Desktop Henry Vacuum Cleaner

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Charles is designed to shine in the wet – and this is indeed where it has the edge over the competition. Having a vacuum which can clean up spillages is a major bonus. If you’ve ever had a big spill in your home or even had a problem with the plumbing you know exactly how difficult it can be to clean it up. Not with a Charles in the house. Jake, who is nearly four, was one when he first met Henry. It was early one morning, before dawn, and Henry had been left out of the cupboard the night before. Jake wore a striped babygrow and, placing his milk bottle on the wooden floor, crouched to inspect a curious object that was as big as he was. It was the start of a great romance. Jake insisted that Henry be liberated from his dark cupboard; for months, he was the first thing Jake went to in the morning, and the last thing he thought of at night. “I love you,” Jess said above his cot one evening before lights out. “I love Henry,” came the reply. Alas, there is no choice. All of the Henry vacuum cleaners in the range are floor vacuums. That just means that they don’t stand upright, and that they roll around on the floor on wheels. You drag the vacuum along behind you while you use the hose. Henry has become an accidental icon of British design and manufacturing. Equally at home in the hands of princes and plumbers (Charles and Diana received one of the first models as a wedding present in 1981), he is also an under-stairs stalwart in millions of ordinary homes. As well as the Downing Street cameos, Henry has been photographed hanging from a rope as abseilers cleaned Westminster Abbey. The week after my visit to Henry HQ, Kathy Burke spotted one while touring a palatial mansion in Money Talks, a Channel 4 series about wealth. “No matter how rich, everyone needs a Henry,” she says.

The Henry with the most versatility is probably the George. It cleans your curtains, cushions, carpets, hard floors, your car, your drains, and probably everything else in your life. Beyond that, the Henry vacuum cleaner range has a pet hair model, a wet/dry model, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The range is versatile within itself. Humans far outnumber robots at the factory in Chard, Somerset. Photograph: Ben Quinton/The GuardianThe Henry vacuum cleaner range covers a number of price points. The more expensive models, like the George, do more things than the models that don’t cost as much. Adversely, the cheapest Henry Vacuum is likely to be the original version. You would think that you paid less for less dustbin capacity (like what you get with the James, where you sacrifice dustbin space for storage) but this isn’t the case. What is a Class Rating? It’s not nearly as heavy as you would think for all those extras. It isn’t expensive, it doesn’t make much noise.

An additional versatility with the Henry range are the bags. You can use the same set of bags throughout the majority of their machines. The wet and dry, the pet hair, and the larger models all use a one-size-fits-all-capacities bag. It makes it easier to shop. Durability & Reliability​ Detailed below are what you should look for – or what you should ask yourself – before you buy your Henry vacuum cleaner. Dust Bin Capacity As the name suggests, the Henry Xtra is just like the regular Henry but a little bit more. He comes with a host of different accessories and features which means he can cope with just about any job going.Henry is the stalwart of this range: tough, durable and easy to use. There may be lighter and sleeker models available, but it is by no means too cumbersome and its impressive storage capacity, means you’ll have plenty of time before you need to change the bags. The storage is something you don’t realise you need from a vacuum cleaner. When you finally get it, you wonder how you lived without it all these years. My own Henry spends more time under the stairs these days, but his bond with Jake remains strong. Jake can talk for England now, if not always coherently. When I attempt to interview him, it’s clear he sees nothing unusual in loving a vacuum cleaner. “I love Henry hoover and Hetty hoover because they’re both hoovers,” he tells me. “Because you can hoover with them.