The need for a cleaning device was great in
the late 1800's. Up until that time the only way to clean carpets
was to take them outside and beat them and this was only done once
a year during the spring clean.
It was not until 1900 when small engines were available that
people tried using compressed air to blow away the dust. All that did
was blow the dust about the room and let it settle were it came
from.
In 1901 a civil engineer by the name of Herbert Cecil Bothe saw
this method used on train. He came up with the idea that it would
be better to suck up the dirt through a filter. He built his
machine and it worked well but was so big it had to be parked
outside customers' houses. He was frequently sued as the noise
often frightened passing horses.
In 1902 just before the crowning of Edward the 7th, it was noticed
that the carpet in Westminster abbey was dirty and the only way of
cleaning it was with Bothe's machine. when the king heard about
this he ordered a demonstration and later bought two of Bothe's
cleaners. This guaranteed the success of his company and other
companies started producing hand powered vacuum cleaners.
In 1907 an American named James Murray Spangler, who was working
as a cleaner, Designed the first small electric cleaner. he sold
the patent to a harness maker named Hoover. By the 1920's Bothe
started to produce his own range of electric cleaners under the
Goblin name. He had 2500 door to door sales representative's in
England selling mainly under hire purchase. Both the Hoover and
the Goblin range were very successful and are still operating
today selling machines that have not changed much in basic design
since their first prototype.
In England the
Hoover brand became so popular that many people refer to the chore of
vacuuming as doing the hoovering, soon this chore may be a thing of the
past as several companies are starting to produce robotic vacuum's. A
robotic vacuum is much like a normal vacuum but without a handle. The
robot can navigate your house by itself and return to its charger when
finished, you don't even have to be at home. One such Vacuum is the
iRobot Roomba Vacuum,
this small vac is designed to be placed in the centre of a room and left
to do its job, It starts going in circles until it finds a wall and then
starts following the wall and crosses the room back and forth until
completely vacuumed.
