How Often Should You Vacuum?
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Wondering how often should you vacuum? The answer may surprise you. It depends.
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The house we live in had brand new carpet when we moved in. What a treat!
Forget the fact that it’s practically white carpet, okay, very light beige. And a rental. Who does that?
Needless to say, we’ve tried hard to take good care of it. Well, as best as one can when you live in a busy household of eight people, six of them active children.
Daily vacuuming has been our first line of defense. Regular carpet cleaning has been the second. The question often comes up, however, daily vacuuming?
How Often Should You Vacuum?
Yes, daily.
A few summers ago, almost eight to be exact, I decided to instill some better cleaning habits in all of us and instituted the daily vacuuming of the living areas.
There are three carpeted areas in the downstairs, and so each of the big boys had to choose one area to vacuum every day. It’s amazing what a difference it made to the overall appearance of our home.
I’d read once that you should vacuum an area as many times per week as the number of people that regularly use that area.
So, for a bedroom for one person, a weekly vacuuming is sufficient. A room with two roomies should get a twice a week treatment.
Our main living areas? According to that formula, they should receive eight vacuumings a week!
Well, that ain’t happening. But, since that fateful summer day we’ve been able to swing a daily once over. It really doesn’t take very long to go over each area.
And, since it has to be vacuumed, all the junk has to be picked up off the floor, too! {Maniacal laughter from the Mama.}
We’ve hired the same carpet cleaner for many, many years, and he has agreed that the daily vacuuming has helped our carpet last this long. It’s cheap, renter’s carpet in beige, so there’s only so much you can do, but daily vacuuming has helped.
What kind of vacuum should you get?
For over 20 years, we’ve had an Oreck upright vacuum. The first one lasted us about 13 years. The second is almost seven years old and going strong. You can read my review of it here.
For a short time, we had Jarvis, a robotic vacuum. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as loyal to us as he was Ironman.
When we had hard floors, we loved the Shark Cordless Sweeper. It was so light even the toddlers could use it. You can read my review of it here.
How often do YOU vacuum at your house?
Originally published August 16, 2010. Updated January 31, 2018.
I try to vacuum once a day, every other if that’s not possible! I have a Miele canister vac and I love it! I got it when we moved in and had brand new carpet. It was totally worth it to spend the money. that was 7 years ago and its still like new. A cheap vacuum doesn’t even compare!
How do you all find time to vacuum so frequently? I am seriously stoked if I have time to vacuum once a week! I do love a vacuumed house, but struggle to get it done. I better step up my game!!
@Leyna, I make my kids do it. 😉
@Jessica Fisher, maybe that’s my problem! My kids are 2 and 8 months 🙂 Between work, exercise, getting supper made, baths taken, and bedtime books, I barely have time to do the dishes from that night every night!
Gosh! Now I am inspired to try once a day. I usually get to it a few times per week (we have 3 people and 1 crazy doggie)… but I HATE sitting on the floor and seeing grime and pet hair around me!
I have five kids, fluffy dig, messy husband, we homeschool and my hubbie works from home. I vacuum the family room and kitchen 2-3 times a day! School room once a day. Upstairs, once a week. I love my oreck too!
I vacuum the downstairs daily and the upstairs about twice a week. But I cant fucntion through my day unless I vacuum so that is my priority when I wake up.
This is sooo funny! Am I the only person in the world who doesn’t even vacuum every week??!! I hate vacuuming and our carpet hides dirt really well… 🙂
My husband has it done twice a day.
Vacuuming is very relaxing for me. With active, playful children and a 5,000 sq ft home, cleaning is “me-time.” Sprinkle some Febreeze carpet cleaner or any other that happened to be on sale and vacuum away. Also l love to watch our kids rush to pick up “prize possessions” off the floor. I only vacuum 20 mins each day. About every 3 days I’ve covered the whole house. (The only rooms without carpet are the kitchen and one bathroom.)
Now if someone could help me with my acres of yard. HELP!
Heidi
I hate lugging out the big heavy vacuum cleaner and my 2-year-old isn’t quite ready to take on that chore. But I try to vacuum the entire house once a week. However, I vacuum the kitchen and living room–our most heavily trafficked areas–with the Swivel Sweeper every other day. I LOVE the Swivel Sweeper!!! A friend gave one to me and I thought initially I’d never use it, but it is amazing! So lightweight and picks up everything!
We vacuum common areas daily and bedrooms on the weekend.
zGirl12 is in charge of the kitchen- load & unload the dishwasher, wipe the counters, sweep the kitchen floor, vacuum bedrooms on Saturday (doesn’t matter what time, but she can’t go out to play or go with mom & dad for errands until her Saturday chores are done).
zGirl6 is in charge of the family room- clean up EVERY night (put toys away, put shoes on the rack, put pillows on the couch), vacuum the family room floor after the tidy, clear kitchen table, push in table chairs
I love my Hoover WindTunnel. I’m always amazed at home much it picks up. The kids love to use it too- the accessories are easy to use and the electrical cord has a push button to wind internally. 🙂
Dyson! Dyson! Dyson!
Granted, it’s only me, fiance, and Daughter. However, she has recently garnered a like for grinding her goldfish crackers into the wool area rug in the living area. After growing up in a house with several animals at any given time, we went through vacuums like there was no tomorrow. Oreck, hoover, rainbow. You name it, it didn’t last beyond a year. Happy to say my parents have had their Dyson for 4 years, and I’ve had mine for two.
They CAN be pricey. Target often has them as part of a gift card deal, Kohl’s is always having some sort of sale. Or you can be like me and order direct from Dyson’s website and get a refurbished model, complete with warranty still in tact!