I saw somewhere that there is a "Hetty" version of "Henry": a female version in pink, with eyelashes! (Was it in a link to Littlewoods Catalogue?)
Also, there is a special version of the Numatic vacuum cleaner, known as the "Medivac Microfilter". This is all metal construction, and individually tested and certified to HEPA filtration standard. UK consumers can purchase it 'Value Added Tax' free, if suffering from a respiratory allergy. Previously was only a 1000 Watt motor, now a 1200 Watt.
There was scientific paper somewhere, dating from the mid nineties about the efficiency of domestic vacuum cleaners, and how as they aged, filtration efficiency became dreadful (plastic-cased machines warped under the hot exhaust air from the motor, allowing unfiltered air to bypass the filters, etc.).
