:eyebrows:. I would say a solid 2 inches of depth that you have to cut through before getting close to the bar.

[StephanieB]

I have a Kirby but doesn't matter the brand, if it has a beater bar, I have to turn it over every so often and pull out the hair that gets wrapped up.
Truer words ^ were never spoken.

Let's start with the fact that I have 2 large dogs and 7 cats, as well as my own long hair that sheds like crazy.

I have two Kirby vacuum cleaners. The one in the front hall (used on the first floor) is a late-1930s/very-early-1940s Kirby (the old red and silver-aluminum one) and the one on the second floor (used up there in the bedrooms) is a from the late 1940s or maybe 1950-ish; both are, of course, uprights ... and both were my mother-in-law's. You just can't beat an old Kirby. (althhough the new ones aren't made quite as well - still good machines, though) We also have boxes and boxes full of every attachment ever made for Kirbys, since they don't change in design ever. Any Kirby will take any kirby attachment, no matter what years they were made. My sister-in-law has her mother's other Kirby (a 1920s model).


Funny story that's absolutely true:

A few years ago... maybe around 2000... the doorbell rang one day, so I answered the front door. There, on my front doorstep, was an Electrolux salesman! He started off with his spiel... y'know - how he can beat whatever vacuum I have with a ground-in mixture of a mess with his brandy-new Electrolux - and if his vacuum doesn't beat mine, he'll pay me $100 cash on the spot.

I just smiled at him and invited him in, and I told him, "Sure, hun, c'mon in. I could use the spare cash right now."

He paused, hesitatingly, and said that he isn't used to women so willing to let him in. I grinned at him with my shark's grin, and held the door wide open for him. The man - a seasoned salesman - paused again, and it finally 'hit' him.

He asked me, still standing outside my doorway "Um... what kind of vacuum do you have, ma'am?"

I let the screen door go gently, and reached behind my front door (where my Kirby usually stands when not in use - with a butler's uniform cover), and I pulled it out from behind my still-open oak front door, and showed it to him with a flourish.

"This..."

My grin widened to positively feral.

"It's a 1940 --"

"Ah... No," he interrupted me, "Nope. I'm so sorry to bother you, ma'am. THAT's a Kirby and I can't afford to lose $100 today! Have a good day, ma'am."

And he turned tail and FLED, barely keeping his grip on his Electrolux.
He ran through my front gate and right down my slate front path - and I never saw him (or any other Electrolux salesman) ever again.

I think he scratched a sign... y'know, like the old hobo signs... somewhere on my property out front......... so no other Electrolux salesman would ever darken my doorstep again! lol :cheese:

NOTHING beats an old Kirby kept in good condition! Nothing!

Every couple of years, my Kirbys get new belts.
Every few weeks, I turn my Kirbys over and take a razor and a small knife to the hair wound around the beater bars and the brushes, and clean them off.
Once every 10 years, they get a quick servicing (mostly just tightening of screws and bolts).
I swapped out the original cloth bags for more modern (1950s) cloth bags that have a bar to hold paper bags inside the cloth bags, for ease of cleaning. But I kept the original cloth bags, as well.
Hubby does a lot of the basics of servicing them himself. They're easy to service and easy to repair.

Kirbys are expensive new - but if any of you ever get the chance to pick one up used (even the modern models), GRAB IT !!! You'll never regret buying a Kirby.

[UltraBella]

Vacuums.......Ugh !
Seven have perished at our home so far. We currently have a Dyson and are being very careful to not burn it out as well. Sometimes I wish I had hardwood floors !

[atlantaz3]

Electrolux- it's about 15 years old. In it's defense we ripped out the carpet about 7 years ago so I only have the hall runner, a large area rug in the living room, dinning room and spare bedroom the rest of the house is hardwoods. Yes I have to dehair the bar occasionally. Where I find the most hair is the bathroom mats. I saved a large detangle comb that had most of the color tips worn off and use it to comb the mats free of my hair.

[christine1989]

Oreck vaccumes are the best! They are super expensive but mine is 6 years old and still going strong so I think they are well worth the money. I vaccume up cat hair and litter on a daily basis and it hasn't broken even once! :)

[teela1978]

You gotta grab a seam ripper and clean off the beater bar regularly, otherwise they just die. I currently am the proud owner of a new electrolux that I'm hoping won't have too many issues (an aunt has had one for >10 years, many other long-term owners here are making me feel even better about it :)). Its a canister, so I was thinking the motor being so far from the suction-y bit might help? It sure sucks well. And it has a retractable cord... which I'm sure I'll manage to break in the next year or so.

[jeanniet]

I have a Sebo. I did a lot of research and felt it was the best bang for the buck in terms of performance and durability. If I buy something, I want it to last! It's a great vacuum--we have a long haired dog and five cats, and live in a rural area with sandy soil--and very easy to use. It wasn't cheap, but I'm really happy with it.

[Sunsailing]

The amount of hair that can build up on the brushes is amazing. I don't see how we could shed that amount of hair and not be completely bald.

We had a Hoover Wind Tunnel for about 12 years. Great vacuum cleaner with outstanding suction. It finally gave way.

I researched a lot of vacuums before deciding. We almost got a Sebo, but found something even better. I truly believe what we purchased is the best thing available here the U.S.A..
It is the German engineered Miele.
Here is a link:
http://www.mieleusa.com/products/index_series.asp?nav=30&snav=23&tnav=32&oT=186&cat=1&series=117&subcat=2&menu_id=6
We have the Calypso model.
You really have to use one to appreciate the build quality. You can turn off the brushes, but have the motor running. The head swivels (did I say the head swivels?!!) It has great suction and is quiet.
The only negative is the price (about $600).
My wife loves it.
It's so great, that I even run the vacuum sometimes.:D

[jeanniet]

I agree about the Miele. :) That was the number one brand from my research, but it was over my maximum budget of $500. The Sebo was the best that fit into my price range and gave the performance I wanted.