Like many great ideas , there is some confusion surrounding how California - based carpenter Rick Hunts was struck by divine guidance for the Flowbee . The infomercial whiz of the late 1980s is a vacuum cleaner cleaner attachment that straightens hair , crunch on it with clippers , and then sop up the passementerie into the canister .
In one version , Hunts is beguiled by a telecasting show he catch in 1979 thatdemonstrateda individual getting their hair cut while hanging top side - down , unfreeze their locks for clip . Another has Huntsusinga vacuum cleaner to get sawdust from his shop out of his tomentum and make an epiphany .
The latter sounds more like the kind of mythologizing that follow inventors — one questions the wisdom of using a vacuity to remove sawdust from their hair rather than but shower — but it does n’t matter much . However he come upon the belief , Hunts ’s visual sensation of an at - place transposition for a barber was theSoloflexof hairstyling . It assure convenience , affordability , and the bangle of boasting your hair had been trimmed by a Hoover upright .
Hunts ’s twist , which he ab initio dubbed the Vacucut , took six to seven year to prepare . By one estimate , he go through four prototypes — the last one involving 50 modifications — before he perfected the vacuum fond regard . ( Holman Hunt ’s baby — or , more specifically , their hair — were used for testing . ) The Vacucut took hair anywhere from a half - inch to six inch in length and , thanks to the sucking of the vacuum , pull in it directly in the same room a styler holds hair between their fingers . Once cover , clippers inside the attachment trimmed the excess , which wound up in the vacuity .
It need no skill and no additional pairs of hands ; the length was adjustable using the included spacers . Owing to the gentle wind menstruation and the fact the gadget made a buzzing noise alike to a bee , Hunts decided to rename it the Flowbee , with a bumblebee - esque mordant and yellow color outline .
Hunts , who enhance more than $ 100,000 from investor and even sold his cabinet shop to obtain additional funds to mass market his creation , intelligibly feel the Flowbee would be a sweep - dunk . He approached major personal dress companies like Conair , Norelco , and Remington to see if they ’d be interested in the Flowbee . He also approached beauty salons to see if they ’d consider selling them to customers . He by and by withdraw that all of them said the idea was nuts . In the sheath of the salons , they were afraid the Flowbee might really work as advertised and see a simplification in metrical unit dealings from people content to trim their own hair .
Dismayed , Hunts involve to trying to move product out of his garage . He also went to county fairs , where he would have a unpaid worker arrive up on stagecoach . One side of the person ’s head would be trimmed with scissors , the other side with the Flowbee . The results were comparable , and Hunts began sell a modest amount of inventory at $ 150 each .
The Flowbee move into popular culture , gettingmentionsin films like 1992’sWayne ’s World , where Garth ( Dana Carvey ) is peril by a Suck Kut , and on shows likeParty of Five . Imitators like the RoboCut and the Hairdiniappearedto raciness into securities industry ploughshare , but the Flowbee enjoyed brand recognition . A Flowbee Pet Groomer was introduce , and Flowbee barbershop were view . By 1992 , the Flowbee was being sold in major retail chains . By 1993 , Hunts ’s San Diego - based fellowship , Flowbee International , had sold 200,000 units . By 2000 , the number was 2 million . While that may not sound like a lot , see that this was a vacuum cleaner attachment marketing for $ 69.95 to $ 150 retail that was intend for use on one ’s head .
While zillion of people enjoyed the Flowbee ’s kitsch appeal , some people thought it wet-nurse . Stylists believed itlackedthe artistry of a professional , while others complain it was n’t good on hair longer than six inches or on curly locks . It was also unmanageable for the Flowbee to trim the sides or around the ears . George Clooney , however , avow by it ; in December 2020,he admittedthat he ’s been using one to veer his own hair for decade .
While they no longer air infomercial , Flowbee International is still in business — and has realise increased interest in the backwash of thecoronaviruspandemic as people nullify salon and await for alternatives to becoming Howard Hughes . regrettably , health concerns have prompted a surcease of activity at the Flowbee factory in Kerrville , Texas . They do n’t intend to ship new product ( which now sell for $ 99 ) until things get back down . TheRoboCut , however , is still ship .
