The reader will doubtless consider that in making this statement the author is asking the vacuum cleaner to perform much more than it is usually called on to do. However, we are now discussing an ideal system, and the above requirements are not absolutely beyond what can be accomplished by some of the cleaning systems now on the market.
To accomplish this requirement the ideal cleaner must pick up everything likely to be found on the floor which cannot be readily picked up by hand. The character of this material will vary greatly according to the uses of the apartment cleaned. In residences and offices, where carpets or rugs are in use, cigar stumps and matches are usually deposited in cuspidors and small pieces of paper in waste baskets, consequently there should be nothing but dust to be removed from a residence and, perhaps, mud and sand from the shoes of the many visitors, in addition to the dust in an office.
However, there are special conditions likely to be met in many cases; sewing rooms will be littered with basting threads and scraps of cloth; department stores, with a great quantity of pins; banking rooms with bands and large-sized bank pins; all of which increase the requirements of the ideal system. A cleaner which is perfectly adapted to one sort of apartment will be entirely unsuited for another, and the ideal cleaner will be one which can be readily adapted to all conditions likely to be met in the building in which it is installed.
The ideal cleaner must be able to accomplish the above stated requirements without the necessity of moving heavy pieces of furniture out of or about the apartment; that is, it must be capable of being efficiently operated under beds, tables and chairs, around the legs of other heavy furniture, behind bookcases, pianos, cabinets, etc., over curtains, draperies and hangings, over walls, behind pictures and over mouldings and carved ornaments, all without injury to any of the furniture or fittings of the apartment, and with the least expenditure of energy by the operator.
These conditions should be met with the fewest possible number of cleaning appliances, none of which should be provided with small attachments liable to be lost or misplaced, and all parts of the system, which must necessarily be moved about, either before, after or during the cleaning operation, should be of minimum weight and bulk, but of rugged and lasting construction.
The ideal vacuum cleaner should be of such proportions and provided with ample motive power to clean rapidly and effectively.
For use in an office building the cleaner should be able to thoroughly clean an average-sized office, including floor, walls, furniture and fittings in from 10 to 15 minutes, and for residence work, should be of sufficient capacity to clean an apartment, including floor, walls, curtains, draperies, pictures and furniture in not exceeding 30 minutes.
The ideal system should be so arranged that any apartment in the building can be cleaned with the least possible disturbance and without affecting the use of any other apartment, excepting perhaps, the corridors or hallways.
In large offices, drafting rooms and similar apartments, it may become necessary to clean same while they are occupied; therefore, our ideal system must be practically noiseless in operation and must offer the least possible obstruction to the proper use of the room by its regular occupants.