Spring cleaning on a beautiful Spring day in October

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I did not paint the Regina. Here's what I posted about it just after I restored it:

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There's a new household member at the Home for Wayward Vacuum Cleaners ... Introducing Miss Regina!

Here's a 1960s Regina Floor-Care Machine that I saw at an estate sale. It was so grotty looking that I initially passed it by. But I looked at it a second time and saw it had some excellent Mid-Century design elements and colors. But I didn't want to pay $30.00 for it!

So the next day I emailed the guy running the estate sale and said that if the polisher didn't sell, I'd come back on the last ("Half Price!") day and pick it up. He replied that if it didn't sell, I could have it for free!

After the sale was over I emailed him again. It hadn't sold, so it was mine! I stopped by their next sale and he sent his helper with me to his van to fetch it. I got it home and a few days later gave it a full spa treatment.

I think it came out really beautifully, and I'm glad I didn't end up passing it by as I originally had done. It had looked like it was covered with rust and a restoration would be futile. But I heard it pitifully whispering "Please save me!" and I just couldn't turn a deaf ear to its pleas.

What I thought was rust turned out to be years of caked-on floor wax. I'd loved to have been a fly on the wall when it was being put to use. I just can't imagine what they were doing with it -- it was covered with splattered wax all the way up to the top of the cord.

Cleaning it up took a lot of elbow grease -- but, happily, I was able to completely restore its original finish without having to repaint it. I love the retro graphics on the front of the motor unit and the shampoo tank!

What made this a really nice find was all the accessories and literature that came with it! There was a whole box of stuff that I hadn't even seen!!

I had to sacrifice the "what's included" sticker on the tank, but making a replacement sticker on my Mac will be a simple task. The metallic decal is original -- fortunately it was in excellent condition.

The thing about it that has me stumped is how to detach the brushes. No amount of tugging or prying will free them. Anyone know how?? Either there's some trick to it, or they're stuck on after being in place for decades.


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Post# 360594 10/8/2016 at 19:36 (2,749 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)
Checkrate/Likes 1 ~ ~ Spring cleaning in October? Makes perfect sense to me. Funny thing is, while I'm up here polishing floors, one of our neighbors is downstairs having a cookout. The combined scents of floor wax and BBQ grilling create an odd sort of disconnect, especially since it's such a warm and beautiful day: It really does seem like it's the middle of April! (Note: I do still have the lower halves of my legs -- I was wearing black socks.) Photos... < > Photo 1 of 3 View Full Size This post was last edited 10/08/2016 at 20:17

Post# 360595 , Reply# 1 10/8/2016 at 19:50 (2,749 days old) by vacuumlad1650 (Wauponsee, IL)
Checkrate/Likes Making me look bad, CRL! We've had our wood floors 10 years and I still havnt found time to polish them Andy

Post# 360599 , Reply# 2 10/8/2016 at 23:49 (2,749 days old) by TheSpiritOf76 ()
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Since I now have beautiful wood floors from 1903....* I finally got to polish floors for the first time!=). I must say I was excited at the prospect. So I invested in a can or two, of good old Johnsons paste wax, and used the Regina. I was very pleased with the results! I know know how it feels to do such a rewarding task. View Full Size

Post# 360600 , Reply# 3 10/9/2016 at 00:44 (2,749 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)
Checkrate/Likes ~ ~ Beautiful!! To me, there are few things lovelier than hardwood floors gleaming with the satin finish of wax (as opposed to the glaring gleam of plastic sealers). I don't use paste wax myself but I do use a Johnson-Wax product, Beautiflor liquid wax. It hasn't been made for years but I have managed to put up a good supply of it. Is this Regina polisher the same model as yours? (See photos.) It does appear to be. Mine was a rescue from an estate sale. The proprietors were going to throw it out because they didn't sell it, so they gave it to me. They were quite astonished to see it after I was finished with it! It's a great machine but I like the three-brush configuration of the Electrolux. The narrow height around its perimeter that makes it easy to get under baseboards. Photos... < > Photo 1 of 18 View Full Size

Post# 360601 , Reply# 4 10/9/2016 at 07:06 (2,749 days old) by Timborow (Georgia)
Checkrate/Likes *Wax* Charles, I have an Electrolux polisher as well. What type of wax do you use? How do you apply it before you polish? Tim

Post# 360602 , Reply# 5 10/9/2016 at 09:27 (2,749 days old) by Suckomatic (Deer Park)
Checkrate/Likes *Holy Moses!* What a cool looking floor polisher. And holy crap, how did you restore that thing to such detailed perfection??? Even the screws are turned to the same parallel direction. (Didn't think anyone would notice, didja. ) I have so many questions. Joo have some splainin' to do. So you stripped it and repainted it, I assume. Please tell me, what kind of paint do you use? Does somebody still supply those new decals on it, or did you print them yourself? That gold foil Regina logo decal is new, right? I can't begin to imagine how to print one of those. How did you get the rust stains off the rubber bumper and power cord?? You painted them! Huh? I've been restoring vintage fans, clocks, and whatevers for decades, and I'm pretty good at it too, but dang! I am impressed.

Post# 360610 , Reply# 6 10/9/2016 at 15:02 (2,749 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)
Checkrate/Likes ~ ~ I did not paint the Regina. Here's what I posted about it just after I restored it: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There's a new household member at the Home for Wayward Vacuum Cleaners ... Introducing Miss Regina! Here's a 1960s Regina Floor-Care Machine that I saw at an estate sale. It was so grotty looking that I initially passed it by. But I looked at it a second time and saw it had some excellent Mid-Century design elements and colors. But I didn't want to pay $30.00 for it! So the next day I emailed the guy running the estate sale and said that if the polisher didn't sell, I'd come back on the last ("Half Price!") day and pick it up. He replied that if it didn't sell, I could have it for free! After the sale was over I emailed him again. It hadn't sold, so it was mine! I stopped by their next sale and he sent his helper with me to his van to fetch it. I got it home and a few days later gave it a full spa treatment. I think it came out really beautifully, and I'm glad I didn't end up passing it by as I originally had done. It had looked like it was covered with rust and a restoration would be futile. But I heard it pitifully whispering "Please save me!" and I just couldn't turn a deaf ear to its pleas. What I thought was rust turned out to be years of caked-on floor wax. I'd loved to have been a fly on the wall when it was being put to use. I just can't imagine what they were doing with it -- it was covered with splattered wax all the way up to the top of the cord. Cleaning it up took a lot of elbow grease -- but, happily, I was able to completely restore its original finish without having to repaint it. I love the retro graphics on the front of the motor unit and the shampoo tank! What made this a really nice find was all the accessories and literature that came with it! There was a whole box of stuff that I hadn't even seen!! I had to sacrifice the "what's included" sticker on the tank, but making a replacement sticker on my Mac will be a simple task. The metallic decal is original -- fortunately it was in excellent condition. The thing about it that has me stumped is how to detach the brushes. No amount of tugging or prying will free them. Anyone know how?? Either there's some trick to it, or they're stuck on after being in place for decades.

Post# 360624 , Reply# 7 10/9/2016 at 23:01 (2,748 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)
Checkrate/Likes *Looks like that polisher saw a good time!* I've used both Johnson's paaste wax AND Preen. THe Hoover polisher makes quick work of the floors. Charles, glad to see your health is back, so you can do all that work. That's quite a job.

Post# 360635 , Reply# 8 10/10/2016 at 05:07 (2,748 days old) by Suckomatic (Deer Park)
Checkrate/Likes *WOW* That really DID look like rust! So, what looked like corrosion & oxidation was something else that was, in fact, protecting it from corrosion & oxidation, preserving it all these years. That's great. You must have about wet yourself when that "rust" started coming off, revealing a pristine surface. Didja ever get those brushes off?

Post# 360664 , Reply# 9 10/10/2016 at 21:33 (2,747 days old) by TheSpiritOf76 ()
Checkrate/Likes *Sorry for the late reply Charles...* My Regina, is slighty diffrent. I actually have two of the same model, this metallic purple, and one in a flat light blue. I like it pretty well for this. I also threw the mircale head on my Classic III, and I liked that ok to. I do have a gorgeous blue B8 plisher, but I don't have a set of polishing brushes to try it, which is such a shame, beacuse I would really like to!=( View Full Size

Post# 360665 , Reply# 10 10/10/2016 at 21:44 (2,747 days old) by vacuumlad1650 (Wauponsee, IL)
Checkrate/Likes This is what I use. The teal one to match the 1205 came from my favorite Vac shop, the other came from my Grandmother Andy