Cleaning Up History

Keeping floors clean was hard work before the vacuum cleaner. People had to use brooms and rugs beaters, which often just moved the dust around instead of removing it. The first machine to clean carpets was invented in 1860, but it did not use suction. Instead, it used spinning brushes to sweep the dirt into a box.

The idea of using suction came from a British engineer named Hubert Cecil Booth in 1901. He saw a machine that blew air to push dust away and thought it would be better to suck the dust in. To test his idea, he put a handkerchief over a chair, put his mouth against it, and sucked hard. When he saw the dust trapped on the cloth, he knew his idea would work.

Booth's first vacuum cleaner was huge. It was so big that it had to be pulled by horses and parked outside the house. Long hoses were pulled through the windows to clean the carpets inside. It was not until 1908 that James Spangler invented a portable electric vacuum cleaner that people could easily use in their homes.

Cleaning Up History

Keeping floors clean was hard work before the vacuum cleaner. People had to use brooms and rugs beaters, which often just moved the dust around instead of removing it. The first machine to clean carpets was invented in 1860, but it did not use suction. Instead, it used spinning brushes to sweep the dirt into a box.

The idea of using suction came from a British engineer named Hubert Cecil Booth in 1901. He saw a machine that blew air to push dust away and thought it would be better to suck the dust in. To test his idea, he put a handkerchief over a chair, put his mouth against it, and sucked hard. When he saw the dust trapped on the cloth, he knew his idea would work.

Booth's first vacuum cleaner was huge. It was so big that it had to be pulled by horses and parked outside the house. Long hoses were pulled through the windows to clean the carpets inside. It was not until 1908 that James Spangler invented a portable electric vacuum cleaner that people could easily use in their homes.