Vacuum cleaner

A vacuum cleaner is a device that uses an air pump to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from carpeted floors.

History

The first hand-powered cleaner using vacuum principles may have been the "Whirlwind", invented in Chicago in 1865.

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The first powered cleaner employing a vacuum was patented by H. Cecil Booth, a British engineer in 1901. He noticed a device used in trains that blew dust off the chairs, and thought it would be much more useful to have one that sucked dust. He tested the idea by laying a handkerchief on the seat of a dinner chair, putting his mouth to it and sucking hard. He nearly choked, but upon seeing the dust and dirt collected on the underside of the handkerchief he realised the idea could work. He patented it in Britain, creating a large petrol-powered horse-drawn vacuum cleaner known as the Puffing Billy that would park outside a building to clean it, although Booth never had great success with it.

Related Topics:
British - 1901 - Horse

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In 1905 'Griffith's Improved Vacuum Apparatus for Removing Dust from Carpets' was another manually operated cleaner, patented by Walter Griffiths Manufacturer, Birmingham, England. It was a portable and easy to store vacuum device which was powered by "any one person (such as the ordinary domestic servant)" who would have the task of compressing a bellow type contraption to suck up dust via a removable, flexible pipe to which a variety of shaped nozzles could be attached. This was arguably the first domestic vacuum cleaning device to resemble the modern day vacuum cleaner.

Related Topics:
Birmingham - England

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Another inventor, in the United States, had much better luck with an electric vacuum cleaner. In 1906 James Murray Spangler, a janitor in Canton, Ohio, rigged a vacuum cleaner out of a fan, a box, and a pillowcase. In addition to suction, Spangler's design incorporated a rotating brush to loosen debris. He patented it in 1908 and eventually sold the idea to his cousin's "Hoover Harness and Leather Goods Factory." In the USA, Hoover remains one of the leading manufacturers of household goods including cleaners, and Hoover became very wealthy from the invention.

Related Topics:
United States - 1906 - James Murray Spangler - Canton, Ohio - 1908 - Hoover

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In Britain, Hoover has become so associated with the manufacture of vacuum cleaners that in English, "Hoover" is virtually a synonym of vacuum cleaner, indeed many people will often refer to their "hoover" and "doing the hoovering" even if the machine has been made by another manufacturer.

Related Topics:
Britain - English - Synonym

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For many years after their introduction, they remained a luxury item, but after World War II, vacuum cleaners became ubiquitous amongst the rising middle classes. They tend to be more common in Western countries because, in some parts of the world, wall-to-wall carpeting is uncommon and homes have tile or hardwood floors.

Related Topics:
World War II - Middle class - Carpeting - Tile - Hardwood floor

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