Best Household Vacuum Cleaners

Introduction:

As mentioned before, household vacuum cleaners have been around for over 100 years now. While not the first vacuum cleaner ever invented, it was the very first one that was both affordable, durable, and reliable enough to become a household staple. The very first design of the household vacuum, patented by Hubert Cecil Booth in 1901, consisted of a nozzle with a bag attached to collect dirt and dust.

While this may seem primitive compared to modern-day vacuums, it’s important to remember that this was one of the very first household vacuums ever created! While there were many different designs over the years that helped advance the technology behind vacuum cleaners (including more advanced systems), they generally stayed around this same design (with some minor changes) for nearly twenty years.

Household Vacuum Cleaners Features:

Much like every appliance or tool today, vacuum cleaners have many different features that modern-day models have built upon. Most of the technology used in modern-day vacuum cleaners is either a result of advancements in engineering over the past 100+ years or simple improvements to the original design. Let’s take a look at some of the common features found on most vacuum cleaners, and see how they’ve evolved over time.

Nozzle:

The function of a nozzle is pretty much unchanged from that first prototype created by Hubert Cecil Booth back in 1901. It’s a small, wavy tube that’s found in almost every vacuum in the world today. This small tube is where most dirt and debris is collected from a floor or rug.

While this basic design of the nozzle hasn’t changed much in terms of function, it has seen some minor improvements over the years. For example, one of the most common changes made to nozzles was moving them from a rigid appearance to a more flexible one (with more rounded edges). Another popular change that was made to vacuum nozzles was the addition of attachments (more on this later).

Bag:

The bag on your vacuum isn’t exactly a new invention either. The very first vacuum cleaners had bags that were made of cloth, cotton or paper (pretty much anything that would hold dirt). Some vacuums also had straws for placing into the bags in place of the bag itself.

One key difference between the early vacuum cleaner bags and those used today is that they weren’t held in place by anything; rather, they were simply tied around the barrel. This method was often used on older models to help prevent dust from escaping during storage. With this method, it’s also extremely easy to accidentally untie a bag while carrying/using your vacuum cleaner (often resulting in dust spilling out of the vac!). This is the main reason why bags today are usually held in place by a metal latch.

While bagless vacuums still exist today, they are not very common in homes. While they’re often more expensive than their bagged counterparts, there are a few key differences between these two models that make them extremely popular. First, the average bagged vacuum cleaner needs to have its bag replaced about once a month (assuming you vacuum on a weekly basis). While this may not seem like much, each bag costs about $0.50 to replace (more if you opt for a more expensive one). On the other hand, bagless vacuums can be emptied of their dirt without ever having to replace a bag. Other than requiring emptying and refilling more frequently, a bagless vacuum cleaner also suffers from less storage issues than its bagged counterpart.

Nozzle Attachments:

While the inventor of the household vacuum H.C. Booth didn’t include any attachments on his design, most modern-day vacuum cleaners have far greater attachments than those produced in Booth’s day.

One of the most common attachments (especially on much more expensive vacuums) is a vacuum head. A vacuum head is simply: a cylinder that attaches to the end of your vacuum nozzle. Most times, the cylinder will have some sort of curved tip at the end, which helps increase suction power (the amount of dirt and dust sucked up by your vacuum cleaner). These attachments can be turned from an upright shape to a suction tube (which works best for cleaning stairs and other odd-shaped surfaces).

Other popular attachments include crevice tools, soft roller brushes, pet hair tools, dusting brushes, multiple floor tools, and mop heads/attachments.