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Show If : j Vacuum Cleaners ii fj I Put to the Test R The Question: "Do They Really Clean?'5 Answered f . by Actual Experiment i Uy HELEN LOUISE, JOHNSON at It A RE 'vacuum cleaners really If ', A valuable? Do they clean? Do gtt ' - they waste or 3a, labor and 2 time? Which ls the beet Zm vacuum cleaner? Theso questions are fj naked daily In tho Good Housekeeping III Institute. ill I came home one night not long ago jM I to find that my lamp had been lighted 2 1 and smoking for an hour. My sitting S I loom was filled with smoke windows, !L 1 curtains, rugs, pillows, walls, every- Jr thing was covered with soot. It looked U 1 hopeless, but I remembered two I vacuum cleaners I had on test. h - In the house were four women be- j'fe? sides myself: ono a gentlewoman of Tj'f on older generation, somewhat skoptl- li' ral of modern methods; a little, young Wf , Swedish maid; and two young women w i wholly Interested In the experiment. & f Wo four went to work. Ure blew ghj the soot from tho small objects In the room and from the low chairs and tables, then began on tho laco curtains cur-tains with one of tho vacuum cleaners. clean-ers. Of course that failed, but the-air the-air sucked through the meshes. Wo took tho curtains down and sent them outdoors. This was triumph for the doubting Thomases, for the maid was obviously Indignant at being asked to do any such labor as pump that ridiculous machine' , Que of tho I machines was out of ordec. Then wo put, th suction at work on the shades and thoso of us open to conviction bqgnn to exclaim. A streak was made wheroLwe cleaned, similar to one on tho lawn ,when the mower cuts a strip of grass. Ii was the samo on the wnlls. Wiping would havo smudged everything, and thu wallpaper wall-paper would have been ruined by such treatment. The cleaner cleaned tho wallw sib they had not been cleaned since tho last housccleanlng orgy, and took tho soot from moldings and casements case-ments so that washing and wiping became be-came possible. But by this timo tho maid was wholly Incensed; tho older woman, v. ho would not come Into the room, was an open scoffer, and the other three wore weary. Pumping was not easy, we had to take turns and It was hara work to hold the suction. tube up and against the walls and easements Our efforts to appease and conciliate the little Swedish girl were becoming laughable. Then we tackled the pillows and our lagging spirits revived. They not only grew visibly cleaner under our eyes, but lcvlved, looked now and fresh and puffed up. It was plain to be seen that tho down was belng cleansed as well as tho surface. We were threo tired women, but wo persisted, for tho rug seemed to be changing its color under the Influence of the cleaner. I Insisted upon taking care of my Oriental rugs myself. Thcro were thrc-e small ones In the room, and their response put the finishing fin-ishing touch on 'my enthusiasm. In general, rugs of thin Kind are. abused by the wir th.ey aro cleaned. It (a ruination to thum to whip them and they should ho swopt carefully always with the nap. This Is not an easy thing to teach people to do, nor can you be sure tha"t the dlroctlon Is followed. fol-lowed. The vacuum cleaner raised tho pres3cd-down nap, took tho dust from between the meshes, leaving a clean article which had been ronowf-d, not hurt, by tho process. By 11 o'clock the room was clean and fresh, and' we were quite Worn out. but I was satisfied, for I could, reply re-ply to certain questions. Vacuum cleaners are valuable. They tako the dlr out of tho article Itself, not merely romovo It from the surface They do so without raising a dust which sclt-Ie.s upon the same cr other surfaces again A good vacuum cleaner, proporly used, cleans In a sanitary, satisfactory manner, and under ordinary circumstances circum-stances without undue labor. Tho hand cleaners necessarily take two peo-, peo-, pie, one to pump and the other to hold and direct the suction pipe, for very few women, or even men, can hold and direct this Sth ono hand for more than a very few minutes. The pumping pump-ing requires an arm motion, similar to rowing, which can bo done without undue fatigue if one will learn the proper way. There are two things accomplished by a vacuum cleaner that any other method has herotoforo failed to accomplish accom-plish the dirt is removed from tho fibres of tho fabric, and without raising rais-ing dust or distributing It elsewhere. The gain to both fabric and ujer Is obvious." That, the dirt comes out of tho thing Itself was upparont when the cleaner's can was opened, for it was not dust that filled tho big dlshpan wo measured It In, but dirt; .sand. lino, pulverized street dirt, ttriccr. right out of the very fibres of rugs, pillow and tho like. J left tho cleaners at the house the next day nhd when I came hrnno at night, found even tho Swedish maid con- verted She had tried a cleaner on the rugs downstairs and discovered for herself what It did. The best vacuum cleaner Is a question ques-tion as imposslblo to answer as which Is the best bicycle. Each man likes his own; thnt one which fits him and his requirements In a machine. That cleaner Is tho best which does its work In the best way with as littlo friction, therefore labor, as possible, and thero aro bovernl such. |
