That time my vacuum cleaner ate a sock and I spent 3 hours fixing it

I was just trying to quickly clean up the living room floor last Saturday. My cat batted a sock under the couch, and before I could grab it, my vacuum sucked it up with a loud THUMP. It took me a full 45 minutes to figure out how to disassemble the roller head and pull out the tangled mess. Has anyone else had to basically become a vacuum repair person over a single sock?

3 comments

3 Comments

lucasjackson1mo ago

It's funny how little stuff like this always seems to hit right when you're already in a hurry, isn't it? I've noticed it with a bunch of household things lately, like the one light bulb that burns out is always the one in the ceiling fixture that requires a step stool and a weird twist to get to. Or the one drawer that sticks is always the one you need to open most often. Seems like modern life is designed to make you become an expert in five minute fixes you never planned for, just to keep things running.

sandraflores1mo agoMost Upvoted

Start by saying I totally get where the other person is coming from but I gotta disagree with eva_adams68 here. A 45 minute fix for a sock is actually reasonable when you consider most people don't own a screwdriver or even know where the manual is... especially if you're not super handy to begin with. And watching a YouTube video isn't always a quick fix either because half the time the video is for a different model or the person talks way too slow. Plus the whole time you're pulling apart your vacuum you're worried you'll break something or not get it back together right, which adds stress to the whole thing. So yeah I think calling yourself a repair person for a day is fair game when something that should be simple turns into a whole project.

eva_adams681mo ago

Wait, are you really complaining about a 45 minute fix? I've had that exact thing happen and it took me maybe 10 minutes tops once I found a screwdriver. The manual for my vacuum even had a little diagram showing how to pop the roller out, and most modern vacuums are designed for this kind of stuff these days. I'm not saying it's fun, but calling yourself a vacuum repair person over a sock just seems like a huge overreaction. You probably just need to watch a 2 minute YouTube video next time instead of tearing your hair out for nearly an hour.