Did you know that Americans spend around 6 hours cleaning each week? If you're tackling household chores in your family, you might be looking for ways to improve your approach. And if your home has a variety of flooring types, you'll want to be mindful of how you clean each one.
Keep reading to learn how to vacuum the different types of floors!
Understand What Your Vacuum Can Do
When it comes to vacuuming tips, the first one is to familiarize yourself with your vacuum. And more specifically, take a look at its attachments. The best vacuums will have various attachments that can help you clean tight spaces, pet hair, and more.You'll be able to fully explore the benefits of vacuuming when you know which tools to use in each situation. For instance, you can use the crevice tool to pick up debris that wedges itself between your carpet and baseboards. This tool also can help you reach corners and tight spaces behind furniture.
Use other extension tools to reach spider webs on your walls or ceiling or use it to clean floors in your car. Similarly, you may have a tool meant to handle pet hair. Grab it when you're cleaning your pet's bed and the floor space around it.
Ultimately, you'll want to make vacuuming a regular part of your cleaning routine. If you stick to doing it weekly, you'll avoid letting too much debris get embedded within your carpet fibers. And you'll prevent stones, dirt, and other abrasive materials from scratching your hardwood or laminate floors.
Check Your Vacuum's Settings
Before cleaning floors, adjust your vacuum's settings. The last thing you want is for a delicate rug to be sucked up by the vacuum under a power setting that is too high. You could do permanent damage.You'll want to opt for the most delicate setting when you're working with throw or area rugs that are more susceptible to getting tangled. For some carpets, such as Berber, you may not want the beater brush engaged. It can cause fuzzing and deterioration if it makes contact repeatedly, so consider using a higher setting.
With hardwood floors or vinyl, use the appropriate setting meant for bare floors. A typical type of carpet should work well with a medium setting. By contrast, if your carpet has a very high pile, go for the highest setting.
If you struggle to move your vacuum, it probably means you're using the wrong setting. Nudge the setting higher so you won't encounter as much difficulty as you move it across the floor. Make sure the beater bar, which contains the rotating bristles, is engaged for most carpets.
Pre-Clean Stairs Before Vacuuming
When it comes to floor care, don't forget about the steps leading to the next floor. Especially if you have pets, stairs can be a magnet for pet hair. But if you do a little pre-treating you can make the vacuuming process more effective.Start by wearing damp rubber cleaning gloves, and brush them across the surface of the stairs. This will help lift up excess fuzzies and fur that can be trapped in the carpet. Move from top to bottom as you do this step as well as others that follow.
Then use your vacuum's narrowest attachment to remove crumbs and other items stuck in the corners and crevices. Finally, use your vacuum's largest attachment, or one meant for pet hair, to go over each step again.
Reach for the Baking Soda
Does your carpet smell bad? You might think you need to invest in an expensive carpet cleaning in order to solve the problem. Fortunately, your regular vacuum can provide a solution if you grab some baking soda.Perhaps you keep baking soda, which is excellent at neutralizing bad smells, in your refrigerator. But did you know that it can help with bad odors in your carpet, too? Tap some baking soda onto your carpet and let it sit for around 20 minutes.
The baking soda helps to separate pet hair from carpet fibers. Then when you vacuum over it, you'll pick up the pet hair and dander, as well as bacteria that could be hiding in the fibers.
Plan on using baking soda on your carpet every few months to help reduce odors. You won't damage your carpet with harsh chemicals. And as an added benefit, you'll be able to help clean your vacuum canister when it sucks up the baking soda.
Clean Your Vacuum
While your vacuum does the cleaning, don't neglect cleaning your vacuum, too. If your vacuum uses a bag, check it periodically to ensure it's not too full. Otherwise, your vacuum may not be working as efficiently.Take the time to clean vacuum filters and canisters with a dust cloth. These elements will become dusty over time, and too much grime can disrupt the airflow your vacuum requires.
Finally, clean your vacuum's beater bar to make sure that it rotates smoothly. A brush and scissors can help remove tangled pet hair and other stringy debris that might be stuck within it. Just be sure to avoid cutting the bristles on the brush.
Learn How to Vacuum Different Types of Floors
If you know how to vacuum different types of floors, you'll maximize the capabilities of your vacuum cleaner. Familiarize yourself with your vacuum's settings and attachments. And make a point of pre-treating carpet as necessary and cleaning your vacuum routinely.When you're ready to upgrade your floors, contact us so we can help!
