Why does vacuuming have a distinct smell that you can’t get anywhere else other than a vacuum?
If it was just the smell of dirt and dust why don’t we smell that other times? And if it’s the machine, no other machine makes that exact smell. What isssss ittttt And don’t tell me it’s because it needs to be cleaned. Even a new or well taken care of vacuum has [u]the smell [/u]
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I asked my vacuum cleaner repair guy that same question a few years ago after I accidentally vacuum up some water on the kitchen floor which then really magnified that vacuum cleaner smell you mentioned. It got so bad that it quit on it's own after only a few minutes of getting wet inside. Meanwhile, $600 later...
..what he told me was that assuming water hasn't gone through your vacuum cleaner, that smell is what an electric motor smells like as electricity is running through copper wiring, meaning that electricity itself induces an odor when that power is run through the copper wiring within an electric motor because of the heat that is subsequently generated. Aluminum wiring induces no smell at all apparently, but aluminum melts faster than copper which is why it typically isn't used.
If you were to stick your nose into the back of your washing machine while it's electric motor is operating, you would also notice a slight hint of that same smell. The reason it's noticeable on a vacuum cleaner is because the inflow of air through the bag then around the motor then out the tailpipe is also the same air that cools the motor before that same air is exhausted out the tailpipe.
What you are smelling is hot copper wiring being constantly cooled in a vacuum cleaner, whereas there is no circulating airflow to cause the same odorous effect from a washing machine where it's electric motor is located. The reason a washing machine motor is not air-cooled like a vacuum cleaner motor is because it requires very little energy to operate a washing machine versus the energy it takes to suck air like a vacuum cleaner does. That difference is then equated to the heat difference that is developed between the two electric motors.
It cost me $600 to find that out, which was a tidbit of knowledge I wasn't actually interested in learning at the time!
@itsok Well, I have another vacuum cleaner in the garage called a 'wet vac' which can pick up standing water from a floor, but the water doesn't actually come in contact with the motor apparently.
With a household vacuum cleaner however, the air that gets drawn into the bag is the same air that cools the motor. When I sucked in that water from the kitchen floor, that water first went through the bag and destroyed it and then got sucked out of the bag and into the motor before it went out the tailpipe and back onto the floor where I found it! It was less than a quarter cup of water too!
@swirlie I’ve used wet/dry shop vacs before too, and they don’t have the smell. And I have a carpet cleaner that vacuums up dust and water and it doesn’t smell, so I guess they’re made differently
