The woman was ready to replace the vacuum cleaner. We tried to flush the old filter without success. My wife thought it was the hoover until I pointed out that the light on the front of the hoover was constantly red so nothing was spinning inside the hopper, although we cleared the blockage at the top where the hopper attaches to the vacuum. The new filters came very quickly (Prime) and now the indicator is solid green and the vacuum works like new. Best $16 I've Spent.