Vacuum Cleaners
The Backstory
Hyped as a comfort, wall-to-wall carpets can actually be a curse. Enormous and ungainly, they trap years of tracked-in dirt, soot, animal dander, flea eggs, molds and fungi, dust mite droppings and the volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) that evaporate from conventional pesticides, cleaning products, paints and finishes and glues. This potent mix of allergens and irritants can trigger everything from watery eyes and sore throats to asthma attacks, dizziness and fainting spells.
Yet inefficient vacuums may do little to remediate these problems. Testing by Consumer Reports has found vacuums that spewed dust after as little as two cleanings, leaked dust from exhaust vents and from hoses and had malfunctioning parts that prevented vacuum heads from actually reaching the floor to clean.
Finally, vacuums can break down easily and are often replaced rather than repaired. Despite the relative simplicity of vacuum cleaner repair, roughly one and five households purchase a new vacuum cleaner each year, contributing unnecessary waste to landfills when old machines are tossed.
