What is the Difference Between Henry, Hetty, James, Charles, George Vacuum Cleaners?

The Numatic Vacuum Cleaner Range Guide

Numatic International have been making our friend Henry since the early 1981. Since then we have seen the release of vacuum cleaners with different names... but what is the difference between them all?

We hope that you find our guide helpful. We do not sell these vacuum cleaners on our site, just the parts for them. So, if you need any impartial advice about the models, just ask.

Henry Vacuum

The Henry that we all know is most commonly found with his famous red body and black hat. He can be found in various colours and has different rated motors and switches over the years. He is now even available as a cordless.

Red, Blue, Yellow or Green HENRY models are just simply different colours.

The Henry vacuum is designed for everyday vacuuming and comes with various tools. He is well known for his reliability and is almost bomb-proof.

Variants of Henry do exist, for example

• 'Henry Xtra' come with additional tools when new with no difference to the motor or body section.
• 'Henry Allergy' comes with a much more advanced filter stop airborne dust particles. Great of you suffer with dust allergies. 
• 'Henry XL', 'Henry Pet' and 'Henry Wash' are newer versions which we will be explained later in this article.  

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Hetty Vacuum 

The Hetty vacuum cleaner is identical to Henry in every way... but she is Pink and has very pretty eyelashes. In 2020 Numatic released Hetty in yellow too. The difference between Henry and Hetty Vacuum cleaners ends there. They are made with the same motors and tools and are designed for everyday dry use around the house or as a key member of many businesses. 

Fun Fact : Interestingly Hetty was not the first female vacuum by Numatic.  “Wendy” was released in 1997 in a very limited number. She is green... yes green.. and is steel not plastic. 

John & Lewis 

Commissioned by John Lewis as a special anniversary edition. These are quite rare and just another example of Henry.

Other limited edition names include Screwfix & B&Q’s “Bertie”, Tesco’s “Jack” and Machine Mart’s “Wendy”

Harry 

Harry the vacuum is one for pet owners. He has the same power as Henry and Hetty but comes with a Turbo Tool for picking up pet hairs with ease. He also has a charcoal layer within his filter to help eliminate pet odours entering the air as you vacuum. He replaced the earlier 'Henry Hound' which had a motorised brush tool. Harry's brush is powered to spin without the use of a motor, making it more reliable and cheaper to buy. This tool can be purchased for your existing Henry. See Henry Airo Tool 

Goodbye Harry..... Sadly Harry's days are numbered with the recent release of the 'Henry Pet' which has the same tools and features as Harry. 

James 

James is just like a Henry but often retails for a little less. He usually comes in Yellow but more recently he is Blue. He has a good head on his shoulders... very handy for carrying cleaning supplies, cloths or tools. James has a fixed cable instead of the cable rewind that you find on Henry and Hetty. This means that he is more lightweight, but the the cable has to be wrapped away manually and stored on top when not in use. 

There once was a vacuum called “Basil” who was just the same as James. Available in more colours but he was discontinued in 2005. The last Basil was an orange Halloween edition. 

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Edward 

The Edward vacuum is just like Henry but he has a much bigger capacity. He is for dry use only and is a great upgrade if you own a business. All the Henry tools remain the same on Edward. He does however require the bigger Numatic NWM-2BH bags

It’s been along time since Edward was made, fear not. Numatic now have the Henry XL who is exactly the same shape and size. Ideal form anyone who needs a larger capacity Henry. 

Charles

Charles is a wet and dry vacuum that is available for a very reasonable price.

Charles is the same size as Edward for dry use and uses the same filter and bags. When using as a wet vacuum simply change the filter and remove the bag. 

He is a favourite with tradesmen such as plumbers. A blocked sink for example is a walk in the park. Simply put the hose nozzle over the plug hole and he can suck up blockage instantly. 

Charles also comes with a wet floor tool. This is ideal for cleaning up spillages on hard floors, or indeed drying them out. I have seen these being used in work places such as car garages. Cleaning up wet slippy floors to avoid hazards.  

Charles can also be used on carpets and upholstery, although this is his down fall. He cannot spray water or shampoo. He can only suck it up. So if you wish to regularly shampoo carpets or upholstery this isnt the model for you. 

Interestingly there once was a model called “William” who was a lower cost version of Charles. Not many were made. 

**2020 saw the release of the “Henry Wet & Dry” vacuum (in some countries)… every feature is exactly the same as Charles. Maybe this will be the beginning of the end for Charles as a model  :( 

George 

George is a just one of the best wet and dry vacuums on the market. He is capable of all the tasks that Charles can handle... and much much more. 

Unlike Charles, He comes with many more tools. He can also pump shampoo from his internal tank. The Carpet and Upholstery tools spray out the shampoo and extract at the same time. Giving your fabrics a deep clean with reduced drying times. 

Great for washing the carpets in around your home. George is also a particular favourite within the car cleaning industry for deep cleaning car interiors. 

George is a wet and dry vacuum... he also comes with a dry hose, dry filter and dry use tools for when you want to use him just for vacuuming. 

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Henry Wash

Like some of the other named vacuums, we have recently seen the introduction of their Henry counterpart. The 'Henry Wash' shares all of the mentioned features, so maybe George will slowly be phased out.

The only difference, and perhaps the reason the Henry wash is less money? He doesn’t come with the dry use filter, dry floor tool and bags like George does. So he is purely just a carpet shampoo machine.