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Mike Hartigan

In article zAjth.777612$1T2.674406@pd7urf2no,
says...
Since you brought up the subject of old vacuums, thought I should mention
mine: a Kenmore upright that I bought for $10 back in 1980, when it was
already, what? probably 30 years old. I just used it yesterday.

In the time I've had it, I've replaced the footswitch, repaired the plug
(the cord going into it got a bit frayed, so I epoxied it into the plug),
and that's it. Oh, and it has a resuable filter bag, so no filters to buy.

Hrm... a 50 year old vacuum bag probably doesn't filter dust out like the
disposable bags of today. Other than that I'd prefer a referbed old unit.

Beat that with any of the pieces of **** made today (except for the
expensive, gold-plated ones) ...

Saw an ad for a vacuum using water to catch the dirt and dust instead of a
filter. It SOUNDS like a good idea. They were selling for $200 for two.
That's more than I'll spend to find out how well it works, but at $100 for
one I may have considered. Dumb marketing.

Any idea if the idea of filtering with water is actually a good idea? Maybe
something I should look for when buying the central vac I'll install in the
next year or two when our old canister dies.

We've owned a Rainbow for about 25 years. It filters through water.
The idea is that virtually nothing gets past the water, so you're not
redistributing dust throughout the area you just cleaned. After 25
years, I'm sold! It was (and, if I'm not mistaken, still is) only
available through home sales. I originally thought that it would be
too much hassle filling, emptying, and rinsing each time we used it,
but it was well worth the effort, IMO. After 20 years or so, it
needed new bearings. The cost of repair was such that I chose to
buy a refurbished unit on ebay instead. I paid a bit more than the
repair, but got all new hoses and accessories in the process.

WRT central vac - there's no point in getting a water filter with CV,
since the exhaust doesn't go into your living space.