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Tuesday, October 9, 2018

A Really Important Question

How often should you vacuum? There appears to be some controversy on the issue. A housekeeping manual I possess states every day, while Darla Shine suggests doing it twice a week. Now I've always tried to do it three times a week but started thinking recently that may be, it's too much. (Vacuuming has a nasty tendency to interfere with your social life:)

The internet isn't really helpful. I found everything from once a week to every day, twice a week or depending on how many household members you have (but having pets means you still have to do it every day apparently). They also make distinction between high traffic areas and low traffic areas, but in my house, most rooms are high traffic and I have pets, too!

It's all very confusing. I found two detailed cleaning guides which sound very similar to each other. One from Good Housekeeping says once a week (but sweep kitchen floors every day), the other one from Housekeeping Trends says every day (with the distinction made between high- and low-traffic areas). My vacuum is kept in a closet upstairs, so if I have to take it downstairs everyday to vacuum "high-traffic areas" which incidentally includes my whole 1st floor since it's an open living/dining area, I can as well take 10 minutes to vacuum the bedrooms. Where is the time-saving then?

How often do you vacuum? Feel free to share!

P.S. Take some time to study both cleaning check lists. Housekeeping will start looking like a full-time job to you!

10 comments:

  1. Once a week is what I do. Even when we had a cat, that is all I did. I'm home full time, but there are many other household chores to do. With a three story house and two sets of stair, once a week is all I can manage. That is my opinion, though. If someone feels up to it, then do more! I really think once a week is fine.

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  2. I have three (stairs, that is:) I don't vacuum the stairs often though, and the attic is usually done by-weekly (by the housekeeper, I should admit). I feel myself inclined to agree with twice weekly school (can't stand dirty floors) and my husband thinks that twice a week should be enough, but old habits die hard. Letting Wed vacuuming go feels like cheating somehow:)

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  3. Eight children - three times a week or more if necessary - HOWEVER, we sweep every room every day, at least twice, maybe more. We homeschool. We are home all the time. I imagine we are peak at the dirty level (also live in country). I would think every home varies. Clean daily as needed!

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  4. Wow, I'm impressed! How do you manage? Do the children help a lot? I can't sweep upstairs, I have wall-to-wall carpeting, and two thick carpets downstairs which can't be really swept. So vacuuming is the only way.

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  5. I think it depends in so many factors. We have a dog, but I clean her paws every time we come home. She still leaves muddy pawprints everywhere when it is rainy... So sweeping is more essential to me. We have as little carpets as possible to make sweeping more easy.

    I usually vacuum and sweep whole appartment once a week and then vacuum or sweep places that seem to need it. We have a pathway of pawprints from door to balcony door, that should be sweeped daily... But I do it maybe every other day... And all the dust seems to gather to certain points and I remove it when I notice it.

    I absolutely HATE vacuuming, so I try to sweep as much as possible. I have really good microfiber plate swab.

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  6. I don't mind vacuuming at all, it just takes a long time + we have a house in 4 levels and very inconvenient narrow stairs and the vacuum is heavy. If there is something I really hate to do, it's ironing. But again, I like the end result, so I keep doing it:)

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  7. I have all wood floors, which, when people see them say "Oh, there too hard to keep clean." Meaning they have to sweep everyday. Well, what you see on the wood floors is what is on your carpet, you just can't see it as readily. So it really depends on lots of factors: do you wear shoes indoors? do you have babies crawling on the floors? or animals? does anyone have allergies?If so, then vacuuming every day is as necessary as sweeping. On the other hand, if you take your shoes off as soon as you come in the door, don't have crawlers or animals, or allergies, vacuum as infrequently as you like. I personally despise carpets! (I do enjoy ironing!)

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  8. I like carpeting in the bedroom, it feels cozy early in the morning - you can walk barefoot on it and it's not cold:) But I agree wood floors are easier to maintain, at least the laminate ones. Interesting that you enjoy ironing:) I think everyone of us has some favourite (and otherwise) chores.

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  9. I like ironing, too, because it smells so good. But vacuuming, the noice is horrific even though we have the most silent vacuum we could find.

    Our floors are parquet and they are really easy to keep clean.

    One of the reasons I love winter is that when there are minus degrees and snow, you don't need to clean at all. No dust, no dirt on the floors. Even dog stops dropping her fur...

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  10. Yes, mine is terribly noisy as well! As for winter, I don't mind cold that much, but it's too dark to my taste:)February it's getting better tho.

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