Hasta La Gadget!

When Electrolux came up with the Silence Amplified, the “most silent vacuum cleaner ever made”, it decided to do something useful with all that extra quietness (the machine operates at just 68dB) that it had left in its wake: Fill it with music. And because today, “music” means “iPod”, Electrolux put in an iPod dock and integrated speakers.

At first, this seems absurd, but why not? Electrolux ran some tests with real, live people to see how they vacuumed with and without music. The result is predictable, but still wonderful: vacuuming becomes fun! The subjects in the video (below) wiggle and dance to the music, burning extra calories, getting the job done faster and generally having a great time.

Think you could do this with your regular vacuum? Think again. Just this week I was hoovering (what the Brits call vacuuming) our cow-skin rug. The Lady wanted to watch me dance, so of course I put on Queen’s “I Want to Break Free”, the anthem of housework. Utter failure. The noise drowned out the music, and I ended up just looking like I couldn’t stand up properly.

Two things make the racket normally associated with a vacuum cleaner: the motor itself and the air swooshing around the internal pipes and bends. Electrolux’ Silent Air Technology straightens as many kinks as possible and hangs the motor to keep it isolated, suspending it by its own suction.

The iPod-dock version of this appliance won’t, sadly, be made, says Cecilia Gustavsson, Product Line Manager at Electrolux. “Mind you,” she adds “if
we were to get a million pre-orders through our website, we would start production.” There are, however, a couple of silent vacs you can buy without the dock, starting at 2550 Swedish Krona, or $360.

I’ll probably never have need for this machine. We sweep in the summer and, in the winter, when the tiled floors suck the heat from your feet, we just let the dust build up into a thick insulating layer we call a “carpet”.

Product page [Electrolux. Thanks, Per!]