Yep – what is old is new again, and the darn thing works fantastically.
What I am talking about is the Bissell Sweep Up carpet sweeper. I just happened to stumble onto one of these little wonders at Big Lot’s one day for the partly sum of $12.00. Shucks, for twelve bucks I thought I would give it a try.
Every RV we have owned had some carpet. Our current fifth wheel has carpet in the living area and the bedroom. Even with a front door mat, we continually track in stuff and Oscar, bless his little heart, sheds fine little black hairs all the time.
The makers of our RV installed a Dirt Devil central vacuum. It is a nice accessory but you still have to drag out a bulky 30-foot long hose, tubes and attachments to vacuum the carpets. You also need 120-volt electricity, which we don’t always have, and the noise is worse than a jet plane flying overhead.
Enter the Bissell Sweep Up.
Melvin Bissell circa 1870
This little device, invented by Melvin Bissell in the late 1800’s, has a detachable handle and stores most anywhere in a RV.
But does it work?
My Gosh! You betcha’! This little, inexpensive machine quickly and easily picks up dirt from not only the carpet but also the hard surface kitchen floor. It is absolutely amazing how well it works.
It is funny how you forget the simple things. You see, I grew up thinking it took a $1,000 Electrolux, Kirby, or Rainbow vacuum peddled from a door-to-door salesman to clean carpets. But, I remember my grandmother using some sort of sweeping machine back in the 50’s to clean the rugs in her dining room and parlor. It was bigger than the Bissell Sweep up – or at least I remember it being bigger – and it must have done a good job because she never bought a vacuum cleaner. Of course, back in those days you occasionally took the rugs outdoors, hung them from a thick rope between two trees, and beat them with this metal thing that looked like a tennis racket. The dust would fly everywhere getting in your eyes, nose and covering your clothes.
Dirt Picked up by the Sweeper in a Single Cleaning
But, I digress. What I wanted to do in this blog was to share how simple this device is and how well it works. When I ran it over the carpets a few days ago, I picked up almost enough dog dander to make a new pooch – not to mention enough dirt to pot a tomato plant. The photo on the left is what I dumped out of the canister – you can get a good idea of how much it is by the print and photo on the newspaper it is resting on.
This machine, invented about 130 years ago, is perfect for keeping the carpets in your RV clean.
Four brushes lift dirt into the enclosed canister.
.