Vacuum Cleaner Ephiphany

I thought my vacuum cleaner was broken...turns out it just needed a little TLC. By the way I love my Bissell Bagless Vacuum, so I was rather upset at its' apparent death. We've only had this vacuum for 3 years, so I figured it shouldn't be dead yet. But something was definitely wrong. The suction wasn't good at all, and pretty much non-existent when using the attachments.

After cleaning all the hoses, belt, side filter, and everything else I could think of that it could possibly be, I turned to google. Yep, I figured maybe the side filter needed to be replaced. It didn't really seem that dirty, since I had cleaned it a while back, but I couldn't find my manual and didn't remember how often it is supposed to be replaced. So in my web searching I happened to realize that there is another filter on my vacuum cleaner. Wow. I didn't even notice it or remember that it was there.

Here is what came out of the filter...not to mention all the dust I shook outside...

Needless to say...that was the problem. I mean, after 3 years of not being checked or cleaned, that filter had had it!

Ya'll please take my advice and never treat your vacuum cleaner how I treated mine. All it needed was a little maintenance and it was good as new. But it sure couldn't perform with 3 years worth of dirt in that filter.

Here is how it looked when I was finished...