I hope you and your Family are having a wonderful Summer!
This blog post is all about vacuum cleaners. If you are in the market for a new vacuum cleaner for your home continue reading for a discussion about the important features to keep an eye out for. The type of vacuum cleaner you need for your home will be largely dependent upon your specific home. For example, do you have pets? What about small children? Do you have allergies? What type of flooring do you have? Below I have listed important questions to ask yourself along with tips if the answer is “Yes.”
Let’s dive in;
- Is your home 50% or more hard surface flooring? (Example: hardwoods, tile, linoleum, concrete, luxury vinyl, etc.) Many upright style vacuums will work great for sucking everything up in their direct path, however, they also tend to blow debris out to the side of its path, landing in the corners and baseboards. This is especially true if you purchase a vacuum that does not have a brush roll that can be turned off. When you turn off the brush roll, and you always should if you are not vacuuming carpet, it stops the roll from turning yet still has the suction on. Another important feature if you have a lot of hard surface flooring in your home is an easily detachable hose. This can be used to go along the baseboards and corners after vacuuming the main areas. This provides a much more thorough job of removing all debris from the floors surface. I have used some vacuums in the past that do not have a very accessible hose and I would not suggest purchasing this type of vacuum. If it is not easily accessible while you are going thru your home, you will be less likely to use it.
- Is your home 50% or more carpeted surfaces (including area rugs)? There are different pile heights of carpet and this is important to consider when choosing a vacuum. Pile refers to the visible fibers of carpet and pile height is the length of those fibers. If you have a carpet with a taller pile (plush carpet) then you will most certainly want a vacuum with an adjustable brush roll. An adjustable brush roll lets you change the height according to the type of carpet you have. If you have a tall pile carpet and the brush bar is not adjustable it will feel like pushing a car thru sand when you try to vacuum. This also puts added wear and tear on your vacuum belt and as the belt stretches or even worse, snaps, you will smell burning rubber. Burning rubber is not exactly the smell you want when you are cleaning house! Maintenance tip: keep small nail scissors around so you can cut hair from the brush roll as it builds up. If you do not maintain this it can cause the roll to stop spinning and will prematurely snap the belt.
- Do you have carpeted stairs? A great feature for stairs is the stair attachment. This attachment is shaped perfect for stairs and does a thorough job of cleaning the carpet.
- Do you have allergies? In my opinion, one of the most important features of a vacuum in a home of people with allergies is HEPA filtration. When you vacuum, things like dust, dander, pollen, dirt, pet hair, etc. get stirred up. Not all vacuums have HEPA filters and, if your vacuum does not, all of those things are getting circulated back into your air. However, a HEPA filter will trap most of these, down to 0.3 microns in size (translation: that’s really tiny!). The length of time your HEPA filter lasts will depend on how often you use your vacuum. Check your specific model for the manufacturer’s recommendations.
- Do you have pets? There are several vacuums on the market that are catered towards pet owners. Many of them come with a smaller attachment that has a brush roll. The purpose of this attachment is to remove pet hair from upholstered surfaces. This attachment could also double as a stair attachment. To keep this attachment working at its best use small nail scissors to keep the brush roll free of hair.
- Bagged or bagless? This really boils down to personal preference. The bagless canister style vacuums are increasing in popularity and availability. However, I personally prefer a bagged vacuum. I have pets and allergies and find the emptying of the dirt cup of a bagless vacuum when it is full to be extremely messy. Emptying the bag of my bagged vacuum is a much cleaner process. The dust, dirt, hair and everything else is trapped inside the bag. The bags for my particular vacuum have a built-in adhesive cover, like a sticker. So I very carefully remove the bag and seal it with the cover, then dispose of the bag. This prevents dust and debris from blowing back into the air. If you prefer the bagless route, I would suggest emptying the dirt cup into a trash can outside to reduce the mess.
Maintenance tip: if you have kids make sure everything is picked up before vacuuming. Sucking up small items like rubber bands, beads, small Lego’s, etc. will wreak havoc on a vacuum belt. These items can also cause clogs in the inner vacuum hose.
If you do choose a vacuum that uses bags you can purchase scent tabs. These are a great option that provide a built in air freshener as you vacuum throughout your home. There are many different scents available from neutral to floral.
I hope this helps you in your next vacuum purchase. Until next time,
Cheers to a clean home!