Dirt Devil is a one of the top brand names in vacuum cleaners and floor care. The Dirt Devil hand vac was introduced in 1984, and that model was so successful that it allowed more products to be released under the Dirt Devil brand name.

The company began life in 1905, Cleveland Ohio as the P.A. Geier Company where Mr. Geier hand built metal vacuums in his garage. The company’s very first hand held vac was called the “Royal Prince” which was introduced in 1937.

In 1953, the P.A. Geier Company was bought by the Walter E. Schott Organization – an investment company – who renamed the company Royal Appliance Manufacturing. However, the company was dissolved in 1954 when it was purchased by a group of employees. Stan Erbor was head man, and under him the company thrived. In 1969 they moved to Ohio where the company expanded.

In 1981, Erbor died. A group of investors bought the company and took annual sales from around $5 million in 1981 to over $400 million in 2000. During this time, their vacuum cleaners were stocked in popular retail outlets like Wal-Mart.

Today, the Royal Appliance Manufacturing company is called TTI Floor Care North America (TTI stands for TechTronic Industries, a Hong Kong based firm), and they manufacture a range of uprights, sticks, hand-held vacuums, canister and carpet shampooers.

The Dirt Devil M085590 Featherlite is a bagged upright vacuum cleaner that carries the Dirt Devil brand name.

This vacuum is very light for the size and very popular because of its excellent feature set for such a low priced vacuum.

The vacuum itself is powered by a 12 amp motor meaning good suction power as we expect from the Dirt Devil folks.

There is automatic edge cleaning and you can adjust the head of the cleaner to meet your floor cleaning requirements.

The Dirt Devil M085590 Featherlite uses a micro mesh filtration system that is quoted as trapping up to 99% of dust and allergens such as pollen, dust mite debris and other airborne nasties that attack your respiratory system.

The vacuum has an on board hose so that you can easily reach the high areas of your home.

The M085590 Featherlite also features a headlite at the front of the vacuum so you can clean your home without having all your ceiling lights on. Now you can easily see the dirt in front of your vacuum cleaner, and with the 25 foot cord, you shouldn’t have to bend over too often as you clean your home.

What Dirt Devil M085590 Featherlite users liked:

• Cheap at around the $40 mark.
• Good suction.
• Light weight meaning it is an easy vacuum to maneuver around your home.
• Easy to change the bag.
• the bag is actually preferred by some people over bagless.

.. and what they did not like:

• Cheaply made
• Loud
• hose is cumbersome to use
• quite “clunky”