Are You Vacuuming Wrong?
I know, I know… you’ve been vacuuming for a long time! How could you possibly be doing it wrong? Honestly, it’s very common. Most people have learned how to clean by watching their parents as they grow up, without really learning the proper techniques. This applies to all forms of cleaning, but today we’re gonna re-learn how to vacuum! Let’s kill those bad habits that you didn’t even know you had.
The 3 Keys to Clean Carpet
There are 3 main keys to vacuuming: having proper formation, repeating your strokes, and maintaining your vacuum. We’ll learn how to do each of these things, but most importantly I’ll explain WHY it matters. Knowing why something is important is crucial to the follow through!
Formation
How: Think clean lines! When the room is finished, you should see horizontal and slanted lines across the entirety of the carpet. So, start at the furthest side of the room and work your way out. Line yourself up about 4 feet from the farthest corner of the room, and line your vacuum up parallel with the wall. Tackle a single stroke at a time, about 4 feet long or 3/4 of your height. Make sure to push and pull the vacuum in straight lines, keeping it parallel to the wall with each stroke. When you’re done with one section, make sure to overlap the next stroke about 2″.
Why It Matters: Without maintaining clean lines, you will miss sections of the carpet without even noticing. Vacuuming all areas of the carpet is crucial to thoroughly rid it from the dust, dirt, debris, hair, crumbs and bugs (yes, bugs!). Traffic areas are not the only sections that require vacuuming. It’s true that the most commonly walked on sections of carpet will get the most dirty. That is because the soil grinds into the carpet with pressure and the carpet fibers wear down over time.
However, all areas will get soiled! Think about it… Dust falls EVERYWHERE. When you walk, you kick up dirt into the air and it falls in surrounding areas. Bugs tend to crawl where there isn’t heavy foot traffic. So although only one section of carpet may look dirty, in reality, it all is!
Repetition
How: Go over each stroke 7 times. I can’t repeat this enough…! Forward one, back two, forward three, back four, and so forth.
Why It Matters: It may sound excessive but it’s the amount of suction needed to extract the soiling deep inside your carpets fibers. The suction on vacuums is the whole reason that they work. No matter how powerful your vacuum, repetition is needed.
Maintenance
How: Every vacuum is different, but the maintenance is basically the same. Empty the bag or canister as soon as it is full. If your vacuum overheats of stops working, fix the problem before continuing.
Why It Matters: Without space in the bag/canister, the dirt has no place to go. It cycles back out onto your carpet and you end up exerting yourself for absolutely nothing! Some vacuum bags are a pain to change out, but to be honest there isn’t a point in vacuuming if the vacuum isn’t doing it’s job anyway!
That’s it! Now you’re ready to vacuum, educated with proper techniques. Look at you, all grown up… I’m so proud!