Vacuum cleaners have come to stay, but as a whole are crude, although most of them will do as represented for a time, at least. There is a great demand for a really good cleaner and the haste of manufacturers to get something on the market without first perfecting it has been the cause of many defects. In purchasing a vacuum cleaner it should not be forgotten that everything is made to sell and it is a very poor article that will not stand the test of a demonstration, at least. Unless a cleaner is a good one it is costly at any price.

Hand Power Cleaners

Many kinds of hand vacuum cleaners, such as suction pump cleaners, rotary cleaners, etc., are on the market. In hand vacuum cleaners the idea that is gaining the most headway seems to be the one resembling the carpet sweeper in appearance. These cleaners are constructed with a system of bellows, which develop a continuous suction; some have two bellows, some have three bellows - the more the better. There are many different models, some being made in connection with a rotary brush, like that of a carpet sweeper, which seems to be a good feature. Ordinarily the more complicated an article is, the more difficult it is to keep in repair, so it is well to avoid complicated machinery.

The hand suction pump cleaner is not practical, although low priced. Such cleaners will not materially reduce labor, although they may reduce the dust to some extent. Unless a cleaner can lessen labor it does not do the most important thing for which it was intended. A logical conclusion is, that the hand power vacuum cleaner with the most powerful and regular suction, capable of being operated by the least number of people and with the simplest construction all combined, is the one to purchase, regardless of first cost.

Electric Power Cleaners

Electric vacuum cleaners are also in their infancy and many improvements will be made upon them before they are perfected. Although several fairly good ones are made, none of them seems to last long enough for the money invested in them. Electric cleaners must of necessity be high priced, and it will be some time, no doubt, before an efficient electric cleaner will be on the market at a low price, because a good cleaner must first of all have a good motor, and a good electric motor itself is high priced; again, it is not reasonable to believe that dust and electric motors will bear close relationship.

Many of the most widely advertised vacuum cleaner concerns have failed within recent years, due to the fact that either low-priced electric vacuum cleaners can not be guaranteed or that there has, not been enough demand created for the high-priced machines to justify the advertising.

Owing to the mechanical features of electric cleanera, it has not been a safe investment for women, as few women know how to keep them adjusted, and the repairing of a cleaner is an abomination.

Water Power Cleaner

A recent introduction is an arrangement that attaches to the water faucet, and by water suction the dirt is drawn out and forced into the sewer drain pipe. The simplicity of this apparatus makes it low priced and as it is not operated by a motor the idea seems to be the most practical yet introduced.

Avoid Irresponsible Representatives

Be careful in purchasing a vacuum cleaner except from a responsible concern or person, who will absolutely guarantee the machine to last at least a reasonable length of time. Do not buy of fly-by-night agents who get large commissions for selling such articles. Many people today who own vacuum cleaners, either electric or hand power, can not use them for the want of repairs. They don't know where to send for repairs, because they purchased the machine of some agent or irresponsible person, and no manufacturer's name appears on the machine.

Carpet Sweepers

Probably one of the greatest inventions known, up to the time of the vacuum cleaner, to lessen the work of the housewife, is the carpet sweeper. Sweepers of today are made so light running by the use of ball bearings, that there is little or no resistance. Rubber guards on the corners are also a great improvement over the braid guards, as they protect the walls and furniture.

Every carpet sweeper has a removable brush and ordinarily, when the sweeper seems hard to run or doesn't seem to perform its duty, it will be found that the brush needs removing and the hair and strings that have gathered on the ends of the brush need to be cleaned away. Many sweepers have been sent to the repair shop, when nothing but the brush needed attention. Some brushes will wear out and yet the rest of the sweeper will be too good to throw away. Remove the brush and replace it, at slight cost, with a new one, and the sweeper will be nearly as good as new. Occasionally the rubber tires on the wheels can be replaced at little expense. A sweeper case and bearings will wear out a couple of brushes, if the sweeper has the proper care.

Do not consider any agent who claims to be representing the "repair department" of a sweeper manufacturer, as factories have no such representatives - furthermore, such agents' charges will be exorbitant.