How often should I vacuum? (2024)

Ugh! Who likes to vacuum. Okay, maybe some of you do. But realistically, most of us find it a chore. How often do we REALLY need to do this? Depending on how you feel about vacuuming, you may not like the answer.

First, can you vacuum too little? Without a doubt yes! At times we come into homes whose carpets have clearly been neglected. Perhaps weeks or months have gone by without a proper cleaning. This is very detrimental to the carpet; consider why. Soil is generally divided into two categories: oily and not oily. Soil that is not oily refers to things like sand, dirt, dust; mainly things that come in from outside your home. Soil that is oily refers to food, body and pet oil, tar, grease, etc. Now your carpet is going to get both. If you are not vacuuming regularly, the soil just accumulates. The oily soil holds the non-oily soil near the top of the carpet. This is where most of the wear occurs. Normal use now becomes hard use and wear patterns develop prematurely, ones that cannot be cleaned out even with hot-water extraction, like we use. But vacuuming can greatly reduce the effects by removing most of the soil deposited. Just a side note: DO NOT SWEEP YOUR CARPETS! This is not an acceptable substitute and will accelerate the wear cycle. (Yes, we do run into this.)

Second, can you vacuum too much? Believe it or not the answer is no. Now, if you vacuumed continually 24 hours a day, yes, that would be too much. Vacuuming every day, or even a few times a day, is not going to create any long term problems. ‘But,’ you might be thinking, ‘doesn’t the brushes spinning over the carpet on a beater bar wear it out?’ Sure, but a very small amount. The removal of the oily and not-oily soil is so beneficial that it negates the effect of the brushes.

So how often should you vacuum? That is a tough question to give a ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer to. Each home will be different and each room in that house will be different. That being said we do recommend that all the carpets in the house are vacuumed at least once each week and the high traffic areas and/or rooms perhaps every day or every other day. Is this a lot of work? Maybe. But have you ever replaced your carpets? THAT is a lot of work and money. A little elbow grease can go a long way!