January 2023
Trouble with Attachments
01/19/23 Filed in: Tech Trouble
I am used to vacuum cleaners having lots of attachments, including many whose purpose I don't fully understand. Recently, though, I was simply trying to attach a simple one and found it took ten minutes of trial and error. How could vacuum cleaner attachments be so confusing?
Over 40 years of home-ownership, I have had three Dyson vacuums and still have two of them. Their attachments must have just got mixed up—and perhaps a couple were for the one I no longer own. So I went to my files and checked the manuals, which would doubtless make all clear. They did. I have instructions for three Dysons, one Dirt Devil, two Sharks, and something sold as “The Works.” I also have at least one attachment for most of them, including the ones I no longer have, and the vacuums that I do have accept only their own attachments. I also have a set of adapters that will allow my older Dyson to accept attachments made for other Dyson models, but not the Dyson model I actually own now. Considering that there are twelve adapters, I admire the ingenuity of the engineers at Dyson, who have come up with at least thirteen ways of putting a wand on the end of a vacuum hose.
Thanks to my afternoon of research, I now have a nice pile of attachments for the trash. I also have a stack of manuals for the recycling. Besides guides to the departed vacuums—and their various attachments—the file also included warranty cards, discount coupons for more attachments, and instructions for a leaf blower I once owned. I must have stashed it there on the principle that a leaf blower is just a vacuum in reverse. I did once have a leaf blower that claimed it would vacuum up leaves and shred them, but you needed an attachment to do that.
Over 40 years of home-ownership, I have had three Dyson vacuums and still have two of them. Their attachments must have just got mixed up—and perhaps a couple were for the one I no longer own. So I went to my files and checked the manuals, which would doubtless make all clear. They did. I have instructions for three Dysons, one Dirt Devil, two Sharks, and something sold as “The Works.” I also have at least one attachment for most of them, including the ones I no longer have, and the vacuums that I do have accept only their own attachments. I also have a set of adapters that will allow my older Dyson to accept attachments made for other Dyson models, but not the Dyson model I actually own now. Considering that there are twelve adapters, I admire the ingenuity of the engineers at Dyson, who have come up with at least thirteen ways of putting a wand on the end of a vacuum hose.
Thanks to my afternoon of research, I now have a nice pile of attachments for the trash. I also have a stack of manuals for the recycling. Besides guides to the departed vacuums—and their various attachments—the file also included warranty cards, discount coupons for more attachments, and instructions for a leaf blower I once owned. I must have stashed it there on the principle that a leaf blower is just a vacuum in reverse. I did once have a leaf blower that claimed it would vacuum up leaves and shred them, but you needed an attachment to do that.