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 live in an approximately 1400 sf household with 3 other people, two small dogs, and three cats. All floors are hardwood, except for the living room which is carpeted. I used to vacuum the main living areas daily, but I admit to slacking lately. I do basically all of the day to day housework and it’s just too much. I have to get back on track though. The living room can take me literally 20 to 30 minutes alone because of the pet hair (I have one dog who sheds like you wouldn’t believe). I won’t even talk about mopping, or steamcleaning the carpet. Happens way too infrequently. I also make frequent use of a dust buster. And I, too, use the Dyson that is meant for animals. Does a nice job. However, soon after we got it, someone clogged up and broke the hose attachment, and I now have to lug in the shop vac to get into those small spaces and under things. It’s a pain in the butt! I wouldn’t mind vacuuming at all…if it didn’t involve moving so many things around and out of the way. I swear that takes up most of the time. If only I had some minions to put to work! 😊
Me and my boyfriend I have a low-pile renters carpet, so needless to say it gets dirty very quickly. I vacuum our living room and dining area every single day, and our bedroom once a week since all we do is sleep in there. We only shampoo semi-annually however it’s always relatively clean to begin with when we do. It has kept the carpet in excellent condition.
Wow! So many comments on vacuuming! Who knew it was such a thing?!? I live alone with two dogs, so I vacuum once a week, but I have laminate flooring, a woodstove, and did I mention two dogs? I do frequent sweeps of the wood and linoleum parts of my flooring a few times a week in between vacuuming. I am also a fan of the Oreck. I’m on my second one now, a canister with a carpet sweeper attachment. I find them more versatile than uprights, but the last one I had was an upright. I’ve used a Dyson and found them a bit heavy. The Oreck is lightweight and
works great. Vacuums are like shoes; ya gotta spend some money on ’em if you want something that will last a few years! However, I feel that the really great vacuums of the world were the old Electrolux vacuums like the one my mom had (circa late 1960s and all metal parts) that lasted her about 30 years (five kids, several foster kids, large house, many animals).
I know, right? I wish I had my mom’s Hoover. That thing laster FOREVER.
The Hoover! I swear my mom owned a Hoover for at least 20 years. That thing weighed about as much as I do! It was a Beast.
Shedding golden retriever . . . I SHOULD vacuum at least once a day (probably more!). Realistically, it gets done about every other day.
Make the kid do it. 😉
We live off grid, dependant upon solar & wind, so we aren’t able to vacuum as much as I’d like (in the winter) so I put down extra throw rugs I’m the entry way to grab dirt. We also sweep the kitchen floor after every meal, hoping to stop the dirt before it reaches the family room. But my vacuum canister is full after vacuuming!
You might try the Shark sweeper. It has a rechargeable battery. Works pretty well if your carpet isn’t too plush.
I actually miss vacuuming. Shocking, right? My family and I are currently renting a home with all wooden floors right now. With my little ones (prior to us moving), I vacuumed once a week…more if the kids made an especially big mess with food. I’m glad your vacuum has lasted so long though! That’s amazing to think of something lasting that long these days.
I miss my wood floors! lol. We had laminate and wood in our two previous houses and I miss them. 😉
I vacum every other day.We have all wall to wall carpet. Plus we have a dog too. By doing it every other day keep carpet clean, no dog hair.we use a Panasonic up right does a great Job. Got it only 5 months ago. New carpet in the den. The vacum keeps it like new.
WOW I really feel like a slacker this morning having 7 peopl ein our household and I try to vaccuum once a week. how on earth do you get it all done everyday? and what happens if your two year old is afraid of it?
a latte of blessings & giggles,
Jeanie
I make the minions do the vacuuming! Though these days we only do it daily in the summertime. I should step that up, shouldn’t I? 3yo is now fine with it. But, someone was assigned to move her to another room when she was scared of it.
We got lucky and found an old Roomba vacuum at a garage sale for $20. This model sells on ebay for $65. I use it every day an am in love. I was worried that that would wear out my carpet faster, but I’m glad to see so many advocates of daily vacuuming- no more guilt!