Why Your Kitchen Needs Its Own Vacuum Cleaner
I hate cleaning, which is a real hassle for someone (me) who makes a mess in the kitchen every day. Often my boyfriend cleans up after me – he’s kind and I feed him – but there comes a time when I feel like I need to make more of an effort. I bought a kitchen vacuum cleaner and am happy to say that it has made us both happier.
There are obvious kitchen messes—spilled coffee, oil splatters on the stove, or never-ending dishes—and they require relatively immediate, personalized treatment. The other kind of kitchen clutter is more sinister, it lurks and silently grows until you open the silverware drawer and realize how embarrassed you would be if a friend came and went to get the fork. These are different crumbs. It would seem that there is nothing wrong with it, but this is precisely the attitude they use to hunt.
“Crumble” is the word I use for the bits of dry material that collect in drawers, cabinet edges, countertop corners, and odd ridges on the oven door. Crumbs include more than just bits of dry food—lint, dust, seeds, hand hair, pet hair, coffee grounds, and random pieces of crap that are mostly unidentifiable. This is what slowly accumulates in the strangest crevices that are difficult to clean. This is where a kitchen vacuum cleaner comes to the rescue.
What to look for when buying a kitchen vacuum cleaner
A kitchen vacuum cleaner is not much different from a car vacuum cleaner in that it is designed for portable use, but it is usually even smaller and very lightweight. There is no need to connect anything and they are easy to press. In a matter of seconds, you can expel the crumb buildup, turn it off, put it away, and get back to your life. To me this means success. No fuss, no sponges or paper towels, and so fast that it hardly interrupts my task.
I recommend keeping yours in an easily accessible place in the kitchen and avoid using it throughout the house. The whole point is to keep him from living in your car or your son’s room. Perhaps these rooms also need a vacuum cleaner, but this one stays in the kitchen. It will inevitably pick up food particles, and it’s best if they stay near (and in) the trash rather than in other parts of your home. Here are the design features and accessories to consider when making your own purchase.
Slim design. Make sure that the entire vacuum cleaner has a narrow and not too long body. This allows for easy maneuvering around edges and easy access into cabinets. The main reason why kitchen vacuum cleaners make life easier is because you don’t have to move anything out of the way to clean around.
Wireless is the way to go. All corded vacuum cleaners are annoying, but a cord in the kitchen can really ruin your day. Most outlets are located above the countertop so appliances can easily reach them, but a vacuum cord plugged into a countertop outlet can easily knock things over. Believe me, I broke a couple of glasses this way. Look for a vacuum cleaner with a rechargeable power unit and long battery life.
Attachment of the nozzle is key. Most small handheld vacuum cleaners have a conical suction point. This is good for countertop clutter where you have access to a large area or large, short crumbs. However, a thin, long angled nozzle is the most effective tool for cleaning corners and raised edges. Personally, this is where all my kitchen crumbs end up.
I keep my Shark Cordless Handheld Vacuum on an easily accessible shelf in my kitchen, so as soon as I see a buildup of crumbs, I’m ready to attack. I do this a couple times a week and it makes the difference between “clean” and “tidy” in my kitchen. If any of the following appeal to you, give it a try and join me in a life of simplified kitchen care.
Kitchen vacuum cleaners worth paying attention to: