James Dyson: How we made the Dyson Vacuum

That 'article' is like a mixture of the truth. James Dyson's Hoover Junior was not the new machine he purchased. In fact, in his Autobiography, he says that his Hoover was purchased used, and that it had a cloth bag.

The machine he is likely talking about, that caused the frustration with the bags, could have been a Vax. Again, in the autobiography, James says that "it had a bag that filled like a colon". Just like a Vax paper bag does.

From "Against The Odds" by James Dyson (or, as I call it, The Bible):

The model we had at home was an old reconditioned Hoover Junior. Old because I couldn't afford a new one. Reconditioned because I had not been able to afford a new one even the first time around. A Hoover because they were the only reconditioned models available at that time. And a Junior, or at least an upright, because that was the kind my mother had.

It had been annoying me for years, this poxy machine. But I had not really had any time to think about why. I don't think it ever had much suck, even in its callow youth. It just seemed to push the dirt and dust around that house, and I came to think of it as more of an expensive broom than a cheap vacuum cleaner.

The new place in Bathford had a lot of wooden floor space and not much carpet, which meant that I needed something with much more suck. And so we bought ourselves a great big cylinder cleaner that was advertised as the most powerful on the market.

For a room or two, when we first bought it, the new machine was fine. But after a while it, too, lost interest in sucking, and as it was a cylinder cleaner with a hose, I was able to put my hand over the end very easily to see how hard it was sucking. It was that, in fact, that led me to start thinking about "suck" in general.

On one weekend, with the machine wheezing around the house, nosing at the dust like an old labrador sniffing diffidently at cold turds on a pavement, I went to the hoover bag cupboard, and found that the cupboard was bare. Ingenious chap that I am, I decided the logical thing to do was to cut open the bag, a sausage-shaped thing that filled like a colon, empty it, and stitch it up again.


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Post# 352840 5/27/2016 at 04:17 (2,884 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)
Checkrate/Likes 3 An interesting article here, although Jimmy D proving once again he knows absolutely nothing about vacuums. A Hoover Junior was the most powerful vacuum on the market, James? Really? Even into the late 70's, they were 250w. Maybe if he'd bought a Hoover Senior or Electrolux 500 series, the Dyson would never have existed. One can only dream. At least his openly acknowledged here that he didn't invent the cyclone and just "borrowed" the idea that sawmills had been using for years. Instead of his usual overly egotistical "I invented the cyclonic vacuum" that he normally states. CLICK HERE TO GO TO Turbo500's LINK

Post# 352855 , Reply# 1 5/27/2016 at 13:15 (2,884 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)
Checkrate/Likes 1 That 'article' is like a mixture of the truth. James Dyson's Hoover Junior was not the new machine he purchased. In fact, in his Autobiography, he says that his Hoover was purchased used, and that it had a cloth bag. The machine he is likely talking about, that caused the frustration with the bags, could have been a Vax. Again, in the autobiography, James says that "it had a bag that filled like a colon". Just like a Vax paper bag does. From "Against The Odds" by James Dyson (or, as I call it, The Bible): The model we had at home was an old reconditioned Hoover Junior. Old because I couldn't afford a new one. Reconditioned because I had not been able to afford a new one even the first time around. A Hoover because they were the only reconditioned models available at that time. And a Junior, or at least an upright, because that was the kind my mother had. It had been annoying me for years, this poxy machine. But I had not really had any time to think about why. I don't think it ever had much suck, even in its callow youth. It just seemed to push the dirt and dust around that house, and I came to think of it as more of an expensive broom than a cheap vacuum cleaner. The new place in Bathford had a lot of wooden floor space and not much carpet, which meant that I needed something with much more suck. And so we bought ourselves a great big cylinder cleaner that was advertised as the most powerful on the market. For a room or two, when we first bought it, the new machine was fine. But after a while it, too, lost interest in sucking, and as it was a cylinder cleaner with a hose, I was able to put my hand over the end very easily to see how hard it was sucking. It was that, in fact, that led me to start thinking about "suck" in general. On one weekend, with the machine wheezing around the house, nosing at the dust like an old labrador sniffing diffidently at cold turds on a pavement, I went to the hoover bag cupboard, and found that the cupboard was bare. Ingenious chap that I am, I decided the logical thing to do was to cut open the bag, a sausage-shaped thing that filled like a colon, empty it, and stitch it up again.

Post# 352858 , Reply# 2 5/27/2016 at 14:01 (2,884 days old) by kenkart ()
Checkrate/Likes 1 *He made the Dyson* By copying the Fantom!Most of you know my opinion of any new vacuum....CHEAP PLASTIC!

Post# 352862 , Reply# 3 5/27/2016 at 14:35 (2,884 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *He made the Dyson By copying the Fantom!* Well now that's not true either. For staters, Fantom didn't hit the market until 1993, the same year as the DA001 (the first official Dyson). As per the article in the link, the first vacuums that James Dyson made were on sale in the early-mid 80's in Japan. Secondly, the Fantom IS a Dyson for the most part. It was made by licencing James Dyson's technology, so the cyclone is essentially the same as the earlier Dysons. See link. CLICK HERE TO GO TO Turbo500's LINK

Post# 352863 , Reply# 4 5/27/2016 at 14:37 (2,884 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)
Checkrate/Likes *a sausage-shaped thing that filled like a colon* The sausage shaped part would imply the cleaner in question was a long sledge-type cylinder/canister. Given the era, possibly a Hoover Freedom?

Post# 352866 , Reply# 5 5/27/2016 at 16:12 (2,884 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)
Checkrate/Likes 2 The bag was a "long sausage shaped thing that filled like a colon". The Vax had an orange paper bag that curled around the inside of the tank, like a colon, and filled from the end that attached to the cleaner where the hose attached. And you're right about Fantom. He licensed his dual cyclone technology, along with his new invention, the shroud, to Iona Corporation in Canada. It became the Fantom. In 1993, James Dyson together with the President of Iona, were in St. Louis for the Vacuum Dealer Trade Association (VDTA) trade show, demonstrating the new "Fantom". They were using cat litter as the demo tool. And acting like the Fantom (which had NO Hepa filter nor pre-motor filter other than a screen at the bottom) filtered so well the motor would not have any dust in it. We know that was as far from the truth as it can be.