Guest Blog: Vacuum Fix.

How many broken vacuums do you have? We discovered one in our garage, and my girlfriend took it upon herself to handywoman it. Here's her story:


Vacuum cleaners, like office chairs in a college environment, tend to have a short life span. Even the smartest bag-less that boasts 12 amps and has a washable filter isn’t invincible to the demands of a collegiate household.

Recently, I was perusing the shop outside the house, which is home to a random assortment of dilapidated washing machines, office chairs and furniture that we inherited upon moving into our house and I saw a black vacuum, standing neatly against the wall.

Upon first inspection, the vacuum looked fairly new, just a little dusty. So I plugged it in, and tried to vacuum some dirt, but realized not only was the vacuum not sucking, it was blowing! I flipped it upside-down and examined what might be the problem, and noticed a large buildup of hair and lint behind the brushes.

I traced where a tube, leading to the bag-less dirt chamber, connected to the underside of the vacuum, and realized there was major clogage. I unscrewed a screw that was holding the tube in a curve, and was able to shove a long metal skewer (mmm anyone want to BBQ?), through the tube, unearthing about 4 solid inches of sawdust, hair clippings and lint. I put all the pieces back together, plugged it in, and viola, it sucked in a good way.

TOOLS NEEDED
-multi tool or drill

-skewer or plumberesque tool