Gizmodo: dustpan

The Dustbuster: Cleaning Up After You Since 1979

Dan Nosowitz — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:30:00 EDT

Unveiled in 1978 but released in 1979, the Black & Decker Dustbuster was a revolutionary home-cleaning device, and the only power tool a parent was likely to let a children play with. Vroom!

Reading this retrospective, I'm both surprised and unsurprised at how innovative and well-designed the Dustbuster is. It was rechargeable, wall-mountable, used a high-tech (for the time) design based on a familiar product (the dustpan), had an immediately catchy name and was instantly indispensable for every suburban family in the country. I remember sitting on the carpet and playing with it, which is certainly not something I was likely to do with a damn cleaning product, and the product's name quickly became both a universal noun and verb ("Oh yeah, I Dustbusted the stairs yesterday."). It definitely wasn't the most powerful vacuum cleaner on the market (any modern Dyson would clean its clock) and the filter had a tendency to jam, but for sheer utility, style and "I want that gadget!" appeal, the Dustbuster was and maybe even still is the tops.

The Dustbuster is, I'm comfortable saying, the gadget nerd's cleaning tool. It's portable, battery-powered, cute, and versatile, and has definitely made our lives better. Cleaner, at least. [Popular Mechanics]

Gizmodo '79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital, and most of our favorite toys were just being born.

Sweep-Away Cabinet Vac Makes Dustpans Obsolete

Jason Chen — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:20:01 EDT

Why use dustpans when you can use this Sweep-Away Cabinet Vac, a genius invention that we didn't even know we needed until we saw it. Instead of sweeping dust and gunk into a pan that you have to pick up and throw away, you sweep it into the vacuum hole on the bottom of your cabinet. The vac sucks up the cat hair and feces like a standard vacuum. All you have to do is empty the vacuum later and you're done. The only problem is that it's $299, and if you want additional accessories like a 30-fit hose, it's $499. Plus, unlike a dustpan, this only works in one room. [Galaxie Vac via Core77 - Video]

The Foot-dustpan; Simple but Useful

blongo3 — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:52:55 EDT

Who said great gadgets need to be complicated? For instance take a look at the Foot-dustpan. There isn't a circuit, battery or hell even a moving part on the thing.

Instead of bending down to scoop up dust, shove your foot in between the handles and boom.

– Ben Longo

Foot-dustpan by Matthias Lange [Yanko Design]

Dustpan and Broom: Made for Each Other

Charlie White — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 13:42:45 EDT

If you have a cool crib, everything in it has to be just right, no matter how prosaic—even your dustpan and broom. Here's a set from Denmark, where they know their chic-atude, a Normann Copenhagen swooping yet minimalist design to pick up detritus around the pad.

Jumping around the grayscale with impressive subtlety, the dustpan is available in charcoal, gray (pictured here), black, and light gray, and its companion broom, which looks like it's doing the bouncy bouncy in the dustpan's convenient finger hole, is made of beech wood with all-natural bristles. Don't know about you, but we like our bristles all-natural. It's $25. – Charlie White

Product Page [Relish, via productdose]