Hoover - Convertible U4123

The Kirby is a lot of fun - it’s like vacuuming your carpet with a jet engine. They do need tune-ups though. The silicone seal in the fan chamber eventually wears out, and the handle actuator sometimes needs adjustment. Vintage Electrolux machines are always a hit (they actually still make the same body style, just without the good smooth motor). Hoover constellation is fun: floats like a hovercraft. Zero-G uses the same technology in a modern machine. I miss mine. It was the reproduction model from the 2000s. Hoover fitted it with a beefy 1400w suction motor and it had gobs of power. I’m praying to the vacuum gods I can find a New Old Stock one. There’s of course the Hoover Convertible (decade 80 too) and eureka F&G machines. Hoover Concept I and II are excellent cleaners. There’s some really neat Kenmore cleaners too. Whirlpool was their manufacturer then they switched mainly to Panasonic.

My favorite machine of all time in the 80s while working at a vacuum shop was the Hoover Conquest. Absolute beast of a commercial vacuum compared to a Sanitaire. Both models essentially the same today 40 years later I think. Filter Queen kind of interesting but a bit of a mess to change filter. Wouldn't mess with a Rainbow even though it's unique. Older metal Royal tanks are simple beasts. Never a fan of Kirby, we had piles of them and never bothered to fix or rebuild them for sale used. Metal Hoover convertibles were very reliable and over the years came on just about every color. I gave my sister a pristine pink one and she loved it until she got a Royal later on. Best era of vacuums IMO. Almost all were actually fixable vs mostly disposable today.

In some ways, not much would change! Avoid bagless (filter queen, messy to empty), cheaper models would have more reliability problems though vacuums were simpler and easier to repair then. Good quality canister vacuum such as an Electrolux if you have a mix of hard floors and rugs. Electrolux also had better than average filtration for the time and was a bit more compact and easier to pull around than many competitors. Compact/tristar similarly a good option. If you had mostly carpet or prefered to sweep hard floors, a quality upright such as a hoover convertible would be hard to beat. Back when consumer reports was truly excellent (they're hit and miss now), Electrolux usually earned the top rank for canisters and hoover at the top for uprights.

What specific vacuum model did you buy? Shag carpets are harder to clean because the long shags(?) or tassels can jam up the brushroll. You need a vacuum with a high range of carpet height adjustment. The recommendation of a used Kirby is actually quite a good one. Good condition used Kirbys can be easily found from $50-100. They're heavy but they last forever. They have a huge range of height adjustment and they were vacuuming shag carpets when shag was invented. Other old school direct air or dirty air vacuums with carpet height adjustment will also work like the Eureka F&G uprights, Hoover Convertible, and Sanitaire Tradition to name a few. If you like used vintage vacuums this is a good excuse to check them out. The Kirby and Sanitaire are still sold brand new. Of these vacuums Kirbys have the longest lasting belts, each belt should last 4-6 months each and they're really cheap to replace like $2 a piece. The Eureka, Hoover, and Sanitaire belts need to be replaced more often but they're even cheaper around $1 each.