Vacuum Cleaning 101

Who doesn't love the look of a freshly vacuumed carpet?  When your carpets are free of lint and dust and whatever particles you and your pets track in from the outdoors, it makes the entire room look cleaner and brighter.  Regular vacuuming can also improve the air quality in your home.

Everyone lives differently, therefore the frequency and need of vacuuming can vary from one household to the next.  If you have the time (and desire) to vacuum daily, more power to you!  For most of us a weekly vacuuming regimen will do.  Here's a few tips to make the chore of vacuuming a little less of a chore:

• First, and most importantly, get everyone out of the room your vacuuming.  Who likes vacuuming around and under people and pets who aren't doing chores too?  Not me!

• It's best to dust your furniture, lamp shades, blinds, knick-knacks, etc. before you vacuum.  Put your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, kids, aunts, uncles... whoever you can get your hands on, on that task.  I hate dusting!
• Spend more time -- slow and steady -- over the high traffic areas.
• A quick once-over in the medium- and light-traffic areas will do the trick, and you'll save some valuable time so you can put your feet up, too!
• When you have more time to spend, be sure to use the vacuum cleaner attachments to get into those crevices and corners where dust and lint and spiders tends to gather.
• Empty bagless vacuum containers and bags when they reach no more than 2/3 full. You will notice the suction power will decrease when you're vacuuming with a full load, and there's no point in vacuuming if you have no suction.
• I know you want to get your frustrations out on your area rugs but, PLEASE DON'T HANG AND BEAT YOUR RUGS!  What did they ever do to you?  The proper way of vacuuming an area rug is to turn it upside down and vacuum the back side first.  Wait til you see all the sand and dirt the beater bar knocks out!  Turn off the beater bar setting and vacuum what was left behind on the hard surface, then turn the rug upright and using the beater bar setting once again, vacuum the top surface.

If you are in the market for a new vacuum cleaning machine, The Carpet and Rug Institute has this handy list of their Seal Of Approval Certified Vacuum Cleaning Machines here:  ​http://www.carpet-rug.org/certified-vacuums.html