Abstract: An ansate self-propelled appliance, such as a self-propelled upright floor covering vacuum cleaner is provided with a slidable hand or control grip comprising a pair of clam-shell hand grip halves held on the distal end portion of the cleaner handle by a pair of transverse screws or other fasteners. A rotatable ring is also mounted with the hand grip halves at the forward end portions thereof which has at least one generally arcuate detent spring constructed and arranged to cooperate with and be selectively engagable within a pair of detent apertures or recesses angularly spaced apart around the handle tube. One of said detent apertures or recesses is longitudinally elongated so as to define a slot and enable said detent to slide longitudinally therein for self-propelled operation of the cleaner in response to sliding movement of the hand grip.