The Time My Husband Saved My Sanity

This is my vacuum cleaner. It's a Hoover u6630-900 that's only a year old.


And for a long time, I hated it.


I didn't hate it for the same reasons as the reviews on ConsumerReports.org did. My switches and belts are all still working, so I assume Hoover realized that they were making poor accessories and finally started installing quality products. No, my problem, which is going to be my problem until I no longer have my adorable mini lop rabbits, is clogged hoses.


Since May, I'd been at my wit's end trying to get the darn thing to suck up the fur balls and tiny bits of food that the rabbits insisted on leaving behind. It wasn't happening. No matter how many passes I made, it would not suck them up. Do you realize what that means? It means that for over a month, I couldn't effectively vacuum my apartment. Gross!

Earlier this week, I pulled it out and tried to clean the hose that attached to the body one more time. Once again, it was absolutely clear. I realized my filter was disgusting, so I looked online and found out that the one I had installed was washable, so I washed it out and let it dry for over 24 hours. The vacuum was still leaving bits behind. I mentioned it again to Mark and told him what all I had done to try to fix it myself. He fiddled around with it for a bit and eventually found the other hose...the one that I never knew about.

See, as much as I like to tinker around with things and figure out how they work, my husband is just better at it. I think it's because he doesn't fly into a rage when things aren't working the way that he thinks they should.... Not that I do that.

(I totally do that.)

So anyway, if you lean back the entire vacuum, you'll see another hose close to the bristles. It's not the same as the hose that detaches from the body, but it's still sort of like a hose. Anyway, ours was way clogged. Like, gross clogged. Like, we had to use my knitting needles to punch holes in the dust in order to break it up enough for it to be sucked in or spit out. Ew.

Once he got that area cleaned out, the vacuum worked fantastically...about as good as it did when my parents gave it to us. It's so nice for things to be actually cleaned again, and I'm glad that it didn't cost us a brand new vacuum to get there.