Filter Queen Majestic

and pantyhose bunnies

One of the things I’ve acquired since I have been with Charley is the Filter Queen Majestic. I got took it because I needed a heavier-duty vacuum to combat the dog hair situation twice a year shed occurs. Usually she doesn’t shed, but twice a year it is on. Hair floating in the air, stuck to car seats, coating my floor with her hair. It pops up where I wonder, “How the heck did her hair get in the butter in the fridge. How did a piece of hai I could have knitted a family collection of sweaters and matching gloves. It is quite gross and gets everywhere. And into everything.

I thought getting a vacuum was just that; get a vacuum. However, this time it turned out to be an arduous, (yay, love that word) frustrating, and interesting journey. It started from the moment it was in my possession. First, it was getting the $50 filters and parts, learning how to hook the hoses correctly, and putting the filter in the right way. The attachments, what they were used for and how to switch them out. That is a process. The whole thing. I will have to say I did find some interesting little things about the Filter Queen Majestic, which is cool. I was really surprised. I love learning new things. I am going to write about this event.

adventures WITH the Filter Queen Majestic, R2-D2, AND Charley Waffle.

I have a friend, Rob, that lives in the same apartment complex as I. He is a funky guy that has a funky style, and is so, oh, so very delightful, and every now and then he gives me things that he has no use for anymore. They are very unique and so random; things that I’d never think to buy, but I like them because they are new to me. Another man’s trash is another one’s treasure. However, most of the items are missing buttons, wheels, handles, broken clasps, or, more recently a very LARGE HDTV that is stuck on demo mode. All of these items I accept, because I usually can use them. Or maybe because they are FREE. I like FREE. Sometimes I think he wants to make space in his place and feels guilty about throwing them away, but he knows I would put them in use and more than ready to take them off his hands.

I will never complain about a free gift.

Except this time I almost did.

Rob was aware that I was on the prowl for a new vacuum ever since my Dirt Devil 3-n-1, (https://dirtdevil.com/products/vibe-3-in-1-corded-bagless-stick-vacuum), which I highly recommend, stopped spinning its brush. I needed a vacuum for regular duty, but I now wanted a bit more power and suction. have power and suction. He called up to let me know that he has found the perfect one, and what he called, the “vacuum of vacuum’s.” He stated that although he absolutely loved it, and it is really expensive one, but recently obtained a Shark 2 in 1 vacuum/shampooer https://www.sharkclean.com/, so he had no use for 2 vacuums. And he thought of me.

After he managed to get this R2-D2 -looking thing out of his closet, along with these industrial-looking black hoses and attachments, he gave me a full demonstration of how everything works, and where the hose is to be attached. He told me that the same vacuum was selling on Amazon for $3500 dollars.

” But”, he said after he unclasped the engine from the bucket with no wheels and held it up for me to see, “it requires special filters that you have to buy, which run about $50.00”. I started to giggle as I noticed a pair of pantyhose, with the legs attached and dangling, stretched across the cone shaped container that holds the engine. He started to explain the pantyhose was the hack he was using for the filter. I totally get it and understand. I have had to use many different household

I tried to justify taking this thing by figuring out I would be looking at $50 to buy a new Dirt Devil, so instead I would buy the filters. Plus, if I didn’t like it, maybe I could sell it for the Amazon price (yeah right) and make a profit. So I took the dang thing.

Once home, I eagerly plugged it in, started it up, and all of a sudden my fire alarm was blazing. But, instead of saying ” FIRE FIRE”, it screamed out, “WARNING!! CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTED!! WARNING!!!! CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTED!!!” Holy cow. I had never heard a fire alarm say that kind of word.

I hunted online for the filters for this beast. I called local vacuum stores and it proved to be a huge project as well. The part number that was stamped on the engine was not recognizable by any of the local vacuum stores. I kept searching, and just ended up buying what I was hoping for the right ones. Now I know that is the link for them.\

I ended up buying the filters from Amazon, and was a little surprised they carried them, along with a string of different vacuums and air filters. I put the filters in, one lighter filter under the thicker filter, placing the engine in the bucket and latching the sides shut. I put the engine’s filter before that because it specifically says it is very important to use these filters, but especially the engine filter. DO NOT USE WITHOUT HAVING THE ENGINE FILTER IN PLACE it advises on the package. When I thought I had it all right, the next thing was to attach the hose, and plug the bucket with this little pigtail plug coming off the end of the hose.

I couldn’t figure it out. I tried flipping the hose, taking it off seeing if it would fit the other way. I tried everything and could not get it right. I couldn’t figure why it turned on perfectly, but no suction. I gave up and threw it in my closet, swearing to never take anything from him again. I also hucked a few of the attachments in the trash because my closet wasn’t that big, and they were in my way. Stupidest mistake I’ve ever made with the Filter Queen.

It sat rotting in my closet for 4 months or more until my friend, not Rob, came over and took a look. Within 2 minutes he had the vacuum up and running, sucking up everything in its sight. All he did was rotate the engine until the the hole for the hose lined up with what that little plug plugged into. I felt so stupid.

The vacuum turns out to be a champ. An absolute dream. It will suck up everything within 5 inches of the nozzle. The vacuum extension is just as powerful. It takes 5 minutes to suck up stuff and especially Charley’s hair. I use it to vacuum the mattress, suction the carpet, clean out all the drawers and the all the crevices. Charley starts making these really weird noses and pretends she is playing bite-bite with it, but I think she is serious. She wants that thing gone. She gets weirdly anxious when it comes close to her food or her bed. When I finished, which was in a matter of 25 minutes, including vacuuming the drawers, I unscrew the hose from the machine, unlatch the top and empty the canister.. Bam! Done. Putting it back together but leaving the hose off, and taking off the circular top, I turn it on so it can act like an air purifier. All the air around gets sucked into the machine, and whatever debris in the air gets caught on the cones, and the air blows out the top, purifying the

I then unscrewed the very top

Another good thing about the Filter Queen Majestic is that it acts as an air filter as well. Take of the nozzle, open the top part, turn it on and immediately it starts sucking in the air around you, filtering it with the “cyclonic action” that Ed Yonkers developed for Frank and Martin Callahan, the brothers that started the Filter Queen.

I did not know it was the first canister vacuum. I did not know the company is over 90 years old. It started small, growing to be one of the top distributers in the 50’s. They cleaned the

USS Constitution and the SS Independence Cruise Ship

landing in a few of the I Love Lucy episodes, starting with episode 140,” Bon Voyage.” “https://ultimateilovelucy.fandom.com/wiki/Bon_Voyage” They claim it helps filter out the air that can carry CO-VID. They also gained great recognition in 1953 at the Indy 500 by Wilbur Shaw, a race car driver. He was so impressed with the FilterQueen’s ability to clean every pebble, and debris off the first track that carries all drivers of the race. He said they were a major player in taking care of the safety of all the drivers.

Adhttps://usaclean.com/filter-queen/parts

They have a lifetime warranty, IF the guidelines are followed, and only the Filter Queen filters be used. The filters come with a main cone that sits in a paper cone over the v-shaped case for the engine. The filter for the engine is an absolute must. Have to have that in. When it is used as an air purifier I guess they have scented filters that will make your house/building/what-not smell nice. I’d like to try those out, but I’m still recovering from the $40.00 cost that should be replaced every 6 months.

These are just a couple things I had in my initial write-up of the Filter Queen. I was very surprised and pleasantly pleased with the Filter Queen Majestic, and impressed with the whole company structure of 90 years in business.

Oh, yeah, and they actually contacted me directly. When I first started researching the Filter Queen there was an obituary for Edward Yonkers in the Seattle paper. It kind of sounded like their guy who was the one who figured out how to make the dust filter clean air by an inverted cone, which would drop the debris in the bucket below. This guy worked for Dow Company and was in research for chemicals and air, and all of that. So I wrote them and asked them. They emailed me back and told me that he had passed on several years before that, and that was not their Yonkers in the paper. I thought that was nice customer service. Good customer service. Little things like that. It makes me go with a company that exercises that. It just made me smile.

Here are some other ways to use pantyhose that don’t involve holding up a bank in the 80’s, and some links and pictures of the vacuum. It does go for $3400 at Amazon. Spendy, but I think it may be worth it.

And what not….

uses for pantyhose

https://www.instructables.com/25-Unique-Uses-for-Pantyhose/

Panty Hose Bunnies…