How often should you vacuum?

How often should you vacuum?
(Image credit: Getty)

Having one of the best vacuum cleaners gets you halfway to cleaner floors, but knowing just how often you should vacuum is another thing. The obvious answer is to simply get the vacuum out when you can see visible bits of dirt or crumbs collecting on your floors, but is that really enough to get rid of deep embedded dust and dirt? 

Vacuuming is important for keeping your floors looking great but also for making sure that you can stay on top of allergens, pet hair, and dust that naturally gathers on our floors.  Vacuuming regularly can also make sure that you don’t get grubby carpet edges or dirty rugs while prolonging the life of your carpets. 

How often you currently vacuum might come down to how much time you have or how particular you are about the state of your floors, but how often should you vacuum? 

How often should you vacuum carpets? 

It’s a good idea to vacuum carpets once a week but high-traffic areas like walkways and doorways should be vacuumed at least twice a week to help prevent dirt from building up there. While this might seem like a lot of effort to some, vacuuming often will actually mean there’s less dirt to clean up each time, and you’ll be able to reach those particles of dust before they settle deep in the carpet fibers. 

It’s best to vacuum in a range of directions when you’re tackling carpeted floors because this allows the vacuum to suck up dust and dirt from all sides of the carpet strands. Take your time too as this will ensure you give the floor a thorough clean and no areas will get left behind. 

Pet owners will be accustomed to having to deal with pet hair and for this reason, hard floors are often a more practical option if you have pets. If you do have carpets, a daily vacuum is normally recommended so that you can stay on top of pet dander and any dirt that is brought inside by your pet’s paws. 

How often should you vacuum?

(Image credit: Getty)

How often should you vacuum hard floors? 

Hard floors will need to be vacuumed once a week as a minimum. This type of flooring doesn’t require as much attention as carpets because dirt and dust sit on its surface rather than embedding deep into carpet fibers. As we mentioned earlier, if you have pets at home, vacuuming daily is your best bet - especially in areas where you’re going to be preparing food. 

It’s likely that you have hard floors in your kitchen though, and because of this, crumbs and cooking mess is quite likely to end up on the floor, which is why you might want to put the vacuum around these areas more than once a week. Pay extra attention to the edges of the room and in tile grout as dust tends to sit in these places. Using a crevice tool around the perimeter of a room before you vacuum is the best way to make sure every last scrap of dirt is picked up. 

Sophie Bird

Sophie writes about all things appliance-related and is currently the Home Editor at TechRadar's sister site, Top Ten Reviews. When she's not testing coffee machines and appliances, Sophie is thinking of eating delicious food, and asking people what they're having for dinner.