Home LivingAppliancesVacuum Cleaners9 mistakes everyone makes with vacuum cleaners from Dyson, Shark and beyondCordless and corded vac errors to avoidWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Home LivingAppliancesVacuum Cleaners9 mistakes everyone makes with vacuum cleaners from Dyson, Shark and beyondCordless and corded vac errors to avoidWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Cordless and corded vac errors to avoid
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Getty)
(Image credit: Getty)
Vacuum cleaning is one of the most enjoyable tasks anyone can do. Who doesn’t love to fire up their vacuum cleaner, be it cordless or corded, bagless or baggy, and get down to some fun cleaning? It’s better than sex! Okay, maybe it’s not that enjoyable for a lot of people, but vacuuming can certainly be made into an even more tedious chore if you don’t even know how to do it right. The list of potential vacuum cleaner mistakes is a long one, from buying a vac that is no good, to attempting to push it around using only your nose and chin – that would be a crazy thing to do.
Whether you favour cordless convenience or corded power, the vacuum cleaner is a household essential. According to some estimates, the average household generates 20 kilos of dust per year so without vacuum cleaners, you’d be wondering around with dust up to your knees after a terrifyingly short period of time. This leads to worse allergies, if you’re a sufferer, and it also just doesn’t look very nice to be quite honest. Vacuuming is something a lot of people enjoy – no really, they do – but even if you don’t, you must admit you prefer your home to be clean rather than filth-ridden and disgusting. Or at least I hope you do.
There is not much that can go wrong with your vacuum cleaner, so long as you were sensible and bought something from one of our vac buying guides. However, there are some simple vacuum cleaner mistakes you can make, that will make your life more difficult than it needs to be. That’s what we’re here to help you avoid with this short but handy list.
1. Not using the right attachment for the job
Admittedly it can be hard knowing where to start, sometimes(Image credit: Ufixt)
Admittedly it can be hard knowing where to start, sometimes
Admittedly it can be hard knowing where to start, sometimes
(Image credit: Ufixt)
An extreme example of this would be attempting to clean the deep pile carpet of a massive ballroom, using only the crevice tool. That sounds like a bad dream, and is probably not something anyone has ever done in real life, although I did once have to clean my entire flat with a handheld Dust Devil, as that was the only vac available to me at the time.
All too many people, however, do not use the full range of attachments that come with their vac. It’s particularly crazy not to use the small powered brush for upholstery, but there are also those who are just too damn lazy to switch to the soft brush for dusting surfaces. I suspect a lot of owners of premiumDyson cordless vacsdon’t use the hard floor-specific head, and just stick to the multi-purpose one, too. The reason I suspect that is because I do it myself, but that spongy hard floor head ismuchbetter for that task than the standard one.
I must also admit that I don’t think I’ve ever used a crevice tool for anything, ever. However, if you like nice clean crevices, I expect it’s a must.
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2. Vacuuming too fast
Woah there! Let’s slow it down a little there, Action Woman!(Image credit: Dyson)
Woah there! Let’s slow it down a little there, Action Woman!
Woah there! Let’s slow it down a little there, Action Woman!
(Image credit: Dyson)
This may not be a popular piece of advice, but we want you to vacuum your house more slowly. Yes, this will take longer, but the results will be so much better. Why is this? Because the more slowly you move your cleaner’s head through your carpet, the more opportunity the powered brush inside it will have to rake out dust, allergens, dropped foods and other foulness. Vigorously and rapidly assaulting your floors is a complete waste of effort – just let the brush and the suction of your vac do it for you. Just take a small area at a time, gently move your vac backwards and forwards and your carpets will come up so much better.
Have you mainly got hard floors? Going slowly is probably less useful, in that case. It’s still always worth taking abitmore time, though.
3. Not using your power control (if you have one)
(Image credit: Miele)
(Image credit: Miele)
Okay, so far I have advised you to vacuum more slowly, now I’m telling you to vacuum on a lower power setting. Great tips, huh? However, there are very real benefits to vacuuming on low power. Saving battery life and energy costs is the obvious one but the far more important one is that many things just do not take well to being furiously sucked upon. Drapes, thin rugs and anything in the vicinity of house plants are all areas that demand a lower power setting.
4. Not cleaning your filters or emptying your bin regularly
Yes, I know nobody wants to do this, but if you have filters that need cleaning, you really should clean them. Otherwise, cleaning performance will gradually degrade and the overall life of your beloved vac will likely be diminished. if you or anyone else in your household have allergies, this is particularly important.
If you have a vacuum where the filters need to be replaced, you should do this as well. Although a better solution would probably be to buy a better vac, with cleanable filters as well.
5. Not using the headlight
Eww.(Image credit: Dyson)
Eww.
Eww.
(Image credit: Dyson)
If your vac has a light built in – or a bleedin’laser, in the case ofDyson’s V15 Detect– keeping it on is a must, although what it reveals every time, if it’s any good, will probably shake you to the core. How can it be that you vacuumed only two days ago, and yet under the sideboard in the hall there is already enough dust and muck to fill a shoebox? I don’t know, but it’s best that you see it, so you can deal with it (again). Be brave.
6. Not using a ‘bendy’ vacuum cleaner tube
(Image credit: Shark)
(Image credit: Shark)
If you are into cleaning under things – especially when utilising the power of your modern vacuum cleaner’s dirt-revealing headlights, like I just told you to – this invention is as brilliant as it is stupid looking. From wardrobes to beds to coffee tables to… other things that are mounted on legs, the ‘bendy tube’ is arguably the greatest vacuuming innovation of the past decade.
7. Not charging your cordless vac after every use
Clunk click, every trip(Image credit: Dyson)
Clunk click, every trip
Clunk click, every trip
(Image credit: Dyson)
Imagine the nightmare scenario. You have just dropped a Kilner jar filled with Rice Crispies. It’s smashed and the cereal is everywhere. You race to your expensive cordless vac from Dyson, Shark or Miele and return, ready to do battle. But you haven’t been plugging it in after using it, and after 2 seconds of vacuuming, the battery runs out. Happy now, are you? Well are you?!
Seriously, the battery life on cordless vacs is not great, especially if you are like me andalwaysuse it on theTurbo Max Super Speedsetting. It is foolhardy in the extreme to not recharge after each use.
Most cordless vacs come with a wall dock that keeps your vac neatly stored between usesandcharges it up. It really is worth the small amount of effort it takes to install this, but if you can’t be bothered, do remember to plug it in with the cable after each cleaning duty.
8. Trying to vacuum the next room, while you’re still plugged in to the last one
So your vacisn’tcordless? While your vacuum cleaner’s cable may be long, but this approach always leads to tears. Or, if not to tears, at least to getting to the far corner of the room and notquitebeing able to reach it, then trying to stretch the hose and tube to their absolute fullest extent, and then the plug gets pulled out of the socket in the other room anyway, and you realise what a fool you’ve been, again.
The other classic cable mistake is not standing well back as you press the cable retracting button. On some more upmarket vacs, failing to take evasive measures while doing this can result in severe shin bruising, plus accidental self-whipping with electrical flex. On the flip side, there are few things more depressing than an older vac, where the retracting spring mechanism has become exhausted, and your cable is spooled painfully slowly back into your vacuum, with the exhausted and listless air of an elderly dog. Sad.
9. Buying a robot vac and expecting it to do everything
Robots are amazing – but they can’t do your stairs(Image credit: Roborock)
Robots are amazing – but they can’t do your stairs
Robots are amazing – but they can’t do your stairs
(Image credit: Roborock)
The best prices right now on our favourite vacsDyson V15 Detect$749.99ViewSee all pricesDyson V11 Absolute$699.99$610.90ViewSee all pricesGtech AirRam Mk 2 K9$249$179.99ViewSee all pricesMiele Triflex HX1 Pro$799ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The best prices right now on our favourite vacsDyson V15 Detect$749.99ViewSee all pricesDyson V11 Absolute$699.99$610.90ViewSee all pricesGtech AirRam Mk 2 K9$249$179.99ViewSee all pricesMiele Triflex HX1 Pro$799ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The best prices right now on our favourite vacsDyson V15 Detect$749.99ViewSee all pricesDyson V11 Absolute$699.99$610.90ViewSee all pricesGtech AirRam Mk 2 K9$249$179.99ViewSee all pricesMiele Triflex HX1 Pro$799ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
The best prices right now on our favourite vacs
Dyson V15 Detect$749.99ViewSee all pricesDyson V11 Absolute$699.99$610.90ViewSee all pricesGtech AirRam Mk 2 K9$249$179.99ViewSee all pricesMiele Triflex HX1 Pro$799ViewSee all prices
Dyson V15 Detect$749.99ViewSee all prices
Dyson V15 Detect$749.99ViewSee all prices
Dyson V15 Detect
Dyson V15 Detect
$749.99View
$749.99
$749.99
See all prices
Dyson V11 Absolute$699.99$610.90ViewSee all prices
Dyson V11 Absolute$699.99$610.90ViewSee all prices
Dyson V11 Absolute
Dyson V11 Absolute
$699.99$610.90View
$699.99$610.90
$610.90
See all prices
Gtech AirRam Mk 2 K9$249$179.99ViewSee all prices
Gtech AirRam Mk 2 K9$249$179.99ViewSee all prices
Gtech AirRam Mk 2 K9
Gtech AirRam Mk 2 K9
$249$179.99View
$249$179.99
$179.99
See all prices
Miele Triflex HX1 Pro$799ViewSee all prices
Miele Triflex HX1 Pro$799ViewSee all prices
Miele Triflex HX1 Pro
Miele Triflex HX1 Pro
$799View
$799
$799
See all prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
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