Wednesday, September 7, 2011

PSA: How to Unclog an Upright Vacuum Cleaner

If your upright vacuum cleaner gets clogged, and you are almost certain it is because your children never hear a word you say and vacuumed up something that was OBVIOUSLY too big:  unplug the machine, and instead of taking it apart (because you JUST CAN'T DEAL with finding the nearest dealer who is located in a city about an hour away from you (in the OPPOSITE direction of anywhere you ever need to go) and you are VERY MUCH HOPING that you can fix it because it is necessary to use the vacuum in your house AT LEAST once a day) from the bottom to the top while little helpers dance all around you, excitedly wielding screwdrivers that they insist on poking into the now-exposed innards of the vacuum cleaner while you try DESPERATELY to keep track of all of the pieces and the order in which you removed them, while also fighting the urge to rip all of the carpet out of the entire house WITH YOUR BARE HANDS because you cannot believe how dirty and disgusting the vacuum cleaner is when you get this up close and personal, only to discover that the wires leading from the on/off switch to the motor are going to keep you from EVER getting to the other end of the suction tube, and when you FINALLY get everything put back together you realize that you SHOULD HAVE JUST tried to get a wire hanger, gently unwind it so that it is (mostly) straight and long, and carefully poke it around in the tube until you are able to pull out whatever is clogging the tube and all of the disgusting stuff that has backed up since the vacuum first got clogged and nobody mentioned it to you.  That could VERY EASILY solve the problem and will not cause you to lose what is left of your will to live when you get the vacuum cleaner re-assembled and it WILL NOT START, which then leads to the purchase of a NEW vacuum cleaner take nearly as long as taking it all apart WHICH DIDN'T WORK ANYWAY.

1 comment:

Joanne said...

I love that blanket idea, what a sweet image.