Seven Common Vacuuming Mistakes you're Already Making
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Seven Common Vacuuming Mistakes You're Already Making

We can all take just a moment to be thankful that cleaning tools have evolved over the years and that our chores have gotten much easier because of them, especially with vacuum cleaners. Their invention has revolutionized house and business cleaning and we have all benefited from it.
The first powered vacuum cleaner was invented in 1901 by a British engineer named Hubert Cecil Booth and an American inventor named David T. Kenney. It was the first appliance use suction power and it was called the “Puffing Billy.” However, it was not until 7 years later, in 1908, that Hoover purchased John Murray Spangler’s patent for the upright vacuum. And now you know the “rest of the story.”
Today’s upright, canister, stick, central, and backpack vacuums do great jobs cleaning these areas:
- Carpets and Hard Floors
- Under and On Top of Furniture
- Tight Corners and Baseboards
- Ceiling and Wall Vents
- Blinds and Window Sills
- Auto and Truck Interiors
There are tools, attachments, and accessories for all these cleaning jobs and more! We know you vacuum to get things clean and tidy around the house or office but are you using effective cleaning practices?
The 7 Common Vacuuming Mistakes You’re Probably Making Now
Let’s follow up on that effective cleaning practice question to see if you’re on the right track. Here are seven common mistakes most of us are guilty of with our weekly and monthly vacuuming:

- You are not changing or emptying your bag often enough. Change the bag when it’s around ¾ full to maximize suction.
- You are using your vacuum beaters on hardwood floors. Beaters are intended for carpet as the beaters can dull the hardwood’s polish and/or finish. Avoid this at all costs or you will be creating a lot more work.
- You likely do not vacuum often enough. You tend to wait until the floor looks dirty to vacuum. Studies show that carpets can collect up to 25 pounds of dirt a year!
- You are vacuuming perpendicular to the baseboards when you should be vacuuming parallel to suck the debris out.
- You vacuum the house before dusting everything.
- You vacuum too quickly in only one direction
- Most importantly, you do not have a vacuuming and cleaning strategy.
Discover even more practical vacuuming tips for home and work.
It’s easy and convenient to order all your home and business vacuum needs online from ThinkVacuums.com.
Use These Guidelines for Thorough Cleaning and Vacuuming
You don’t empty the bag before starting your house cleaning because you think it’s fine. It may not be because it may be too full and causes the vacuum to lose power or damage the motor. Avoid making the motor work harder by emptying the bag when ¾ full and the same goes for bagless machines. If you have a bagless model, was the canister after emptying and allow to air dry before replacing it.
When cleaning hard floors like tile, laminate, hardwood, or stone, using the proper cleaning tool or vacuum head designed for the job. If you wait until your carpet looks dirty, you’ve waited too long. Clean your carpets at least weekly and more often if you have small children or pets. Dry dirt and other debris can actually damage carpet fibers and cause them to attract even more dirt or debris.

Dust your entire home before vacuuming the floors, future, blinds, and other objects. This way you will pick up the fallen dust and debris with the vacuum cleaner. If you vacuum first then dust, the dust will fall on the floors and you will need to redo it all. Another note, it’s more effective to vacuum parallel to baseboards than perpendicular to them. It’s even more effective to first use a crevice tool to clean the tops of them and where the floor meets them.
To be effective and efficient at cleaning, vacuum slowly and in two directions. We tend to be in too much of a hurry to get this chore done. Walk slowly across the floors in one direction and once the room is finished, vacuum the second time in a perpendicular direction. This picks up more stuff and helps to refresh the carpet fibers. You may need to go over really dirty areas three times.
Have a vacuuming plan in place that includes the following:
- A schedule for cleaning rooms and objects in them.
- Maintaining your vacuum’s bags and filters.
- Cleaning your vacuum inside and out.
- Checking and cleaning the vacuum’s cord
- Share the work with another household member
If you follow all these simple guidelines, you will have a cleaner home and feel more peace of mind.
Make Your Home or Office Cleaning More Efficient with a Central Vacuum System
These vacuums can be installed inside your home where tubes run inside the walls and dump the debris into a large holding tank down in the garage or basement. They have ports throughout the house where a detachable hose can be plugged in so you can vacuum each room without dragging around a pesky machine. Not only will you protect your back from the strain of pulling around a vacuum, but once the hose is plugged into the wall port, all of the dusty, polluted air the vacuum sucks up is transported through PVC pipe directly to the machine and outside the living areas instead of being released back into the air.
These vacuums are more efficient and powerful than conventional portable vacuum cleaners because their motors are so much stronger, and they are the most powerful in the market. We recommend DrainVac central vacuums because they are the best available. Here’s why you should own one:
- Their advanced vortex tangential Domel motors are superior.
- The airwatts, waterlift, and filtration are the best
- This brand has longer warranties than most.
- They are easy to use and clean.
- Very quiet and the best bang for your buck.
- Sturdiest housing construction – thick and tough.
- No rattles and vibrations.
- Premium attachments are available.
We also not only sell power units and complete kits, but we also provide attachment kits, installation kits, electric powerheads, wall inlets, mufflers and exhausts, pipes and fittings, dustpans, motors, hoses, wands, and DrainVac bags and filters. We also have garage and car attachment kits so that you can vacuum out your car and garage with ease. It’s easy and convenient to order all your home and business vacuum needs online from ThinkVacuums.com. Read reviews about these fabulous cleaning machines.
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