January, 1920 
57 
annihilate the microbe drawn into the house 
from the street on one’s offending shoes. 
We Are Three Kinds! 
And so ... to have- the cleaner that 
really functions, ever}^ machine must be con¬ 
structed so that it can be easily taken apart 
and adjusted, and in order to know how to 
know whether the machine is useful, the fol¬ 
lowing resume of the kinds of cleaners may be 
of service. These will be treated in function¬ 
ing classes rather than in' technical termino¬ 
logies. 
The portable cleaner (we will not discuss 
the installed types) are divisible into three 
classes: 
1. Using air only as a cleaning agent 
2. Using air plus a brush 
3. Using air plus beating and swee])ing 
brush. 
First: In this class are 
the tank inachines having 
vacuum pumps as well as 
fans, single or multiple 
(many fans mounted on the 
motor shaft) and the small 
fan portables. 
All these machines are 
on the same principle, hav-^ 
ing the motor, fans or 
pumps for moving the air, 
a dust bag to collect the 
dirt, and the hose in the 
tank machines’ case and the 
extra tools. 
In the small portable 
machines, which we are 
considering, the n a r r o w 
slatted tool attached d i - 
rectly to the motor and fan 
case is the medium through 
which the dust of the floor 
is taken up and the hose, 
as in the tank t}"pe of clean¬ 
er, is eliminated for floor 
work and is only used for 
altitude cleaning. So the 
only difference in these 
types — the tank and the 
slatted portables — is that 
the tool for floor work is 
directly on the motor case, 
in the slatted or fan port¬ 
ables, and on the end of the 
hose in the tank types. In 
T/ie narrower the cracks, the more difficult 
to dislodge the dust. This is where the 
special tool is used effectively 
This type lias a horizontal motor. The 
brush moves as the sweeper is pushed over 
the surface. Courtesy of the Eureka 
The way to empty the dust bag is to spread out a piece of paper, holding the bag 
until the dust is all deposited. Courtesy of Ohio Co. 
some machines the dust bag is before the fan, 
in some Ijehind it, in some the bag is enclosed 
(there are hardly any on the market now) and 
in others it is hung on the handle. The prin¬ 
ciple, however, is the same in each case: draw¬ 
ing air through the tool which slides easily over 
the carpet, plus the velocity of the air as the 
instrument upon which the cleaning is de¬ 
pendent. Upon the rapidity and frequency of 
the passing of this machine over the carpet de¬ 
pends the thoroughness of the cleaning opera¬ 
tion. 
When the carrier wheels are on either side 
of the nozzle or just back of it, keeping the 
nozzle slightly above the carpet, the operator, 
if skillful, can do a good job. 
Second: Using air plus a brush: The 
brushes used are as follows:—(1) Straight 
bristle brush (looks like a comb of bristles) 
attached inside or outside of nozzle, projecting 
slightly l)elow it so that it will comb the carpet. 
(2) Spirally wound bristle 
brush fitted inside the noz¬ 
zle opening and operated 
by the carrier wheels, either 
with a belt or gears. This 
brush moves in the opposite 
direction to that in which 
the cleaner is pushed, and 
takes up the lint and hair, 
etc. 
.\s to Motive Power 
Alotor driven brushes are 
driven by a belt attached 
to motor. It is continually 
in action when the motor is 
running except, of course, 
when the brush is removed 
for any reason. The sur¬ 
face is continuously swept 
as the air passes through 
the nozzle, and there is, of 
course, more power in the 
motor driven brush. But 
its enemies in the friction 
brush camp aver strong!} 
that the brush is prone b}' 
its velocity to wear the car¬ 
pet! These brushes gen¬ 
erally have two rows of 
spirally wound bristle, and 
in this type one gets away 
from the old-time carpet 
sweeper where lint and 
{Continued on page 86) 
Ai a medium for cleaning clothes, fur, etc., 
the vacuum cleaner opens up a wide field 
of opportunities to cut down the costs 
House cleaning loses some of its terrors 
when a vacuum cleaner is used. It makes 
possible the highest standard of cleanliness 
