How to Use a Vacuum Cleaner to Clean Everything
The great thing about a vacuum cleaner is that it is versatile. Do you want to get rid of everyday life rubbish from carpets? Obviously, your vacuum cleaner is perfect for this. It’s also great for pulling crumbs out of crevices on your couch, removing dust from louver grills, and quickly cleaning coffee grounds from your kitchen floor.
A good vacuum cleaner is more than just a carpet cleaner. He can also take over the duties of your broom and vacuum cleaner. With the right attachments, your vacuum cleaner can be the primary tool you use to clean your home, but only if you know how to use it correctly.
Know how to adjust the pile height of your vacuum cleaner
Let’s start with the simplest aspect of vacuuming: sweeping across a carpet or rug. We’ve all done this (or watched someone else do it, lazy bums), but not all of us have taken the extra step of checking the stack height of our vacuum cleaner before turning it on.
You see, carpets and rugs have what are called “piles,” which technically refer to the fibers and fabrics they are made from. You can think of it as “all the things that are stacked over the back of your carpet,” if you like.
It is important to know that some carpets have a higher pile than others. You got the feeling of stepping on a plush soft rug and not a cheap rug, right? Sometimes the pile of your carpet is so high that you can literally wiggle your toes in it – in which case you need to adjust the height of the nap of the vacuum cleaner to match the length of the fibers of your carpet.
I cannot tell you how to adjust the stack height of your vacuum cleaner because I don’t know which vacuum cleaner you have. Find a knob or switch that makes the front of the vacuum cleaner — the part you run on the carpet — rise or fall. (This will be invisible, so watch carefully.)
Basically, if your vacuum cleaner is set to “high pile” on a low-pile carpet, the suction mechanism will not be close enough to catch the dirt that is at the base of these fibers. On the other hand, if you try to push a “low pile” vacuum through a high pile carpet, it will take a lot of extra work. It can damage your carpet and you will definitely hate vacuuming.
And no one should hate a vacuum cleaner!
Vacuum in straight lines (whenever possible)
I don’t want to spend too much time on this, but if you want to vacuum your carpet thoroughly, vacuum it in straight lines, back and forth, one by one, until you have covered every inch of the carpet. This. You’re much more likely to miss a spot if you just randomly push it back and forth.
I also know that most of us don’t actually do this because the furniture gets in the way and we don’t want to move it every time we vacuum. Just vacuum in a straight line as much as possible and try to position the furniture as best you can. Use a vacuum cleaner to remove dirt from under sofas and chairs.
Which brings me to:
Know your vacuum tips
A typical vacuum cleaner comes with at least four basic attachments: a crevice attachment (designed for getting into tight spaces), an upholstery tool (designed for washing your sofas and chairs), a dusting brush (I bet you can’t guess what this is. for) and an extension rod (sort of like a slotted tool, but designed to access ceiling fans and window tops).
These attachments can help you clean things with relatively little effort. Swipe the sofa cushion upholstery tool, then use the crevice to pick up any crumbs and dog hair that falls between them, then click on the extension stick to pick up any dust bunnies that are hiding under the sofa. Use a brush to remove dust from tiny crevices in the legs of the coffee table. (If you prefer, use a brush to remove dust from all over the house.)
Do not throw the vacuum attachments into the cabinet and do not forget that they are there. Use them. Get to know them. You will quickly learn to love them.
Some vacuum cleaners are suitable for non-carpeted floors.
I don’t know if you grew up in a home where you were only allowed to vacuum the carpets and had to sweep bare floors with a broom, but let me tell you that that has changed . If you have a vacuum cleaner with a wood floor attachment, you can use it on just about any non-carpeted floor (wood, linoleum, tiles, etc.).
The reason you can’t run a standard vacuum cleaner on hardwood, by the way, has to do with the little spinning fibers it uses to suck up dirt from your carpet. These fibers can damage your uncarpeted floors over time, so unless your vacuum cleaner has a special attachment for other types of flooring or the ability to turn off the roller brush completely, you can continue sweeping and sweeping in the traditional way.
Robot vacuums are designed to complement, not replace
One final tip: I know we all love our adorable little robot vacuum cleaners – they do a great job of controlling pet hair, for example – but a robot vacuum will only help for now. Your Roomba isn’t manoeuvrable enough to suck Doritos crumbs out of the slots in your gaming chair. It can’t climb up your window blinds (yet) and it can’t clear dirt from your ceiling fan.
So let your robot do its job, thank it later, and then use a real vacuum to do work that only a human can do (with a real vacuum).
This story was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated on March 15, 2021 to reflect the current style guidelines.