Answer

1. Floor coverings throughout the home should be vacuumed at least once a week. High use areas should be vacuumed twice weekly! If you have pets, you may need to vacuum some areas daily!

2. In 1938 27 percent of homes with electricity owned a vacuum cleaner, rising to 40 percent 10 years later! Today, according to the Vacuum Cleaner Manufacturers Association 98% of households owns a vacuum cleaner!

3. To remove surface soil, push the vacuum forward several feet in a slow, deliberate motion and then reverse direction!

4. The first non-electric vacuum cleaner, a sweeping machine, was the Whirlwind model, invented in Chicago in 1869. It had a crank to turn with one hand while pushing with the other hand! Due to the great Chicago fire in 1871 only two of these machines exist today!

5. After the electric iron, the vacuum cleaner was the most popular electric appliance in the home from 1920 to 1960.

6. One popular 1913 vacuum came in six different models and had attachments for bare floors, walls, upholstery and crevices! It even could be used as a blower for drying hair! In the mid 1800’s vacuum cleaners could be found housed in exquisite cabinetry that doubled as a coffee table" sidebar or cocktail bar!

7. Vacuuming is the single, most effective and economical means of keeping floor coverings clean and removing dust and allergens from the indoor environment! It has been proven that 90% to 95% of all dry soil by weight can be removed from carpet by routine vacuuming!

8. The concept of today’s electric vacuum cleaner was invented in 1901by H.C. Booth and took the form of a large, horse-drawn, petrol-driven unit which was parked outside the building! The unit fed long hoses through the windows of the room to be cleaned!

9. Before electricity, an alternative to beating the carpet over a porch rail, clothesline, or windowsill was to sprinkle a carpet with tealeaves! In theory, this attracted dust and dirt to the surface ready to be swept!

10. Vacuum cleaners have the largest sales volume of any major appliance in this country" with the U.S. ranking Number 1 in worldwide sales! 1996 15 million full-sized vacuum cleaners were sold here! About (million were sold in Germany and in Japan" ranking these No 2 and No 3, respectively.