I'm Looking for the Vacuum Lab at Consumer Reports

As I walked through the halls of Consumer Reports, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and curiosity. I was on the hunt for the vacuum lab, and after asking a few people, I finally pinpointed its location. I approached the door, hoping that it would be the one I was looking for. But, to my surprise, it wasn't.

I turned around and asked Jack if he knew where the vacuum lab was located. He chuckled and said, "It's not here." I then asked him what was behind the doors, and he replied that they were always a little tricky to navigate. We stood there for a moment, trying to figure out which door led to the vacuum lab.

Just then, a friendly voice interrupted our conversation. It was Sue Booth, the project leader of vacuums at Consumer Reports. She greeted us warmly and exclaimed, "Oh, this is the vacuum lab!" I couldn't believe it - we had finally found what we were looking for. The atmosphere in the room was electric, and I could feel the excitement building up inside me.

Sue then proceeded to put down the carpet that she had brought with her, and began explaining the purpose of the vacuum lab. She told us that testers would put these little suckers through their paces, testing different types of vacuums to see which ones performed best. I was fascinated by the idea of a controlled environment where vacuums could be thoroughly tested.

Sue then showed me a measured amount of rice, explaining that it was used to simulate different sizes of particles that might be present in our homes. She demonstrated how technicians would use different amounts and place them at specific spots on the carpet to ensure consistency in their tests. I was amazed by the attention to detail that went into each test.

As we continued to explore the vacuum lab, Sue revealed that they were using rice, sand, and breakfast cereal in one of their demonstrations. She explained that the goal was to be as consistent as possible when testing products, so that comparisons could be made fairly. I was impressed by the level of precision required in these tests.

Suddenly, Sue's eyes widened in surprise, and she exclaimed, "Wait a minute, what is this?" It turned out that they were using cat hair - yes, you read that right! She pulled it apart and placed it on the carpet, revealing just how difficult it would be for any vacuum to pick up. I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Sue then asked me if I wanted to participate in a demonstration, and I eagerly agreed. Jack chose one of the vacuums, a robotics model, and we set up the test area. As I watched, the robot vacuum expertly navigated the carpet, effortlessly picking up the various particles. Sue was impressed, but not entirely convinced.

She then proceeded to show me what had been missed by the robot vacuum, revealing that it had failed to pick up almost everything. This was a valuable lesson in understanding the capabilities of each type of vacuum. Sue explained that people often think they are cleaning their carpets with these devices, but they are more like in-between maintenance tools.

Next, Sue led me into a humidity-controlled chamber for the next stage of testing. Here, testers could control variables and clean up tiny particles like sand and talc. I was amazed by the level of precision required to ensure accurate results. The reason why we wore masks was because of the fine particles involved - we didn't want them in our lungs.

As we weighed the vacuum and carpet before adding debris, Sue explained that even the vacuum strokes needed to be timed for accuracy. Testers used metronome-like lights to keep vacuum strokes consistent. I watched in awe as they followed the light, performing exactly 16 strokes before turning off the test.

After the test was complete, we weighed the carpets and vacuums again to see how much debris had been picked up. The results were revealing - our day at the vacuum lab had certainly taught me a thing or two about the importance of finding the right vacuum for my needs.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI'm looking for the vacuumlab here at Consumer Reports.And I actually thinkthat might be the door.Hold on a second.No, it's not.It's-- these doorsare always a little--Jack?Oh, hi!- Hey!I just bought mycarpet here because Ithought I might need it.- Well, you didn'tneed to bring it.Because we have plentyof carpets here to test.But I'm Sue Booth.And I'm the projectleader for vacuums.And this is the vacuum lab.Oh, This is the vacuum lab!Wow!Yeah, this is great.OK, we can put this down now.Oh, yeah.Yeah, that washurting a little bit.The humble vacuum cleaner.These noisy staplesof modern lifewere first developedback in the 19th century,the early versionswere incredibly heavy.And some needed to becranked up by hand or foot.By the 1950s, vacuumcleaners were more portable,less expensive, andbest of all, electric.Here at the vacuum lab, testersput these little suckersthrough their paces.So Jack, as long asyou're here, why don't Ishow you a little demonstrationof what we kind of do here.What's this over here?So we got our carpet.You can start setting up.This is a measuredamount of rice.All right.And the reason we dothis is because we'resimulating differentsizes of particlesthat you may have in your home.In this demonstration,we'll be using rice, sand,and breakfast cereal.In an actual test, techniciansuse different amountsand place them at specificspots on the carpet.We want to be asconsistent as possiblewhen we're testing products.And why so consistent?Well, if you're testingone product against anotherand comparing them, you wantto make sure that you give thema level playing field.So your tests have to be exact.The last item is notfur the faint of heart.Here--Wait a minute, what is this?Is this hair?It is hair, it's cat hair?Ew!I know.You can kind of pull it apartand put it on the carpet.This is going to be hardfor any vacuum to pick up,I can already tell.You would think.The demonstrationis ready to go.All we need is a vacuum.So Jack, you can pickany of these vacuumsfor our demonstration.Are you-- any single one of--Any vacuum you want to pick, OK?All right let's see, which one.I'm going to pick one ofthese robotics right here.This one.OK, that's an rightinteresting choice.But go ahead.Where do I put it, right here?OK, yes, put itright over the mess.OK, and--Go ahead.You might want to step outof the way a little bit, too.Whoa!Whoa!You can even direct that withthe remote if you want to.If you want to getthese areas here--yeah, see you're steering it.See?That is so cool!It's like a video game!Yep, exactly.All right, come here,come here, buddy.It seems like therobot did a great job.But Sue isn't convinced.So this is what you pickedup with the robot vac, right?Do you want to go aheadand just delicately--Sure.OK.So you got a lotof stuff, right?You got a lot of sand.That's most of everything.Yeah.So now I'm going to showyou what you missed.So that all was in the carpetafter you thought it was clean.So the point isthat people thinkthey may be cleaningtheir carpets with these.And they are really good tools.They're more of in-betweenmaintenance tools.Got it.So if I want to just pickup something on the surfacemaybe the roboticvacuum probably works.Absolutely.So upright model models arebest for that deep down clean.But exactly howdeep can they go?The answers are lockedbehind this big metal door.Sue leads me into ahumidity-controlled chamberfor the next stage of testing.Here, testers cancontrol that variablewhile they clean up tinyparticles like sand and talc.The reason why we havemasks on is because talcis very, very fine particles.And we don't wantthem in our lungs.To be as precise aspossible, testersweigh the vacuum and carpetbefore the debris is added.That way, they know theclean weight of each item.Then, we pour 3 and 1/2ounces of this fine powderonto the carpet.Keep going down,almost like you'reputting cheese on a pizza.OK?Next, Sue has we pickup a 30-pound weightto help push the materialdeep into the carpetto help simulate typicalhousehold conditions.To make this asscientific as possible,even the vacuum strokesneed to be timed.Testers have developedmetronome-like lightsto keep vacuumstrokes consistent.OK, follow the light,1, you're goingto do 16 strokes, 2, 3, 4.15, yeah, there, you got it.You do exactly 16 strokes.And that's it.Turn it off.OK.After the test has beenrun, the carpets and vacuumsare weighed again to seehow much of the debristhe vacuum managed to pick up.We're able to tellconsumers, hey,you may not have tospend a lot of moneyto find a really good vacuum.My day at the vacuumlab was a suck-sess.I got to go.But you've demonstratedreally mad vacuuming skills.So I'm going to leaveyou with this little messto clean up, OK?Just make sure you turn off thelights when you're done, OK?Good night.Hold on a minute!Sue!Sue!My lost.\n"