Smokey smell in Kirby vacuum cleaner

FrankieM

Hi,
My DH bought me a kirby vacuum cleaner off ebay and its really smells of cigarette smoke when I use it.
I was wondering if anyone has experience of Kirbys. Do you know how I can get rid of the smell. Can I wash the outerbag?

Hopefully someone can help me.
Thanks

ChapelGirl

I had one quite a while ago. I don't think I'd wash it, but you might be able to sponge it down. Are you sure it's cigarettes? On mine, when the drive belt was getting worn or if there were threads caught in the roller so it wouldn't turn properly it would smell of burning tyres.

I would give the whole thing a wipe down with a cloth dampened in detergent solution. Note damp, not wet! And make sure it's unplugged.

If you can find any shake-and-vac or even cheap talcum powder you could try sweeping some up to see if the scent replaces the bad smell on the bag.

I eventually got rid of my Kirby and got a Dyson instead. The reason was that the bags, belts and other spares were simply too expensive. Kirby has a stranglehold on its distributors so you cannot get parts shipped from the US and can only buy them from Kirby agents in the UK. I tried buying from the US, where the bags are a fraction of the price, and was told by the man that if he was caught sending them to me he would lose his franchise. And nobody can make "generic" spares like they do for Hoover, Electrolux etc. or they get sued. Uncle Sam can keep them, as far as I am concerned.

PasturesNew

If the smell's from the inside I'd try:
- change any bag it has
- get a pot of bicarbonate of soda, chuck it down on the floor (small pile) then vacuum it up and turn the vacuum off. That should kill the smell. Might be an idea to empty the bag (if it has one) or get the bicarb out a day later. Or you could just leave it like that.

Butterfly_Brain

It sounds like the drive belt is burning out - I would check it first in case

shebrett

It could be as others have suggested, the motor, in which case you should probably replace it if you can't fix it. But if it is just the contents then you take a couple of cupfuls of bicarb soda and add some drops of essential oil then sprinkle it on your carpet and vacuum it up, the bicarb usually gets rid of smells in the machine so you don't technically need the oils but they do help (if you want to make your carpets smell nice, leave it on for an hour or so before you vacuum as it also works as a carpet deodouriser). Peppermint/Spearmint is good for getting rid of smoking smells.

All the supermarkets sell those tiny tubs of bicarb which work fine but if you do an internet search for chinese supermarkets in your area you'll find large amounts for great prices. My local sells it 3kg for £2.59....beats the £0.80p for 250g in the supermarket!