Henry vacuums – recommend me a better floor head

Exciting stuff. Our original 20+ year old Henry died and was replaced last year with a new equivalent, but I find the standard floor head attachment crap compared to the previous version. Frustratingly, we didn’t keep hold of the old head…

Previous standard floor head (2 levers on top, metal on base)

Current style of floor head (1 lever on top, all plastic, less bristles on base, pair of wheels at the back)

I was about to buy an ‘old’ style standard head the same as we had previously, but then found the Airo head which has a rotating brush head:

Any experiences of what’s the best head to get? For a mix of hard floors and carpet.

Ta.

Get shot of the useless Henry and buy a decent hoover? Henry’s were designed for open plan offices where the appearance of hoovering is more important that the actual collection of dirt.

Behold: Sebo, the king of Hoovers, when only over engineered (and overly powerful hoovering) will do. At the very least the Sebo will build your upper body strength.

Get the orginal floor tool, and enjoy cheap, fuss-free vacuuming for another 20 years.

Henry fan here, ours is pushing 18 years old now.

Not sure I’d want a new one though as I don’t think they’re as poweful.

Anyway, here’s the head you want:

amazon.co.uk/Universal-Numatic-George-Charles-Cleaners/dp/B07F6GYKN4

Add www. to the link. The forum seems to break it.

Can’t help with the OP as we haven’t had to buy any parts yet but our Henry is 5 years old. It still sucks just as hard as it did on day 1 and it’s outlasted everything else we’ve had.

Ours does the whole house, the garage, the car, everything. I’ve long stopped being nice to it, I’m just seeing how much abuse it can take.

The aero head is great but is very noisy I accidentally bought the Henry  Extra that came with it and the standard head but never bother with the standard head.

I’ve got two, an old and new low power job. It sucks like a sucky thing, probably better than the older non eco one.

The new head is pants though so I just got an after market job.

Top tip is put a zip in the dust bag. Empty at leisure and save a few quid

I think it utter abuse during renovations that killed our old Henry. Didn’t think it was possible but it had quite a smoky end.

New (old) type floor head ordered. Was tempted by the Airo one but if it ain’t broke etc.

I’ve heard before about Sebo but TBH never had an issue with Henry apart from the current poor head.

Get shot of the useless Henry and buy a decent hoover?

Our cleaner uses a Henry and it gets more crud off the floor than the various decent vacumn cleaners we have had.

They are very good in a simplistic sort of way, and are far less prone to going wrong. Unlike many modern things.

Get shot of the useless Henry and buy a decent hoover?

Came here to say this (other than actual Hoovers which are equally crap).

The whole point of the Henry is it will vac up any old shit and keep on going.  Brick dust, no problem.  This is why you see them in offices, they’ve got the suction power of a drunk trying to evade a breathalyser but they just keep going.

My other half has been mithering for a Shark for years.  I bought one.  She uses it to hoover up after the kids, so cream cake, peas, baked beans, chips, soil, sand… she’s going to kill it, I’ve already had to strip it and degunk it once.  In this specific use case, I wish I’d bought a Henry instead.

I’ll still say get a Nilfisk, not just brick dust it’ll eat but lumps of bricks, leaves pond sludge and deep water. I never understand  the Henry love, horrible under powered smelly things.

Get shot of the useless Henry and buy a decent hoover? Henry’s were designed for open plan offices where the appearance of hoovering is more important that the actual collection of dirt.

This. They’re terrible on office carpet so I can’t imagine how bad they must be on a proper pile. If I was to go for one of those heads it would be the rotating one every time. Can’t be any worse than the standard ones.

If you do want to replace it with something that doesn’t have the balance of a drunk toddler, unpopular opinion – Dyson V10. We got one and never regretted it, has proper sized pipes and a decent capacity, Sharks only appear better as the tubes are smaller and have bugger all capacity. If you want an actual upright then I’d say a Sebo.

Had an original Henry. After a house renovation and much abuse it finally died. Replaced it with a new Henry, which has lower power and the aero head. The aero head was very noisy. That’s now relegated to garage and car duties since we moved to a new house and we have Sigfrid the Sebo now. Great on carpet but on hard floors the brush tends to fire bits around. But still better than the Henry on balance. Expensive mind.

I’m getting rid of my Henry. It’s just sat there gathering dust.

My house came with an already old Henry 24 years ago, the most expensive ‘hoover’ ever. It’s still going well, but for the shed/workshop only, not the usual household stuff. Henry picks up dirt, crud, damp stuff, missing bolts from my bike, bits of garden, coal dust, never clogs. It doesn’t do it brilliantly, still works when it falls over – it just keeps on going. Hose taped up with gaffer tape, various add-ons held on with fingers crossed. Sorry, I can’t answer the OP’s actual question…

Ransos wins joke du jour

Chapeau

I’m getting rid of my Henry. It’s just sat there gathering dust.

Your joke sucks

Our original Henry floor tool (like the one in your first pic) fell apart recently (metal bit wore through ?). Found a replacement (presumably but genuine, but identical) on eBay for £8 delivered.

bits of garden, coal dust, never clogs.

Useless machine, obviously. I find that clogs left lying around untidily do need to be vacuumed up occasionally.

I’m getting rid of my Henry. It’s just sat there gathering dust.

Oi, that’s my gag!

unpopular opinion – Dyson V10

Unpopular indeed, but it’s hard to deny that they’re good.  I’ve got one of the original Dysons, DC07 I think.  It’s the most powerful vacuum ever created, Google dates it as 2001 so it’s 20+ years old and still going.  We’ve got two Dyson cordless V-something handhelds between us, one now donated to The Girl, both ate their batteries but a third-party replacement isn’t silly money and it’s two screws to swap.

Would I buy another?  No, for predictable reasons.  The Shark is good, but the DC07 is betterer.

I find that clogs left lying around untidily do need to be vacuumed up occasionally.

You should take steps to resolve that.