Vacuuming and Loving It

Dust bunnies, beware. Deep cleaning, one of those rites of spring, has begun. Vacuum cleaners are firing up in earnest. Whether we use canisters, uprights or very long hoses attached to tanks in our garages, our lean, mean, cleaning machines are on the attack track.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. Hear them roar. We flip those switches, and there's fire in our bellies. Don't get in our way.

But before we clean house, can we talk?

We recently asked readers of the Fresno Bee, in Fresno, Calif., to come clean with tales of mud-sucking SUVs (Super Utility Vacuums). Done deal. Readers told us they are in love with their vacuum cleaners, from the biggest power machines to the little handheld jobs. Even the so-called broom sticks. Some readers have more vacuum cleaners than cars.

Keely Lopez of Fresno describes herself as "a certified vacuum enthusiast." She purchased a vacuum cleaner for less than $300 two years ago because it was advertised as lightweight. "I was pregnant with my son, and I wanted something that I could just whip out of the closet with ease."

She has discovered that her 8-pound Oreck is no lightweight when it comes to suction power. "My son is 17 months old now, and I have a daughter who is 6 years old. I am vacuuming up everything from Barbie clothes to Cheerios. And loving it."

Retirees Shirley and Roger Jenson love power, too, and have found it in their central vacuum system. "We're almost at the worship point with it," says Shirley Jenson.

Because they were doing battle with pet hair--11 house cats, "all neutered," she says--and needed a powerful vacuum, Roger Jenson researched central vacuum systems on the Internet, ordered one and installed it himself two years ago. Even though the Jensons' home is 2,000 square feet, they paid $900 for a Vacuflo strong enough to service a house twice as large. The motor has 13.5 amps that, Roger Jenson says, translates to about 1.75 horsepower.

"It eats carpet fringes well, and the only time it clogged is when a heavy plastic sandwich bag got caught up in a 45-degree pipe," Shirley Jenson boasts. The tank and motor are in the garage connected to two ducts in the house strategically placed so that by moving a 30-foot hose once, the Jensons can reach the entire floor. Another 30-foot hose is used in an outside cat run.

Roger Jenson does most of the vacuuming, but he's not complaining. "He's very possessive with that vacuum," says his wife. "I admit it," he says. "There's no comparison between it and our old upright, which I put out in the barn with the rest of our junk."

While Shannon McKibben likes power, she also likes quiet. "When I brought home my Simplicity 7350 vacuum for a test drive three years ago, I was initially impressed with how quiet the motor is," she says. "But I also like the fact that there is no leftover dusty smell or dirt particles in the air after I vacuum. I think it has a filter system that can rival any medical lab."

Her $350 vacuum has a dual-fan, 12-amp motor and can pull dirt from the carpet fibers in .05 seconds. OK, she hasn't timed it, but she says she's in vacuum heaven "with all that cleaning power."

So are Jim and Suzanne Bishop, owners of The Master's Helping Hands, a Fresno cleaning service, and 16 German-made Miele vacuum cleaners. "The vacuum is the most important cleaning tool," Suzanne Bishop says. What are her criteria for a good vacuum cleaner? Performance, durability and cost. In that order. Does she think she has the Mercedes of vacuum cleaners? "Definitely," she says of Mieles, which can cost as much as $1,200.

For another family, brand loyalty also runs deep. Gladwyn Buriss has three Electrolux vacuum cleaners: one that belonged to her mother-in-law, one from a step-mother-in-law and one she bought. She keeps a vacuum cleaner upstairs, one downstairs and one at a house on the coast. "Having three vacuums saves lugging one everywhere," she says.

The first vacuum cleaner Buriss owned was an Electrolux, too. She bought it because her mother had one. "I got it in 1953 for $25," she recalls. Buriss used it for 27 years before buying a new one in 1980. The salesman bought her old one, a 1940s model, for $25. Like a dedicated vacuum person, she cleaned up on that deal.

But not all of America is enamored with vacuum cleaners. Michelle Ann Maroot loathes vacuum cleaners. In fact, she doesn't own one. (She has hardwood floors.) Her mother, on the other hand, has four. "The Queen of Clean" is Michelle Maroot's nickname for her mother.

When she went away to college, says Michelle Maroot, her mother "gave me her Electrolux vacuum cleaner. This was Mom's way of sending a part of herself with me." Five years later, daughter returned the vacuum cleaner to mother. "I missed that vacuum," Judi Maroot remembers, "but I did have my old Hoover."

Besides the 28 year-old Electrolux, for which she paid about $200, and the 31-year-old Hoover, which was a wedding gift from her mother, Judi Maroot has two Dirt Devil vacuums and a Black & Decker stick vacuum purchased in the last six years. Now, a vacuum is never far away.

Same thing with Alan Anthony Zarate, who has four vacuum cleaners.

No security blankets for this 2-year-old. His mother, Jill Robertson, says all Alan wants are his vacuum cleaners: two child-size uprights and two hand-held vacs. For Christmas, Santa and Mom gave him a Hoover Wind Tunnel upright like hers. Relatives bought him the red Dirt Devil upright and Dirt Devil hand vac. All three have some sucking power and cost about $20 each. The Fisher-Price hand vac has no suction. It's a toy.

The toddler loves his vacuums so much he kisses them goodbye when he leaves the house, says his mother. "Yes, he's obsessed," Robertson laughs. "He throws cracker and cookie crumbs on the floor and then he says, 'Uh-oh. Vacuum.' "

Alan's interest came from watching his mother and grandmother vacuum. "He loves the sound of them and he loves to push them," his mother says. "He even likes to help me use the attachments to vacuum the furniture."

But does he do windows? No, but he does dishes.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)