Vacuum Gurus and Shag Carpeting

[brettsomers]

Ive never had shag. whats the best way to clean? how does a traditional upright like Convertible do? is the agitator effective? how about straight suction? how about a suction-rake, like regina? david

 

[hooverwheelaway]

Shag...

I know I've shared this picture before, but...

My grandmother had this in a bedroom in her house for 30 years (straight out of 1974). She had a straight-suction central vac on it for those 30 years... Needless to say when my mother bought the house we replaced the carpeting... There was all sorts of grit underneath the shag (not to mention all of her other carpeting). The shag got rolled up and put in the basement.

A few months back, when he got his Conquest, Jeff and I unrolled it and vacuumed the piece of carpeting with multiple machines (the Celebrity, the Conquest, a Concept, a Convertible). The one that really worked well was a Hoover Quadraflex Powermatic Powerhead hooked up to our new central vac. I put my ear up to the hose and listened as Jeff vacuumed; I heard TONS of crap coming up out of the hose. I think we got it pretty clean.

I also tried the Hoover shag-rake on it once, that was very ineffective!! A joke!

 

[myhooverco]

That carpeting is way cool! I would love to have that in my house...it would be so unique. I like the Celebrity too. Gotta love those air ride models. Yes, you are right the shag rake is a joke. I could see the dirt and hair clogging the thing up. Thanks for the pic!

--Tom

 

[scott55405]

Tom, I have a feeling it will only be a matter of time before shag re-emerges at least on some level. I have a pretty green shag throw rug in my bathroom that I really like.

I think that piece Fred has is handsome too. Wouldn't want a whole houseful of it at this point, but it can have its place for certain applications!

 

[hoover1060]

I knew SHAG carpet

neighbors across the street had a house full of it when I was a kid. Tan, similar in style to Fred's green
Their vacuum? Why a big-wheel Hoover Portable canister of course.

When they moved to a larger house across town in 1975 I helped, and since the portable was already on the moving truck I grabbed mom's model 33 Convertible and vacuumed the shag with it.
OY!!! I filled two bags in the living room alone, and there was so much "stuff" coming out of that carpeting you could actually hear the poor vacuum gagging. I set the 33's rug adjuster on "high" and it did very well and groomed the carpet beautifully.
I think of that carpeting stil today, and wish sometimes I could have it back as a test ground.
How much fun that would be!!

 

[mrcleanjeans]

if it beats,you wont beat it

In 1974,Consumer's Research(not reports) put out their vac tests and said "at first,the Electrolux shag rug rake appeared to be a good idea.But the Electrolux power nozzle removed FAR more dirt out of our test carpets".Another interesting note in that article mentioned three types of vacuum cleaning methods.First,the straight suction,or suction only nozzle such as the Sunbeam nozzle they had pictured.Then,the Electrolux 1205's all-brush power nozzle,with a "smooth brushing action".They said this was not as "energetic" as the Eureka power nozzle.Here,the usual brush and 180 degree opposite beater bar in its nozzle exerted a postive beating and sweeping action.