Found both at Goodwill. Just happened to walk in for no particular reason, just wanted to look around. Wasn't even looking for a vacuum as I am quite content with my Sanitaire SC886 but at $20 for the Kirby (with ALL attachments INCLUDING the shampoo system and Suds-O-Gun!) and $15 for the Royal, I could not pass those up. I was going to take the Kirby home regardless but paused on the Royal for a moment because I thought that I'd be going too far (didn't want to anger the wifey by bringing appliance relics home), as she can barely tolerate the anachronism of the Sanitaire and its cloth bag, no attachments and classic look which hasn't changed much since Eureka started making the F&G uprights in the 60s. I didn't have sleep on the couch the night I broke the news so her reaction wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm glad that I took both of them home. I now have three of what I believe to be the best, most durable vacuum cleaners one could own. My wife is just like "get a Dyson like everybody else does and be done with it", lol.
I washed and sanitized both bags and disassembled both machines, washing all the parts. Both vacuums needed nothing except new disposable bags and belts. I did replace the brushrolls on both as I couldn't properly clean and sanitize the ones they came with without wrecking the bearings. Both the plastic fan in the Kirby and the metal fan in the Royal were in top notch condition. I committed a sin and took off the Tech Drive drive belt on the Kirby just so I removed what I believed in my opinion to be a parasitic loss in regards to the performance of the motor, however small it may be. Besides, I can live without Tech Drive just fine, I'm a 26 year old in great shape. The aluminum housing on both shined up real nice with some 0000 steel wool, microfiber cloths and some Mothers mag polish. They both work real nice and I'm especially impressed with the Royal. It only has a 5.4 amp motor but it has quite the powerful punch. The Kirby is great, as always, and I'm looking forward to being able to use all the different tools.
I'm also concluding Month #1 on my Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3. It was a Christmas present to myself, purchased new on Amazon, which replaced my Hoover SpinScrub 50. It's a solid machine and does a great job. I have modified the way I use it. I only add hot water to the reservoir (no chemicals) and add my carpet cleaning solution into a garden pump sprayer. I remember watching reviews on this machine on YouTube by a guy who uses the X3 to clean carpets in apartments (filthy, might I add) and he said that he gets the best results and believes that he is prolonging the life of the pump by using just hot water in the reservoir (which makes sense). I have tried this method and while it is different, it works well.
All four machines are tucked neatly away in my makeshift "janitor closet" under the stairs, where I also keep my commercial Rubbermaid mop bucket/wringer, mop, broom, all kinds of cleaning sprays and liquids, some pails and a nice big stack of microfiber cloths.
I washed and sanitized both bags and disassembled both machines, washing all the parts. Both vacuums needed nothing except new disposable bags and belts. I did replace the brushrolls on both as I couldn't properly clean and sanitize the ones they came with without wrecking the bearings. Both the plastic fan in the Kirby and the metal fan in the Royal were in top notch condition. I committed a sin and took off the Tech Drive drive belt on the Kirby just so I removed what I believed in my opinion to be a parasitic loss in regards to the performance of the motor, however small it may be. Besides, I can live without Tech Drive just fine, I'm a 26 year old in great shape. The aluminum housing on both shined up real nice with some 0000 steel wool, microfiber cloths and some Mothers mag polish. They both work real nice and I'm especially impressed with the Royal. It only has a 5.4 amp motor but it has quite the powerful punch. The Kirby is great, as always, and I'm looking forward to being able to use all the different tools.
I'm also concluding Month #1 on my Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3. It was a Christmas present to myself, purchased new on Amazon, which replaced my Hoover SpinScrub 50. It's a solid machine and does a great job. I have modified the way I use it. I only add hot water to the reservoir (no chemicals) and add my carpet cleaning solution into a garden pump sprayer. I remember watching reviews on this machine on YouTube by a guy who uses the X3 to clean carpets in apartments (filthy, might I add) and he said that he gets the best results and believes that he is prolonging the life of the pump by using just hot water in the reservoir (which makes sense). I have tried this method and while it is different, it works well.
All four machines are tucked neatly away in my makeshift "janitor closet" under the stairs, where I also keep my commercial Rubbermaid mop bucket/wringer, mop, broom, all kinds of cleaning sprays and liquids, some pails and a nice big stack of microfiber cloths.
but I'm thinking that I'm going to be in a huge dilemma if I go to Goodwill again and see an old Sanitronic Kirby, a Hoover Convertible, or an older Eureka/Sanitaire F&G upright. I passed on a JCPenney branded Hoover upright because I thought that I'd be pushing it by bringing home two vacs and if I added just one more to the bunch, that would be the straw that would break the camel's back. 
