Sebo

History and commercial heritage

SEBO was established in 1978 by two German engineers, Klaus Stein and Heinz Kaulig, who were seeking to build a reliable, powerful and easy to use commercial upright vacuum cleaner. Klaus Stein had formerly worked at Vorwerk, the manufacturer of the Kobold vacuum cleaner since 1929. The first SEBO factory was located in Velbert, West Germany in a disused weaving factory where they developed in 1978 the SEBO 350 upright commercial vacuum cleaner.

The 350 was their first upright vacuum cleaner, and it was engineered for commercial use, designed to pass the hardest test: to survive the abuse and neglect of cleaning professionals.

Due to the patented technical features that allowed effective cleaning of all kinds of carpets and bare floors, plus the ability to clean in the tightest corners, the 350, which indicated that the brush vibrator bar was 35 cm (14 in), was sold and used in hotels, hospitals and offices. With the addition of features like a clutch-protected brush roller, a by-pass motor and hospital-grade filtration, the first SEBO found acceptance in the market by 1979. Commercial cleaning manufacturers such as Windsor Kärcher and Jeyes Hygiene re-branded SEBO uprights under their own name during the early 1980s. In 1986, the SEBO 360 was launched to replace the 350. The 360 had a simple warning light that would notify if there was a brush obstruction or if the disposable filter bag was full.

By 1998, the company celebrated 20 years of SEBO Stein & Co. and the 1,500,000th unit built was a SEBO AUTOMATIC X1. Launched in May 2014, the new SEBO EVOLUTION commercial upright brings further refinements to the existing range.

SEBO's products are offered in two formats, canisters and uprights. The models consist of the 350, 360 and successor 370 models and the BS36/46 models dependent on floor head widths for the commercial and retail market.

Upright models

In 1991, SEBO began to branch into the domestic market with an upright cleaner known as "Automatic X1" upright and built from commercial components and low-energy release motor. A re-designed version of the earlier 360, the BS36 was also introduced. Other manufacturers offered an integrated attachment hose that would extend for cleaning hard to reach areas or dusting, but the Automatic X1 included a holster wand that was easily removed from the machine and stored simple cleaning attachments on the back.

Featuring a low watt 850 watt motor, computer controlled height adjustment, a lifetime guaranteed drive belt system, S-Class filtration, easy access block-check doors and an easy access brush-roll with shut off mechanism to sense clogs or obstructions, the X1 Automatic is designed to be user/owner repairable. The design continues on with the cosmetic X1.1, X4 and X5 with increased motors from 1150 watts to 1300 watts.

SEBO's commercial machines continued to supply the industry market with commercial products as well as bigger floor head versions such as X2 and X3, two versions that are still available to buy in other European countries. Eventually, the X1A receives a higher motor increase to 1000 watts before it is replaced by the X1.1 in 1999.

The X1.1 remains to be a UK-specific model only compared to the X4 Extra with slightly uprated motor power to 1300 watts. Both models with different colours are available to buy in the UK. A larger "big foot" model based on the X4 was also launched a few years later, called the "X5," available worldwide.

In September 2014, the X series is modified to reduce the maximum motor input power from 1300W to 1100W, and it is known as "X series ECO". X1.1, X4 and X5 all have an 1100 watt motor and only differ from different specs and colours.

In March 2015, SEBO presents the X4 Pet Boost upright with a central push button for deeper cleaning option on carpets and hard floors. Private franchise labels are introduced to exclusive SEBO models such as X4 Pro for Euronics stores and X4 Excel for the British John Lewis Department Stores.

In 2018, Sebo released the Sebo Automatic X7. This vacuum had a different exhaust filter design to the previous X models. It also had a better automatic height adjustment and other upgraded features.

Canister models

SEBO's first cylinder/canister vacuum cleaner for the domestic market, the C series was launched in 1995 and though cited as a main rival to Miele and other premium brands, the C series offered an eco-friendly 1500 watt motor when most of the rivals had much more powerful motors. Equipped with an award-winning Ergo-handle and a highly efficient filter system called "AirBelt," the C series quickly became a worldwide success. The AirBelt design acts to diffuse clean air from the main filters on board the vacuum and emits clean air from the sides of the vacuum cleaner as opposed to the top of the vacuum that can affect the breathing of the owner at time of usage.

With a foot-operated roller suction dial and a comfort handle, also copied by Miele on their later machines, SEBO's highly compact C series also uses the X series large disposable dust bag, loaded from underneath the machine to cut costs and extend accessibility. The design amasses awards from the Good Housekeeping Institute and was the first cylinder vacuum on the market to be credited with the British Allergy Foundation seal of approval among other organisations. By using the same capacity large dust bag as the X1 Automatic upright, this feature allowed buyers to independently choose between an upright vacuum or a more compact cylinder vacuum. Eventually SEBO launched the C1, C2.1 and premium C3 series with an electric power nozzle floor head, known as "ET-H." The C Series is long discontinued, but parts and accessories are still available.

The K1 and K3 series "compact" cylinder vacuum was launched in 2002, designed to offer domestic homes with a smaller version of the C series. Using a four layer filtration 3 litre dust bag, (also with the bag door forming part of the underside of the machine) and similar Hospital grade filter system developed on the C series, the K series was also awarded with the British Allergy Foundation seal of approval and carried on with the AirBelt Clean Air diffuser design. Unlike the C series, the K series has only 3 swivel castors. The K is designed to be space efficient and smaller than the C series. Initially fitted with an 1800 watt motor to compete in the market with rivals and featured a new 500gram lighter tube and hose system earned design awards for this model. Also equipped with a longer domestic market hose and 6 metres of cable length, the K series remains popular.

SEBO further offered the K1 "Komfort" featuring two different floor heads - a parquet head and full size turbo brush; the K1 "Pet" which included a turbo mini head and full size turbo brush, (but no specific head for hard floors); the K3 "Vulcano" with a remote electronic suction control added to the handle grip and supplied with the Deluxe Kombi head plus the full size turbo brush, and a small dusting brush; and the K3 "Premium" top of the range model, with remote control handle grip, dusting brush and an electric ET-H power head similar to the C3. As from early 2014, SEBO have now started supplying the K3 Premium with the later ET-1 powerhead which is fitted to the current Felix range, and the D4 Premium.

Cordless Stick Models

In 2025, SEBO released a cordless stick vacuum that they call the Balance A1. This has many firsts for SEBO. It is the first SEBO stick vacuum, the first SEBO bagless vacuum, and the first SEBO to be made outside of Europe, or Germany for that matter. It uses "Innovative SEBO Cyclone Technology" and uses "High-Quality Microfiltration" which meets the EPA 10 standard. It also utilizes a brushless motor that they claim has over 100,000 rpm. Although SEBO claim it uses German engineering and design, many people think it looks like most other, uninspired, Chinese no-name stick vacuums, which puts the validity of their claim into question. This becomes very apparent when it is considered that its design is a lot closer to a Dyson V-series stick vacuum than anything, past or present, that SEBO has released.

SEBO Duo Cleaning System

In addition to their vacuum cleaners, SEBO also offer a dry powder cleaning agent for carpets called Duo P.

This powder can be distributed across carpet using a sprinkler dispenser, and scrubbed into the carpet with a brush or the SEBO Duo Daisy, which is a wheeled long handled brush, for easier distribution of the powder.

After the powder has been allowed to permeate the carpet fibres for an hour, it can be vacuumed up, with any vacuum cleaner. Alternatively, the motorized SEBO Duo cleaning machine can be used, which achieves the best results on large areas of carpet.

Awards and accolades

SEBO has routinely ranked highly in tests by Australian consumer group CHOICE Magazine for the performance of its vacuum cleaners. Since 2011, the SEBO K3 Premium has received yearly recommendations by the group.

Milestones

1978 Stein & Co. GmbH is registered and the trademark SEBO is created.

1978 SEBO 350 introduced.

1979 Distribution expanded to the USA (Commercial), supplied by Windsor Industries.

1983 Distribution expanded to Austria, UK, South Africa and France.

1984 SEBO Duo P introduced. Electrostatic micro filtration introduced.

1986 SEBO 360 introduced.

1991 SEBO X1 introduced.

1991 SEBO BS36/46 introduced.

1993 SEBO X2, X3 introduced.

1995 SEBO C1 and C2 introduced.

1995 Distribution expanded to Australia and Korea.

1997 SEBO 370 introduced.

1997 SEBO C3 introduced. ET-H power head introduced.

1999 Distribution expanded to the USA (Retail) under SEBO America.

1999 SEBO X1 reintroduced as X1.1.

2002 SEBO G1, G2, K1 and K3 introduced.

2004 SEBO Dart introduced in the US, by Windsor Industries, as the Windsor Flexamatic.

2005 SEBO Dart and Felix introduced.