Frankenbag

I recently acquired a female purebred boxer puppy and dedicated my 1987 Heritage II Legend to clean the family room carpet (on the first floor) where she spends most of her time. I also have a G4 on the second floor that cleans nearly double the square footage of the same carpet. After one month, the HEPA bag in the G4 smelled quite normal, but the exact same HEPA bag in the H2L was stinking up a storm so much that even my wife noticed it within 20 seconds of beginning to vacuum.

The problem is that our house is so clean that in one month the bags in both machines were only Ľ full. So, I decided that if I was going to throw out the HEPA bag in the H2L, I might as well see what’s in it. I had a hard time believing that a 3 month old short-haired, relatively clean puppy could affect the dirt quality so much. But, the last few days before I decided to see “what’s in the bag”, I tried several things to eliminate the odor. Below is the order of events. Note: attempted to get charcoal, but the only charcoal I could find had lighter fluid in it. Not trying that!

1) Kirby scent tabs (covered some of the smell, but definitely didn’t deodorize)
2) Dryer sheet (not bad, but the mustiness eventually won out)
3) Washed Outer Permanent Bag (helped for a day only)
4) Sprayed special dog deodorizer (mostly baking soda, alcohol, etc.) inside the bag

So I then turned the bag inside out and saw what I thought was typical dirt. Nothing but fine dust, minimal brown dog hair and carpet fluff was lightly packed in there. It smelled moderately musty though. I removed the dirt and blew out all the fine dust (reminded me of my old bag less Dirt Devil days) and let the inside out bag air out in the direct sunlight for a few hours. Well, the smell partially subsided. After spraying the aforementioned dog deodorizer on it and waiting another few hours, the smell was totally eradicated!

My last test was to determine if any pores were blocked. Using the trusty (and inexpensive) Baird air flow meter, I compared the airflow of my “frankenbag” to a new HEPA bag. Guess what? The both pulled an 8.5 at the end of the hose. No suction loss, no clogged pores as far as I’m concerned. Feel free to disagree (but tell me why). This result completely goes against a Youtube video in which a Rainbow salesman claims all the pores in bagged machines clog up in about 3-5 minutes.

Look around the 7 minute mark.

Bill


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Post# 335238 10/5/2015 at 12:53 (3,123 days old) by wyaple (Pickerington, OH)
Checkrate/Likes 2 I recently acquired a female purebred boxer puppy and dedicated my 1987 Heritage II Legend to clean the family room carpet (on the first floor) where she spends most of her time. I also have a G4 on the second floor that cleans nearly double the square footage of the same carpet. After one month, the HEPA bag in the G4 smelled quite normal, but the exact same HEPA bag in the H2L was stinking up a storm so much that even my wife noticed it within 20 seconds of beginning to vacuum. The problem is that our house is so clean that in one month the bags in both machines were only Ľ full. So, I decided that if I was going to throw out the HEPA bag in the H2L, I might as well see what’s in it. I had a hard time believing that a 3 month old short-haired, relatively clean puppy could affect the dirt quality so much. But, the last few days before I decided to see “what’s in the bag”, I tried several things to eliminate the odor. Below is the order of events. Note: attempted to get charcoal, but the only charcoal I could find had lighter fluid in it. Not trying that! 1) Kirby scent tabs (covered some of the smell, but definitely didn’t deodorize) 2) Dryer sheet (not bad, but the mustiness eventually won out) 3) Washed Outer Permanent Bag (helped for a day only) 4) Sprayed special dog deodorizer (mostly baking soda, alcohol, etc.) inside the bag So I then turned the bag inside out and saw what I thought was typical dirt. Nothing but fine dust, minimal brown dog hair and carpet fluff was lightly packed in there. It smelled moderately musty though. I removed the dirt and blew out all the fine dust (reminded me of my old bag less Dirt Devil days) and let the inside out bag air out in the direct sunlight for a few hours. Well, the smell partially subsided. After spraying the aforementioned dog deodorizer on it and waiting another few hours, the smell was totally eradicated! My last test was to determine if any pores were blocked. Using the trusty (and inexpensive) Baird air flow meter, I compared the airflow of my “frankenbag” to a new HEPA bag. Guess what? The both pulled an 8.5 at the end of the hose. No suction loss, no clogged pores as far as I’m concerned. Feel free to disagree (but tell me why). This result completely goes against a Youtube video in which a Rainbow salesman claims all the pores in bagged machines clog up in about 3-5 minutes. Look around the 7 minute mark. Bill

Post# 335259 , Reply# 1 10/5/2015 at 17:39 (3,123 days old) by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Kirby bag.* I used to have golden retriever and picked up a lot of fur from the area rugs. Fact is dog (and cat) fur have oils that mix with regular carpet dust. Keep in mind that the fur in the carpet goes through the fan of the Kirby, and these oils penetrate the inside of the bag. It's been a year since my dog passed away and the smell of her fur is still in my Classic 111. I suspect you have the same problem. And if it's a puppy there are other smells too. I suggest you contact Kirby, tell them the situation and see what they suggest. You might try Odoriffic (a Kirby product) but I suspect the oil in the fur and the dust inside the bag are the problem. Good luck, Alex Taber.

Post# 335284 , Reply# 2 10/5/2015 at 22:52 (3,123 days old) by Vacuummania ()
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Clogged Bags* I've never had a problem with reduced flow on a Kirby because the bag got 'clogged'. If you watch most sales videos like TriStar, etc. they put a'filter' on the end of the hose and then vacuum your sofa (this is supposed to represent a typical bagged vacuum). Of course, that tiny bit of 'filter' clogs quickly, thus "proving" that a bagged vacuum is no good... However, bagged vacuums have extra areas of the bag that you're not supposed to fill up (it's past the "fill line") - this extra area let's the air out of the bag keeping the bag from clogging as the pores fill with dirt (Oreck refers to it as the 'filter' part of the vacuum bag). On a Kirby, the dog stink (dander & oils) can coat the internal housing area around the fan and em-tor. No matter how much you clean the bag, if there's a coating of "stink" internally, you'll always get a endless breeze of horrible odor as soon as the vacuum is turned on (I just finished sanitizing this same buildup issue on a Kirby Ultimate edition)... What a difference now!

Post# 335289 , Reply# 3 10/6/2015 at 02:46 (3,123 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)
Checkrate/Likes Kirby and other direct air vacuum doggy smell.The fancase,fan and other parts will have to be disassembled and washed.The vac shop does this.One Meile cansiter the dumb owner tried to pick up cat pee with it.Mike took down the entire machine-washed ALL the parts-OK!!Was a job!!!The hose on the vacuum had to be replaced.The owner paid for it and learned her lesson.Also on the kirbys and other similar machines the outer bag will need to be replaced.difficult,if not impossible to wash the dog funk out of them.Worth the cost.

Post# 335297 , Reply# 4 10/6/2015 at 07:25 (3,122 days old) by sitop (Bradenton, FL)
Checkrate/Likes *Beagles* I have 3 Beagles. Take 2 cups Baking Soda and add 10 to 20 drops of your favorite essential oil. Shake it until all is blended. Sprinkle all over your carpet. Wait awhile. Then vacuum. No more smells in my Kirby, Hoover or Electrolux!

Post# 335298 , Reply# 5 10/6/2015 at 07:41 (3,122 days old) by wyaple (Pickerington, OH)
Checkrate/Likes *Thanks for all the suggestions* I would imagine that if you had to disassemble your vacuum every month for a thorough cleaning, you would probably get rid of the vacuum, so that's not very sustainable. I service/restore all my vacs and love doing it, just not once a month though ... As stated above, after I disinfected the barely used bag, the smell was gone, so at this time, I'll point the finger solely at the bag. I wonder though, has anyone ever washed one of these HEPA bags? I don't think the cardboard part would like it, but if you could soak the fabric part, I wonder what the result would be? Bill

Post# 335341 , Reply# 6 10/6/2015 at 21:41 (3,122 days old) by Caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Actually no!* If your Kirby uses disposable bags like my G-4, instead of the bag and Sani-em-tor like my Classic 111, the outer bag won't aquire the smell, therefore no problem.

Post# 335347 , Reply# 7 10/7/2015 at 01:57 (3,122 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)
Checkrate/Likes I have seen-or smelled Kirby outer bags so bad they smelled like dog or whateve(tobacco)r.After awhile the outer bag will get the "funk"-same with the inside of the Mini or Sani Emptor.I went ahead and replaced the bag and emptors in these really bad ones.

Post# 335367 , Reply# 8 10/7/2015 at 12:07 (3,121 days old) by wyaple (Pickerington, OH)
Checkrate/Likes *The Outer Permanent Bag and Emptor Are Easily Washable* So why would anyone "throw them out" or buy new ones if they aren't damaged? Twice a year, I take my outer bags and emptors from my H2L and G4 and run them through a full wash cycle. They come out looking and smelling like new. But, I was actually still looking for comments on cleaning out and re-using the HEPA bag. What do you all think of my experiment? Bill

Post# 335371 , Reply# 9 10/7/2015 at 12:42 (3,121 days old) by CharlesKirby66 (Manteca, CA)
Checkrate/Likes *Re-using HEPA bags* I can't imagine that would go well. The fibers on those bags are woven pretty tight, I can't imagine actually removing all the dirt from them in a washing. I'd easier see the dirt turning to mud and getting stuck in the pores of the bag. Also, what would happen to the cardboard tab that connects to the fill tube??? But hey, try one and see if you can make it work! That'd be pretty awesome if so. I'd like to find a good disposable bag option for my newly acquired Kirby Heritage. Does Kirby still manufacture the style 2 bags for Heritage? If not, I may have to wash out some paper bags. LOL

Post# 335399 , Reply# 10 10/8/2015 at 02:13 (3,121 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)
Checkrate/Likes Tobacco "funk" is difficult or even impossible to wash out of fabric or most plastics.so---the best thing to do at the time was replace them.This was many years ago.I didn't collect at that time-just got vacuums to use.