Vacuums haven't exactly been the picture of " buy it for life " since they stopped making 'em like the Electrolux canister clunker that my grandma used in the '70s — and that my mom still uses to this day for certain situations.

So, why don't vacuums last as long anymore? Their designs and capabilities are ever-evolving, but the materials used to make them aren't keeping up with the innovation, it seems. To be fair, product quality diminishing over time isn't strictly a vacuum thing — blame the larger manufacturing shift to less durable materials , which are quicker and cheaper to churn out (i.e., crappy plastic). Likewise, the theory of planned obsolescence that we associate with our smartphones can be applied to vacuums, too, especially cordless stick vacuums and robot vacuums .

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