Cleaning Tips

Find the Vacuum for You

Canister or upright?  Central vacuum system or not?  Is HEPA that important?  It can be difficult to navigate all of your options and find the perfect vacuum for you.  You really should give some thought to the following three considerations when buying a vacuum:

• Your Home
• Your Lifestyle
• Your Budget

Your Home

It's important to consider the layout and the types of surfaces in your space.

Layout: How many floors are in your home?  If it's multi-story, consider the weight of the vacuum.  If it's too heavy, you may have trouble maneuvering it up flights of stairs from one floor to another.  For a single-story home, uprights are a great choice.

Also, if you have stairs, consider a vacuum that has the flexibility and tools or attachments to give you the best clean for your steps.  For a multi-story home, look at light-weight canister vacuums or central vacuum systems. Both van be carried easily up and down stairs.  Their maneuverability and longer hoses are also best for cleaning steps.

Surfaces:  Are the surfaces in your home consistent or mixed?  For example, do you have mostly carpet or most hard floors, like hardwood or tile?  Understanding the types of surfaces in your home can help you choose a better fit when buying a vacuum.

For mixed surfaces or mostly hard surfaces, central vacuums offer a great way to clean both surfaces easily and without the weight of most uprights or canisters. Canisters are also great for mixed floors because of their attachments, which are made specifically for cleaning hard surfaces.

For homes with mostly carpet, consider uprights.  Uprights are built with high carpet-cleaning power.  Also know that there are some types of carpet that require special needs.  For example, if you have frieze (California Shag), look for a vacuum with height adjustment.  For long shag carpet, you may need to remove the brush roll to avoid jams.

 

Your Lifestyle

Once you've considered your home environment, it's time to think about the way you live in your home.

People:  Do any of your family members have allergies or other sensitivites that relate to air quality?  If so, consider vacuums for which HEPA filters are available.  Learn more about HEPA filters to find out how they help.

Also, consider a vacuum with a bag system, rather than bagless.  Bagless systems just don't have the same power to catch dust and particles as vacuums with bags.

Pets:  For homes with pets, like dogs and cats, look for a vacuum with exceptional brushing action and air flow. Brushing action helps lift hair and dander from surfaces, while air flow sucks it up and removes it for good.  Visit our article on pets and vacuums for more pet mess vacuuming tips.

Your Budget

Once you've found the type of vacuum you're looking for, think about how much you want to spend.  Keep in mind that a good quality vacuum, if cared for properly, should last 10 to 15 years.  Consider this:  a cheapie $150 vacuum has an average life of 18 months, therefore your annual purchase cost is $100 per year.  If you buy a good $600 vacuum with a bag, it's average life is 15 years; it's annual purchase cost is only $40 per year.  Which of these two vacuums is the least expensive?  Which one will deep clean your expensive carpeting best?  Which one will improve your indoor air quality?

While you don't need all the bells and whistles, don't be afraid to invest in a vacuum that has the tools, power, filtration and any other attributes you need to get your whole-home clean.

Cleaning Tips

Shag - Wonderful Shag

Shag carpeting, a symbol of the 1970’s (along with long hair on men), has been resurrected and today is frequently called frieze (pronounced freez-zay), California shag or California burber.  Better carpet fibers and improved manufacturing techniques have created a carpet with good looks and better durability than the old shags.  However, shag carpet demands the correct type of vacuum cleaner as you can literally destroy a vacuum, and even the carpet itself, with the wrong selection.

One of the challenges of having a shag style carpet is that if you were to actually read the manufacturer’s warranty, you might find that the warranty will be voided if you use a vacuum cleaner with a spinning brush roll.  Carpet fibers are really quite durable on the tip.  However, with shag, the fibers lie down rather than stand up, and the brush will actually scrape fibers off of the sides of the yarn and sooner than later wear it out. 

One of the nasty little secrets of the situation is that while this is true, your carpet can’t really be cleaned without some sort of agitation.  Some manufacturers make tools that appear like a rake and have good success with removing some items stuck in the carpets.  But in the end, there is a reason that vacuums have brushrolls that spin - because they do the best job of agitating, brushing and grooming the carpets.

Some of the varieties of shag may be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner with a brushroll, but it’s absolutely essential that there is a manual height adjustment and that it is used on the highest setting so that the brushroll touches the tips of the fibers and does not dig down into the side of the yarn.

For longer shag, a canister with a straight suction nozzle, or an upright vacuum where the brushroll can be turned off, is the right choice.  In addition, the old-fashioned tool called a carpet rake is also recommended for grooming the carpet and fluffing the yarn strands before vacuuming.

Shag is pleasant to look at and comfortable to walk on.  The return of shag may be short lived because of its cleanability issues.  Think twice before you buy any shag carpet and buyer beware.

Cleaning Tips

Pet Hair Vacuuming Tips

Tips for Finding a New Vacuum

Pet Hair

If you have pets in your home, then no doubt you have dealt with cleaning up the hair they leave behind.   Suction-only vacuums are rarely a good choice for this problem.  That's because pet hair gets hooked microscopically, like Velcro, in the carpet fibers and often continues to stick – even with strong airflow.

What is the best vacuum for dog or cat hair and dander?  Look for a bagged vacuum with high filtration.  As a rule, you should use a vacuum that incorporates a powered spinning brushroll technology.  Instead of just sucking at the hair, the moving bristles physically pull the hair up and away from the carpet fibers allowing the high airflow to 'whoosh' the fur away. 

Therefore along with high filtration, you must also consider great agitation (brushing action) and high airflow.  Not every vacuum will have the agitation and airflow necessary to consistently remove pet hair plus have high filtration. Only the better vacuums will truly deliver superior results year after year. 

Tips for Using your Existing Vacuum

If you just want to add more pet hair cleaning power to your existing vacuum, we have an idea for you, too.

For most vacuum cleaners (made in the last 15-20 years) you can attach something called a ‘turbo nozzle’ to your hose and use it like any other attachment.  They're powerful because, unlike other attachments, they have brushrolls to really agitate and pull dust, dirt, and even stubborn pet hair away from a surface.  Think of them as a way to extend the functionality of your full sized vacuum.

They're perfect for places your full-size brushroll can't go like carpeted stairs, upholstery, car interiors and more.  For a really good handheld turbo nozzle,  VacuumSweeperShop recommends the Rug Rat and the Cirrus Pet Vacuum for you floors.

Tips for Other Pet Messes

Pet urine and vomit are commonplace problems and can be remedied.  Try Uric Acid Eradicator to eliminate both the stain and the odor.  Also, try these tips for removing pet urine and odor.