The bulky device worked with a belt driven fan cranked by hand that made it awkward to operate, although it was commercially marketed with mixed success.

[9] Thurman's system, powered by an internal combustion engine, traveled to the customer's residence on a horse-drawn wagon as part of a door-to-door cleaning service.

[8] In 1901 powered vacuum cleaners using suction were invented independently by British engineer Hubert Cecil Booth and American inventor David T.

[10] Booth's horse-drawn combustion-engine-powered "Puffing Billy",[11] maybe derived from Thurman's blown-air design,[12] relied upon just suction with air pumped through a cloth filter and was offered as part of his cleaning services.

[13] His Griffith's Improved Vacuum Apparatus for Removing Dust from Carpets resembled modern-day cleaners; it was portable, easy to store, and powered by "any one person (such as the ordinary domestic servant)", who would have the task of compressing a bellows-like contraption to suck up dust through a removable, flexible pipe, to which a variety of shaped nozzles could be attached.

The Cleveland, Ohio factory was built in 1916 and remains open currently, and all Kirby vacuum cleaners are manufactured in the United States.

Crucially, in addition to suction from an electric fan that blew the dirt and dust into a soap box and one of his wife's pillow cases, Spangler's design utilized a rotating brush to loosen debris.

Subsequent innovations included the beater bar in 1919 ("It beats as it sweeps as it cleans"),[18] disposal filter bags in the 1920s, and an upright vacuum cleaner in 1926.

[20] Vacuums tend to be more common in Western countries, because in most other parts of the world, wall-to-wall carpeting is uncommon and homes have tile or hardwood floors, which are easily swept, wiped or mopped manually without power assist.

In addition, miniaturized computer technology and improved batteries allowed the development of a new type of machine—the autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner.

Upright designs generally employ a rotating brushroll or beater bar, which removes dirt through a combination of sweeping and vibration.

The older of the two designs, direct-fan cleaners have a large impeller (fan) mounted close to the suction opening, through which the dirt passes directly, before being blown into a bag.

Fan-bypass vacuums are good for both carpet and above-floor cleaning, since their suction does not significantly diminish over the distance of a hose, as it does in direct-fan cleaners.

They have the motor and dust collectors (using a bag or bagless) in a separate unit, usually mounted on wheels, which is connected to the vacuum head by a flexible hose.

They are generally designed to be used both indoors and outdoors and to accommodate both wet and dry debris; some are also equipped with an exhaust port or detachable blower for reversing the airflow, a useful function for everything from clearing a clogged hose to blowing dust into a corner for easy collection.

Shop vacs are able to collect large, bulky or otherwise inconvenient material that would damage or foul household vacuum cleaners, like sawdust, swarf, and liquids.

As the airstream enters the larger volume, its flow slows down, allowing the material to drop into the chamber before air is sucked out through the filter and to the vacuum's exhaust.

Wet vacuum cleaners have been modified by end users, adding an internally-mounted sump pump for continuous removal of liquids without having to stop to empty the tank.

[28] Some battery-powered handheld vacuums are wet/dry rated; the appliance must be partially disassembled and cleaned after picking up wet materials to avoid developing unpleasant odors.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, several companies developed robotic vacuum cleaners, a form of carpet sweeper usually equipped with limited suction power.

A well-designed cyclonic filtration system loses suction power due to airflow restriction only when the collection vessel is almost full.

In portable cyclonic models, the cleaned air from the center of the vortex is expelled from the machine after passing through a number of successively finer filters at the top of the container.

The dirt bag or collection bin in a central vacuum system is usually so large that emptying or changing needs to be done less often, perhaps a few times per year for an ordinary household.

This is in marked contrast to filter-bag designs, which start losing suction immediately as pores in the filter become clogged by accumulated dirt and dust.

Specially engineered portable vacuums may also utilize this design, but are more awkward to set up and use, requiring temporary installation of a separate exhaust hose to an exterior window.

[36] Most vacuum cleaners are supplied with numerous specialized attachments, such as tools, brushes and extension wands, which allow them to reach otherwise inaccessible places or to be used for cleaning a variety of surfaces.

Visual artist Jeff Koons exhibited his The New series of household vacuums enshrined in museum-quality vitrines, such as New Shelton Wet/Dry Doubledecker (1981) at the Museum of Modern Art[42] and New Hoover Convertibles, Green, Blue; New Hoover Convertibles, Green, Blue; Doubledecker (1981–1987) at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

In 2018, Paulius Markevičius organized performances of Dance for the Vacuum-Cleaner and Father choreographed by Greta Grinevičiūtė, and premiered in Vilnius, Lithuania.

[44] In 2019, Sandrina Lindgren choreographed dancers in Requiem for Vacuum Cleaning in the Barker Theatre of Turku, Finland, with each performer operating multiple machines simultaneously.

[47] Other performers have used a vacuum cleaner hose or wand as a modernized version of the Australian Aboriginal didgeridoo,[48] or used the whine of the motor for techno music.