Cleaning Tip: Does Your Vacuum Suck?
Yes, it’s a play on words. In this case suck is a good thing, that’s what vacuum cleaners are supposed to do. When they don’t suck, it’s bad.
You may have had the experience of going over and over the same spot on the carpet and finally the vacuum picks it up (or maybe not). It gets a bit frustrating. Usually the culprit lies in some basic vacuum maintenance being overlooked.
Let’s go over the most common issues:
The vacuum bag needs to be replaced –
When the bag is full, the area for air flowing through it is very minimal which means a vast reduction in suction. Suction is created by air flowing through the bag quickly. Lot’s of dirt, little air flow, = poor suction. Vacuuming up fine dust like drywall dust can clog up the paper bag and cause the same lack of suction as a full bag. It’s a good idea to change the bag after such vacuuming to let your vacuum “breathe”.
The belt needs changing –
On upright vacuums, a belt is used to turn the brushroll sweeping the carpet. With age, the belt stretches out causing it to slip around the brushroll instead of turning it. If you suspect this is the case, compare a new belt to the old one and see how much it has stretched out. If it is considerable, replace.
There’s lots of hair around the brushroll –
This is very common. Hair can cause a brushroll to not turn at all, or not pick up debris well. A good idea is to inspect this before vacuuming and if needed, use scissors to cut it off.
Commercial cleaners realize the importance of using quality vacuums and doing regular maintenance as essential for time and labor savings. You probably would rather spend your time doing other things than screaming at a frustrating vacuum. So a little bit of vacuum maintenance can go a long way towards cleaning satisfaction and ease.
Happy vacuuming!
