Vacuuming always feels like one of those chores that never really ends. You can spend time covering every room, but somehow the floors still don’t look as clean as you’d like. And in the middle of summer, the idea of pushing around a heavy vacuum in the heat is enough to make you want to skip the task altogether.
The problem is, ignoring it isn’t an option. Dust, pollen, dirt and pet hair don’t just make your floors look dull, they also affect the air quality inside your home. If you’ve been vacuuming often but not seeing results, your technique might be holding you back.
A few small changes can completely change the outcome. From moving in the right pattern to making better use of your attachments, the right approach can leave your home feeling cleaner while cutting down on the effort it takes.
That’s why we’ve tested a bunch of vacuums to ensure we’re giving you the top recommendations for the best cordless, robot and budget vacuums on the market. But it doesn’t matter how great the product is — if you’re misusing it, you won’t be able to take advantage of all its benefits. Thankfully, we’re here to help.
The right way to vacuum clean your home
Those short, quick, back-and-forth motions that the majority of people do when vacuuming isn’t sucking up all that dust, dirt and lint that is embedded into carpets and floors. The more efficient way to vacuum — and the way professional cleaners do it — is to go forward, in structured rows.
You’ll first start by vacuuming a row of your carpeting in one direction, wall-to-wall. This first pass should be against the nap of the carpet to make it fluff up and to make the deeply embedded dirt come up easier. A way to tell if you’re vacuuming against the nap correctly is if the carpet piles stick up or look a little darker.
Next, push the vacuum back over that strip you just vacuumed. This will lay the carpet back down flat and will suck up the rest of the dirt you missed on the first pass. Once you’re back to your starting place, vacuum another strip right next to the first, overlapping slightly. Keep repeating this routine until the whole room has been vacuumed thoroughly.
Once you’ve completed that step, go perpendicular: If you were vacuuming north to south the first time, vacuum east to west on this second pass. If you think of your floor as a grid, you’re going to want to pass over each square both ways for the best results.
Yes, it’s extra work and maybe it even seems like overkill, but this method ensures you get every bit of dirt and debris, which will keep your carpet cleaner and looking newer for longer.
For more helpful vacuum info, explore the best Roomba alternatives to keep your floors clean and the best robot vacuum deals available now.
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FAQs
How many times should I repeat this technique?
You should repeat this technique as many times as it takes to vacuum overlapping strips across the entire room. Then, you should start the same process vacuuming the floor in the direction perpendicular to when you started.
Does this technique work with carpet cleaners?
This technique absolutely works with carpet cleaners, but be aware that carpet cleaners are there to wash your carpet — not pick up the debris and dirt. That’s why it is recommended to use a carpet cleaner first, and then wait for it to dry before using the vacuum with the aforementioned technique.
