This Electrolux Vacuum...

One of my favorite subreddits is Buy It For Life. Every time I see an old-school appliance that someone's parents passed down (and now they've had it for for 15 years going on forever), I hope I will run across one that I can afford. Well, you can't beat free. I finally got a BIFL appliance.

So the other day, I snagged an Electrolux Epic Series 6500 SR vacuum. It's used and is missing a couple of basic accessories. Still, I couldn't be more excited. An Electrolux? A working Electrolux? What a find. 

My mom had a used one that she got when I was in my lower single-digit years and she used it until I was about 14 or 15 (?). That thing never broke down. It did get 'lost' during one of our final military moves - which means that someone from the moving company wanted a good vacuum... After that, Mom got a Kirby. I didn't like Kirby vacs because they were so freaking heavy and cumbersome. I sure do wish I had that old Electrolux though.

This one is in good shape and it works wonderfully. It sure puts my Bissell upright to shame - and I do love my Bissell. The only thing wrong with this Electrolux is that the On-Off foot button does nothing. I have to unplug the vacuum to turn it off. Also, the handle for the floor attachment doesn't lock so I have to hold it to make sure it doesn't come unattached. That's not a huge deal and I am sure I can get a replacement. My brother is going to look at the foot button to see why it's not working.

You can see there are no
accessories attached to
the canister

There was even a clean bag in the vacuum. The after-filter needs to be replaced but it's not totally necessary for basic use. At least, that is what I heard in one video about the machine.

Please, Lord, let this vacuum truly be a BIFL item!

I'd already just vacuumed the apartment so I didn't think I'd be able to test the 'Lux. Still, I ran it across the living room carpet just to see what I was working with... And, boy, what I am working with is a machine so effective that I'm willing to buy any replacement parts and attachments needed. 

Running that 'Lux across my already "clean" carpet made me do a double-take. The Bissell picks up the general dust and small debris and my carpets do usually look clean. After I used the 'Lux, I could see a bit of a difference. The carpet looked more plumped and "refreshed" - almost as if I'd steamed it. Plus, I could get the 'Lux into places too low for the Bissell. Like all the way under my weird bed frame.

Apartment carpeting is generally cheap and crappy. Mine is not the cheapest or worst though. It was a very light color of brown (tan?) when I moved it. Now almost 6 years later, I have to shampoo it to keep it near that color. When I use my Bissell, I get a little more "lift" than is visible before vacuuming. It makes the carpet look less worn. After using the 'Lux, I got a lot more lift. And, best of all, the carpet just felt cleaner under my bare feet. I don't wear shoes inside and rarely wear socks in the summer. My carpet never bothered me before but I downright enjoyed having it underfoot today. Well, at least the spots where I used the 'Lux!

I bet when I take the time to seriously run that thing through the whole apartment, the carpet with actually be lovely again. The first thing I plan to do is sprinkle down some baking soda to freshen the carpet. I only do that every few months because it takes the Bissell several passes to get it completely out of the nap. 

By the way, here is a video of some guy comparing this brand of the 'Lux to a Dyson. 

I cannot wait to show that video to my little brother. He has a Dyson and between that vacuum and his freaking iPhone, I am really tired of the crowing he does. 

My carpet doesn't need a lot of day-to-day care. I have no kids or pets and I spend the most time in my bedroom so I just want to keep the floors clean and fresh-smelling. And I am just amazed at how well this machine vacuums. It's nowhere near as loud as my Bissell, it's not as heavy as I thought it would be, and it certainly has better maneuverability. Now, it is taking me time to get used to the canister design. I keep reaching for more of a handle to hold onto. 

The only attachments I have are the "power nozzle" (?) floor brush that I will use most often, the combo rug/floor brush head, and the main power hose accessory that lets me attach the wands for the various brush heads. The only attachments I plan to look for are the crevice tool and the dusting tool. Right now, I am happy enough to have the floor tools.

I have never had a canister-style vacuum before. This one sure doesn't take up a lot of room. I will be able to store it in the same closet where I keep the Bissell. 

Having this used vacuum and seeing how well it still works made me want to find more Electrolux appliances. Then I went on eBay just to look for vacuum accessories. Good mercy. Some of the parts are selling for more than what I paid for my entire Bissell. Seriously. And to get a complete vacuum with or without accessories is just out of the question. I did find a potential source online for parts. You can find almost anything for this machine because, apparently, they last forever.

I sure can see why the 'Lux is a coveted machine...

Can you imagine having a metal one? #Goals.

Anyway, I am happy to have this vacuum. As I said, I will find a repair place to hunt down accessories - or not. I have already found replacement bags online for a not-too-frightening price. It really would be nice to find out which of my neighbors put this vacuum in our community freebies. I would love to buy them a thank you gift.

 Now I am going to go over to Reddit to boast a little.

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juice Extractor

With all the talk I did about not falling into the trap of New Year resolutions before I dive into this review, I have to explain that I'm not being a hypocrite. I had been planning on and saving up for this purchase for about 3 months now. By the way, this right here is what I'm talking about:

That's the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juice Extractor (model 67601A). It clocked in at $55 and was just smack dab on budget for me. I started saving back in the middle of September when I realized I was not eating as well as I could be. Also, I was buying my juices from Hyvee at crazy prices. It's not easy to find a good variety of healthy juices around here but it is fairly easy to find fresh fruits and vegetables, even in the dead of winter. Hurray for living in the Food Belt of the country. Anyway, let's talk about this HBBME.

When I started looking for the juicer, I wasn't stuck on getting a juicer. I thought about getting a good blender. I mean, I could see the benefit of doing juices or smoothies. What finally tipped it for getting a juicer is that I can do juices or smoothies with the HBBM. All I need to do is add back some of the pulp or use my stick blender to emulsify some fruit and veggies to add to the juice. (And I have to brag a little about the Ovente blender I got about 5 years ago from Walmart. That thing is a workhorse. I have used it almost every day since I got it and it has never given me trouble.)

Once I decided on a juicer, I had to find one that fit my "wants" and my budget. I wanted something with a decent motor and a large chute. It would be great if it wasn't too loud since I do live in an apartment. My budget meant that I would need to stay under a reasonable dollar amount if I wanted to actually make the purchase sometime in the next 6 months or so.

The HBBM fit all the wants but quite a few reviewers said that it was loud. I kept looking and kept coming back to the HBBM. Finally, I decided to take a chance because it was the only one I could finally afford that wasn't refurbished. I figured that as long as it didn't sound like a small aircraft taking off, I would be okay and just use it before too late in the evening.

So far, I am really happy with the juicer. It is nowhere near as loud as I expected from some of the reviews I read. I learned that if I put a padded placemat underneath while running it, the sound really isn't any louder than a large blender. As for everything else, I am super happy.

I hate raw celery. Easier to drink it than chew it.

I have been juicing celery, carrots, and beets with the HBBM. It works fast and it really juices well. When I empty the pulp after carrots, I notice that it's basically dry as sawdust. The celery pulp was a little wetter and I experimented with running the pulp back through the juicer. I got a little more juice but nothing significant enough to warrant the hassle. The first thing I tested it with was a little orange that was about as old as Methuselah and the HBBM got about a quarter cup of juice out of it. Oranges, however, are not my thing. I can always buy orange juice but beet juice is not something I can find around here so easily. Would the HBBM be able to handle that? The product page indicated that it could but I needed to know for sure.

When I grocery shopped, I only got a couple of stalks of beets. They aren't too expensive but they aren't something I would use outside of juicing. If the HBBM let me down, I didn't want to be stuck with messy, clothes-staining vegetables. Now I wish I had gotten a few more stalks. That juicer didn't even change gears when I threw in pieces of the beet.

Another thing I like about this juicer: it is really easy to clean. Okay, that mesh bowl is a little bit of a pain to clean but it helps that a brush came with the HBBM. I basically just soak that part in warm and soapy water while I'm rinsing the other pieces.

As far a the size of the juicer, it's not tiny but once you detach everything from the base, it's easy enough to store on top of a fridge or in a small-ish pantry. Mine is currently in the dishwasher so here is the diagram from the manual showing how the HBBM breaks down.

I have to say that, so far, I am more than happy with this juicer. It was at the bottom as far as prices for one with an 800-watt motor. I would not have been surprised if it had been a loser. Thank goodness it's not. If this last me more than a year, I will be more than happy.

Right now, I have some fresh celery and carrot juice to blend in with some of the apple juice I made the other day. I can also add in a little coconut milk and monk fruit sweetener if I want.

By the way, I am vac-sealing and freezing juices. I understand that this is the best way to keep them fresh for the longest period of time and I have to buy when things are on sale.

Peace
--Free

UPDATE **REVIEW** Bissell Cleanview Bagless Upright Vacuum (Model 95956)

UPDATE:
My wonderful vacuum broke the other day just when I needed it most. 

Don't ask because I don't know...

Of course, the automatic Amazon warranty expired in July. Of. Course. That broken spring up there is on the MAIN part of the vac - the canister. So weird that it just popped out when I was getting ready to empty the thing and check the filter. Anyway, I decided to see if I could buy a replacement for the handle - or spring, or whatever - and I contacted Bissell online. They told me that there is no replacement for the handle; the entire cannister has to be replaced. Before I could have a mini nervous breakdown wondering what that might cost, I was told Bissell would ship one out as soon as I verified my address. At no cost. Not even shipping fees. Wow. So my new canister will be here day after tomorrow. How awesome is that? And they even emailed me a coupon for a percentage off any online purchase I make. Yay, Bissell. I just wanted to make this note about the wonderful customer service. Now, when I start looking for a carpet shampooer, I know who to check out first. Oh, and I guess I should mention that this is all because I made sure to register my vacuum with Bissell even though I made the purchase on Amazon.


**Before I even start the review, let me do a service to anyone who, like me, might be confused about the model numbers of Bissell's Cleanview 9595 series of vacuums. Apparently, the 95956 (the model I have) and the 9595A are the same in every way except for the colors. My model is in Teal and the other is in Purple. I could not clarify this except to contact Bissell and Amazon. On Amazon (where I made my purchase) the 9595A has 11k+ reviews while the 95956 has only 105 reviews at the time of this post. Out of all the answered questions and reviews (and I dragged through just about every single one of them), I only recall seeing a single comment about the color difference. The reason this was so important to me is that I wanted the vacuum for its "OnePass" feature that Bissell seems so proud of. I could not tell clearly from the product info whether or not the 95956 had the feature. My brain does not retain information long enough to keep track when comparing items. I was afraid I had ordered the wrong one...**



Okay. So with that cleared up, let's take a look at why I wanted this particular vacuum.

1. The price tag = $79.99 + $5.22 for a protection plan. Perfect for my sad budget. The poor little Dirt Devil that I got at Dollar General (and paid, I think, less than $25 for) when I moved here a year ago has been limping along. It picks up the obvious debris but my carpet is very neglected looking from what the DD leaves behind. I've been saving up for about 3 months for a better vacuum but could only afford something under $100. I watched videos and read hundreds of reviews for at least 10 vacuums (and had to take notes so I wouldn't get confused) before I settled on the Cleanview 9595 model. I wanted to go cheaper but...
2. The suction power. Reviewers rave about the cleaning power of this model. You should see some of the photos of what people seemed to have sucked out of their carpets. At least 10 people mentioned this model having suction at least almost as good as $200 and $400 machines. That part may be little scam-ish, but the photos don't seem to be lying. Reviews that complained about the loudness of the vacuum still gave a thumbs up for the suction. And I need to really clean out all the residue of the spot cleaners I used all winter.
3. The lightweight design. Lord knows I can barely work up the energy to vacuum at all so I sure don't want some heavy, clunky machine to drag around even such a small apartment
4. The added bonuses are the attachments, a decent length cord, and a washable filter. The Dirt Devil has a washable filter and that saves money big time. It's also cool that this has an easy-empty cannister.

Keep in mind that this is why I wanted this machine and was hoping it would live up to the hype. The only thing I was bothered by from the product photos is that the power button is placed so far down on the machine. Why not on the handle? That may seem like a petty thing but I've been having back problems the past couple of months and I try not to bend if I don't have to. But whatever. Everything else about this vacuum sounded like my dream product.

So, let's now see how it all worked out. In addition to what I mentioned above, I would also be looking to see how easy it would be to assemble this machine. This is what it looks like when you remove everything from the box:

Once I stuck on the handle, everything else was easy. I have cognitive issues and it only took me around 22 minutes to have it all done and get to vacuuming. And I really did need to get to vacuuming...

I'm going to show this photo of what my carpet looks like pre-vacuuming. I do vacuum at least a couple of times a week with the Dirt Devil and I ran it over the high traffic area right inside the front door - pictured here - about 3 times just so you could see how awful the dirt and buildup of cleaner is. Pretty nasty, right? (By the way, now that I have a good decent machine, I can scrub with some spot cleaner and re-vacuum to see if it improves. For now, I want to see what this does with no spot cleaner.)

Remember, I went over this carpet more than once with the Dirt Devil for this photo:

BEFORE - lot of silty dirt

 This is what the carpet looks like after having been vacuumed pretty thoroughly with the Bissell:

AFTER still needs spot cleaning but MUCH better

This is what the Bissel cannister looked like after a couple of trips over this small area. UGH!

I feel so ashamed. It's as if I haven't vacuumed but a couple of times a season since I moved in!

So, Pros and Cons:

CON - Using the vacuum would be a lot of fun if it were not for that Power Button being placed so low down on the machine. Thankfully, the vacuum is not super heavy and I didn't get too worn out even after vacuuming and re-vacuuming off and on all day. (I'm determined to un-gross these floors!)

PRO - If I didn't appreciate the suction power while using this machine as an upright, I sure did once I used the attachments. I used the rotating attachment to freshen up the sofa. Man! This thing got all the little tiny particles of crumbs and dirt out the of very crevices of the couch. I could actually feel the suction power as I held the attachment and ran it over the fabric. That's awesome, but I will have to be really careful when trying to clean out window sills and such. I can see this thing snatching a pull cord right out of place.

PRO - The dust canister is SO easy to empty and I don't really have to touch the icky-ness. The canister pops open with the push of a button (so make sure to hold it over the trash can!), and any clumps of dust that gets stuck can be dislodged with a wooden skewer. Or that's what I do.

PRO - While this isn't the quietest machine, for the suction power, it sure isn't much louder than the Dirt Devil.

CON - The hose tends to fall off the holder and dangle. Also, the arrangement of the hose and the power cord is just awkward. This is a very minor issue though.

CON - If using the attachments, you need to use two hands so you can sort of stretch out the hose because the suction keeps contracting it. On the other hand...

PRO - The hose is a decent length - if you can keep it stretched out.

Overall, I am 5-starring this vacuum. It's not outrageously expensive and is doing a great job so far. I have told friends that I'll be more than happy if this lasts a year before I have to use the Protection Plan.


Peace
--Free


DISCLAIMER: I was not paid or in any way compensated for this review.