No, really, do bear with me!
I don’t have a central vacuum system either, but this is just so cool…
Kitchen floors. They’re all about crumbs and tracked-in dirt from kids and dogs and men who were apparently raised in a barn, am I right? Okay, maybe it’s just our place, but the broom never gets put away from the corner of the kitchen because it’s always being used. And then there’s the whole dust-pan hassle… and chasing dust bunnies around the floor…
Solution found!
I’ve been working with a custom kitchen company lately, and these plans came in that called for all the usual central-vacuum system hookups that the high-end new home is going to require…
The cool part was a long narrow slit or vent right at floor level, neatly disguised by the kickplate on the kitchen island.
Know what it was?
An intake into the central vac system!
(Sort of like this one shown by eco-vent — this kitchen, we went with a dark vent that blended right into the black tile kick, but you get the idea.)
So, all the homeowner has to do to keep the floor completely crumb-free and clean at all times, is sweep the crap into this hole in the baseboard. The central vac will suck it down and take it away, when next it’s used. In between vacuum chores, how easy to whisk a broom across the floor ( or kick that coughed-up cat hairball away) and shove the detritus down the magic portal. So very very discrete, you’d never know it was there… and for convenience, right up there with sweeping it under the rug!
I’ve seen these at hair salons! So cool!
I am looking for an installed floor vent that would look much like your heat/ac floor vent that had a suction system so that the homeowner can run the dry mop over it and have it suctioned and totally cleaned of all animal hair.
Does anyone know of anything on the market even if its a Central Vac System with this feature?
We have loads of hardwood floors
…or we could all just band together and declare that dust bunnies and tumbleweeds are the next hot thing in home decor????
Ohhhhh….why don’t I have a central vac? We too have tumbleweeds…and plaster walls.
@bluepaintred, I just sent you an email about your tech troubles – but no way I’m sending you a sweepeze too, my dear, when I don’t yet have one myself!
@Dana, we feel your furry pain… Sounds like kellypea does too! I wonder if Debbie’s “barking chihuahuas” shed much…
I’ve got an exciting range of pet fluff floating around here, ranging from the few fine thin hairs of the greyhound to the fistfuls of downy undercoat donated by the husky. There may even still be cat hairs around from the last house cat, for all I know (but won’t ever admit it!)…
Oooh…I think I might just buy that sweepeze! I too, have tumbling tumbleweeds from my golden retriever.
ohhhh i am so going to look into the sweepeze! also you asked how i was doing on the whole domain change thing? I’m doing horribly! but thanks for asking!
Ooh, thanks for the tip, Gen — I just looked it up on Amazon and you’re right, that SweepEZE
does look like the poor girl’s ideal alternative to a central vac floor vent.
Hm, so tempting! Because I can’t really see ever installing a central system in this century-old farmhouse… just imagine the plaster dust all over the place, not to mention freaking out all those free-loading mice, just trying to snake the tubes through the walls and put in the outlets… But an electric dustbin for $50 or less? That’s not completely insane… and you like yours enough to mention it here, Gen, so that’s a pretty good recommendation!
For those without a central vac system I got a neat little gadget called a Sweepeze. It’s an automatic dustbin that sucks up whatever you sweep to it. You do have to empty it periodically but still a great addition to my kitchen.
oh that would be so wonderful to have in my home indeed !!!
Somebody is thinking! I’ll take one, thanks.
I so wish I had one of these right now with all the pet hair fuzzies blowing across my floor that I have to sweep up each morning. *sigh*
I love this! I am all about practical and this makes so much sense. Now if only I had a central vac.
omg. My mother in law has these. they are awesome. In fact, I want central vac just because of them!
I have a central vac — came with the house we just bought. I also have 2 black labs. So where can I find this eco-vent to buy? My new cabinets are about to be built and I want one of these. Or two. Or five Please, are they on the market?
I’d try amazon.com first. Google “Central Vac Floor Vent” and you should find them.