Holiday 2017 Cleaning Team

Electrolux purists would naturally disagree, but here are the two Electrolux/Aerus vacuums I like to use and depend on more than any other. Note that the Lux 4000 is more or less interchangeable with the Lux 6000, for both practical and aesthetic purposes.

Despite being warned, as a little boy, that "...little boys who play with Electroluxes don't get to...etc, etc", I still like them, 40 years on, and don't care what people think of me for doing so. I might also add that, in all my years of using (and playing with) Electroluxes and Aeruses (?), they've never let me down.

2018-03-30: I decided about a week ago (mid-March) to break out the white, grey, and red Epic 3500 to use for a while. I was astounded, after months of using the Lux 4000 + 6000, just how lightweight the Discovery variant uprights are! It literally felt like lifting a feather compared to the 4000 and 6000.

No Decals? Just Grab a Marker

I am, as near as its possible to be, a vacuum purist. I want everything possible on a machine…logos, attachments, hoses, cords, etc, etc…to be all original. It's a great theory, and gratifying when it comes true, but reality is slightly different. 

I mentioned in my page on the Guardians and Lux 9000s, that two particular models, the Guardian Encore and the Electrolux Lux 9000, were frequently missing their side bumper decals, according to the pictures I see. This decal is nothing but a faux aluminum strip that's glued onto the bumper…a shoddy shortcut in an otherwise great series of vacuums. I vastly preferred the recessed lettering of the Renaissance, or the raised lettering of the Epic 8000 and Guardian 75th.

Anyway, the point of all of this is, I just picked up an Electrolux Lux 9000, Model C134D, and guess what? Both decals are missing. I was, and still am, disappointed, despite the fact that the machine works perfectly, is in otherwise good cosmetic shape, and is a perfect addition to my near complete Style R collection. 

Now, this might be ridiculous to some, but here is what I did:

With the proper script as my guide, I hand wrote the ‘Electrolux’ logo on the side bumpers, with a silver Sharpie, and then overwrote it in dark blue. One can still see the vestiges of the glue in the corners there. Its obviously amateurish at best, and the left side looks worse than the right, but still, I'm fairly pleased with this, I must say. One of these days, I might happen upon a replacement bumper, but until then, I think this will do.

Top logo. Luckily, my handwritten logo is fairly close to this colour.

The full ensemble:

Ratings sticker. Again, the same power ratings as all the prior machines.

In the living room, ready for service. 

As far as I know, the model line mates for the Lux 9000 were the same as for the Guardian Encore. I don't think anything changed much until the company name change to Aerus, but I could be wrong on this.

By the way, I really don't know why this machine, and the Aerus Lux 9000, were not called "Guardian", as they are Guardians in every respect. If there's something different about them, I can't see it anywhere. As I proposed elsewhere, perhaps the company wasn't sure about keeping the Guardian name. In any case, I'm happy to have this machine as part of the collection.

Stepping Up on Stage for an Encore

The Style R family is steadily growing. Here is the latest member, the Electrolux Guardian Encore, Model C134C.

Logo closeup. Yes, its still dirty, as the machine is fresh out of the box, but it will of course be getting the full-on 'Eluxurious' spa treatment before it gets put into regular service.

Note that this logo matches the later Guardian Model C134E...on the latter, the black stripe bears the notation "By Electrolux", and the stylized "E" becomes a "G".

Logo and Good Housekeeping guarantee sticker, which leads me to believe the Guardian Encore and the Lux 4000 came out at the same time.

Left side view:

Kitted out with hose, wands, Sidekick, and combo floor/carpet nozzle. This, by the way, only came with the small attachments, which aren't shown. I just borrowed everything else from my other blue and white Style R models. I don't happen to have the original power nozzle for the Encore, which features the "Electrolux" in dark blue script, exactly like the Lux 4000 power nozzle.

I do happen to have a hose, the handle of which features the "Electrolux" in the same script as the side bumper, as this picture shows:

The hose itself is rather yellow; I'll just get a new or newer one one of these days and stick this handle on it.

Side bumper logo:

Ratings sticker. Same power ratings as the Guardian 75th Anniversary C134A, and right up to the Aerus Lux 9000, I believe. The Encore certainly sounds exactly like those models.

Speaking of sound, I naturally turned the Encore on, to see if things were good to go, and, to some extent, they were, but, when I put my hand over the hose end to check out the suction, the motor shut off. Uh huh. Something, of course, was askew in the auto-shutoff system, so I dismantled the front cover, and found that the little hose connected to the suction inlet had fallen off completely. Back on it went, back on the front cover went, back on the motor went, and all was good.

I'll be adding more comments after the Encore has completed its first tour of service, and after he's been cleaned and shined. In the meantime, I'm happy to have another addition to the Style R lineup. I still need to get the Electrolux Guardian C134B 75th Anniversary, the Electrolux Lux 9000 C134D, and the Electrolux Guardian C134E.

Since the Encore is its sister/brother/whatever you please to call it vacuum, and since its the current upstairs upright, here is the Lux 4000. Vacuums when not in use make good doorstops.

The Guardian Encore all cleaned and polished up. This was the first of the Style R machines with the new white and blue colour scheme.

Into service as the bare floor/dusting/upholstery vacuum, along with its model line-mate, the Lux 4000:

A Couple of Useful Attachment Additions

I happened to spot these attachments in the Shop Vac section of Canadian Tire, and decided to pick them up, for use with the Shop Vac and the Aeruses (?) and Electroluxes: a flexible crevice tool and soft bristled dusting brush.

Out of the package. Naturally, these can fit onto the Style R hose with an adaptor. I can see tons of uses for these tools, especially with electronics.

I also decided to pick up a new hose for the Shop Vac, as the one that came with it didn't have a proper handle. This one is 8 feet long, with a handgrip and suction bleed valve.

Handle, with the suction bleed valve open:

And finally, the trusty old Shop Vac with new hose and tools:

The soft bristled dusting brush goes into service, on the Epic 8000, to clean off my computer desktop and all its assorted paraphernalia. It gets right into the grooves of everything, which is just why I wanted it.

Uprighting the Collection

Here is the latest addition to the collection, and the first in quite some time: an Electrolux Lux 4000 upright. I saw it on eBay for a reasonable price and decided to snag it, as these models are not very plentiful.

Before I go on, since I got the Aerus Lux 6000 long before the 4000, and since the former is a virtual copy of the latter, and has the same groundbreaking features, one can read the details here

The Lux 4000 is a fairly significant machine in the company's history, being the first to incorporate a built-in hose and telescopic wand, and on board attachments*. Its also the first model to offer an electric, fully-direct connect accessory hose, and the first to have the electronic information panel, as featured on some of the cylinders...in the case of the Lux 4000, its on the power nozzle. Finally (and this is not particularly important), the Lux 4000 was the first upright with the new white and blue colour scheme, which lasted for another 8 or so years.

This purchase only included the combo tool and the machine, but no matter...the Lux 4000's younger brother, the Lux 6000, is happy to share his electric hose and baby crevice tool, and I have tons of Sidekicks**

I believe the matching machines for the Lux 4000 are the Lux 3000 (Discovery style) upright, the Guardian Encore, the white and blue Epic 6500 (possibly the last Epic before it changed to the Lux 7000?), and the Lux 5000 (non-automatic). At least, all of these have similar graphics.

Right out of the box, and festooned with dust and packing material:

Bits and bobs: stretch hose and telescopic wand, carry handle and bolt, combo dusting/upholstery tool, cord and handle assembly, and package of bags the seller included:

Logo, down both sides of the bag chamber. Looks kind of big and a bit garish, but hey, it had to go somewhere.

Power nozzle. I like this 'Electrolux' script. I believe its the same as that on the American Model G, as well as a few others.

Hose hook. A little ratty looking, but still functional.

You knew this was coming. The Electrolux Lux 4000 and the Aerus Lux 6000*** together at last. See here for my impressions of the latter, all of which pretty much apply to the former.

Note that these machines sound identical and look identical; the only differences are the graphics, the model and company name change, the model number (U140A in the case of the Lux 4000), the Lux 4000 'seal of approval' from Good Housekeeping****, and the green-bristled brush roll on the Lux 6000 (which, as I mentioned, I've since changed).

Of course, I have a lot more cleaning and detailing to do on the Lux 4000, but he did get a scrub down with detergent for these pictures. He works and sounds fine; I did a brief test run. When I get around to it, I'll add a HEPA filter*****

Magic-erasered, washed, and Armor-Alled, with a brand new bag, carbon pre-filter, and after filter...I'd say Mr. Lux 4000 is ready for service, and that's what's going to happen tomorrow.

UPDATE June 29th, 2016: I put the Lux 4000 into service today, doing the carpets, floors, dusting, and baseboards of the upstairs and downstairs. He works perfectly. As I said above, all I need now is to add a HEPA filter*****, and the properly matching attachments mentioned in Note 2 below, to have everything perfect. One point: when I use this and the Lux 6000 in the summer, I tend to wear rubber gloves, as my sweating hands tend to slip off the rubber or rubber-like handle.

Lights ablaze, and motors running:

I should say that I have never used an upright to vacuum the car, but why not? The Electrolux/Aerus uprights have long enough cords to reach right from the house (same with the Style R models), and a long enough electric hose to reach all over the car without moving the vacuum.

*Some earlier uprights, as I mentioned in another post, had clips on the back to store the two plastic wands, as well as the combo tool and baby crevice tool, but this was, I'm reasonably sure, essentially an add-on. The Lux 4000/6000 incorporated the tool holders into the vacuum body.

**Actually, the dusting/upholstery brush and electric hose I'm using with the Lux 6000 have ‘Electrolux’ stamped on them, so they seem to match the Lux 4000. To complete both vacuums, I need 2 white and blue Sidekicks, blue and white electric Aerus hose (no logo?), blue and white Aerus dusting/upholstery brush (no logo?), white Aerus baby crevice tool with outer ridge (no logo?), and white Electrolux baby crevice tool with outer ridge. In addition, the little yellow sticker on the inside of the bag door about using genuine bags and where to order them says, in the case of the Lux 6000 "Only use genuine Electrolux bags". Clearly, they whipped this one out to take advantage of the company name change.

***The Lux 6000, as a matter of fact, just got a brand new rocker switch; very appropriate timing as his older brother had just arrived.

****I'm not sure of the arrangement and rationale behind the Good Housekeeping guarantee sticker on the machine, but I believe this did feature on some of the company's other models as well (I have seen it on the Guardian Encore, for example...maybe it was only this particular lineup that featured it?).

*****Today (July 16th), I did in fact add a HEPA filter. I might also try some of the aftermarket HEPA bags for some of my machines.

It Needs Cream

I was looking at my early 88 yesterday, and realized that none or hardly any of the pictures I have of it have captured the cream-coloured trim. For whatever reason (ambient lighting, I suppose), it usually comes out white. To try to rectify this 'error', and also just for fun, I took a couple of snaps of the 88.

You can definitely see hints of the cream here, I think, although, as before, pictures simply don't do this wonderful vacuum justice. As a matter of fact, out of all the 80 series machines I own, and perhaps even out of all the other machines in my collection, this particular 88 is arguably in the best cosmetic shape. As can be seen in the pictures, there are a few blemishes, but the overall condition is amazing. This, by the way, includes the running condition. This 88 sounds softer and sweeter than any of my other 80 series machines, and runs exactly the way I can remember the various 80 series machines running when I was a kid, with the identical sound. Yes, I forget most other things about my childhood, but I can remember the way an Electrolux 80 series machine is supposed to sound.

Some Forgotten About Pictures

I was tooling through my 'Vacuums' picture folder on my external hard drive, and came across a few pictures that I thought looked nice, and a few oddities as well.

First, a blurry picture of the (later) 88. I like the perspective on this one.

The 89, with the PN III, cleaning the carpet. A very common sight during my younger days.

The Epic 8000 sits on the table. It isn't as elegant as the Renaissance C104A, but much more so than the C104H.

Yet another table picture, for the Guardian C154B.

This is the second of the vacuums I had when I was living in China, the Electrolux Ingenio. It was fairly powerful, had a variable speed motor, reusable cloth bag, and a telescopic wand. I regret not snagging this and bringing it back home.

The bronze Model G. Very elegant...in fact, the most elegant American Electrolux.

Another view of the bronze G:

The blue Model G, decked out with hose cord and power nozzle. I'm not sure if the original hose cord would have been in matching blue or not.

Black vacuums look better in the shade?

The first of the two vacuums I had when in China, the Electrolux 'Tabby'. This is the first, and to date only (thank heaven) machine that ever conked out on me. I was vacuuming with it one day, and it gave a dismal groan and blew up in a puff of smoke. Oh well. It did serve me well enough for a couple of years.

Time Traveling Adventures in Filtration

Here are three curiosities I had hidden away in a drawer of my vacuum collection room.

First off is an unused air filter for the Models 30, 55 1, 55 2, 55 3, 54, and 57. I really can't remember where this came from. It might have been thrown in when I got one of my 50 series machines, or it might have come from somewhere else. Either way, this is never going to be used, but saved for posterity.

Here is an unopened 80 series air filter, although, as can be seen, it looks black (!). I can only say that the package is unopened, and its going to stay that way. This must have been issued during the run of the ZB/Z 89 and 87, although the latter is missing from the model list, and note, too, that the American models E and LX use the same filter (and, presumably, the Automatic E/AE?)

Yet another 80 series replacement filter. This one, going by the graphics and the Consolidated Foods logo, was issued sometime during the AP series run (1973-82). It COULD be during the run of the AP 200/Super J, going by the gold graphics on the package, but who knows?

I'm not really sure about the efficiency of these filters versus modern ones, but I'm pretty sure they're not quite up to par. That being said, they do capture quite a bit of fine dirt and carbon brush dust. They also make the already near-silent 50 and 80 series vacuums even quieter!

As an addendum to 80 series filtration, I wonder if any Electrolux aficionados out there remember a filter that attached to the (outside) blower end of the machines? I definitely remember my grandparents having one for their 86s. It was white in color, and vaguely rectangular in shape. I have never seen one of these before or since, so I'm totally stumped as to its function. Was it the 'hospital filter', not shown, but mentioned, in the ZB/Z 89/87 manual, or was this supposed to be the same as the one on the American Hospital G? 

Another possibility is that this was some kind of scent filter, perhaps a precursor of the Clean Sweep Chips. I do remember a lot of 80 series Electroluxes having a distinct scent...I don't know if they sold some sort of product to suck up in the bag and emit a scent, as with the Clean Sweep Chips, or was it a scented oil on the interior filter, or this mystery filter I'm remembering, or what. I'd love to figure this one out.

Speaking of the 80 series, if I have no other vacuum-collecting ambition (and I really do, but never mind), its to have a complete set of all of the 80 series machines, in all their possible variations, with all possible changes/differences in hoses, hose handles, hose cords, wands, power nozzles, standard attachments, optional attachments, manuals, etc. I want the whole bloody kit and caboodle.