8 Things You Shouldn't Vacuum
We know you love vacuums, and we love ours. We rely on vacuums to help clear many of the clutter in our Salt Lake City home. But there are some things you shouldn't use your vacuum to clean up. What is an unsafe vacuum cleaner? The experts at the Vacuum 360 will tell you.
Liquids: Never use a vacuum to pick up water or any other type of liquid. Mixing water with electricity is a recipe for disaster. At best, you'll need to service the vacuum; at worst, you could get electrocuted. Manufacturers make vacuum cleaners designed to absorb water and other liquids. Probably the most famous is Shop-Vac, but there are other brands as well. While you can vacuum the pool water with a wet/dry vacuum, it will take a long time. Wet/dry vacuums can usually hold about 5 to 10 gallons of water, and most home pools can hold over 10,000 gallons of water, so while you can use wet and dry vacuum technology to clean your pool, you probably don't want to do that.
One exception is if you want to vacuum a specific area. For example, if someone vomits in your pool, you can use a wet/dry vacuum to quickly remove it, limiting the spread of germs.
Although wet/dry vacuums are designed to vacuum safely, these devices do not eliminate the risk of electric shock. This is why you should always plug your wet/dry vacuum into a GFCI outlet to protect yourself. These devices cut power in a hazardous situation.
Also, even though we say you can vacuum "liquids" with a wet/dry vacuum, we mean safe liquids like water and juice. You can vacuum with a wet/dry vacuum, but never use flammable liquids like gasoline. Your vacuum can explode easily.
If you accidentally suck up something wet, turn off the vacuum, unplug it and put it in the Vacuum 360 to see if you need vacuum service.
Bugs: Cleaning bugs doesn't kill them; it just moves them into your vacuum. Depending on the type of bug you just cleared, you could make it worse. For example, if you vacuum a spider, you may soon never see it again. However, if you vacuum up ants or cockroaches, they may continue to live in your vacuum bag, eating debris and other food scraps you've vacuumed before.
If someone in your household has head lice, it can be helpful to vacuum your furniture and carpets every day. Lice can only survive for a day or two after leaving the body, and will most likely die in a vacuum. However, bed bugs can survive without food for a year or more. Fleas can leave the body for up to 100 days. So if you're cleaning up bed bugs or fleas, immediately empty the vacuum bag and leave it outside the house until you can get rid of it completely.
Sharp Objects: Any sharp objects, such as thumbtacks, nails, broken glass, etc., have the potential to tear holes in the vacuum bag and can become caught in the moving parts of the vacuum cleaner. If this happens, you will need to service the vacuum. Never vacuum sharp objects. If you break a glass, take the largest piece and sweep away the small pieces. Once you've cleared all visible glass fragments, you can vacuum - small pieces are safe to vacuum.
Poisons: Powdered pesticides, including boric acid, should not be vacuumed. That's because the vacuum has the potential to release some poisons into the air that people might inhale. Also, any fine powder, including baking soda, cornstarch, and diatomaceous earth, is not vacuum safe. That's because the particles are so fine that they can go straight through the bag and seep into the vacuum motor. There, these powders can stain the job and eventually cause you to need a vacuum repair.
Mouse droppings: Mouse droppings can be contaminated with hantavirus, which can be fatal to humans. Hantavirus is airborne -- you get it by inhaling it when you disrupt your bowel movements. It's not safe to clean up rat droppings and vacuum your home with viruses. If you find rat droppings, you should wear a mask and gloves to clean it up. First, if possible, open doors and windows to ventilate the area. Next, pour the bleach over the stool and let it sit for five minutes. Then pick up the stool with a tissue, seal it in a plastic bag, and take it out of the house.
Anything hot: Many people accidentally start house fires by vacuuming cigarette butts, hot ash, hot coal, or other hot materials. Ashes should not be sucked away even if they are cold because they are too fine and powdery. They can damage the motor of the vacuum cleaner. Accidental vacuuming can cause a fire inside the vacuum cleaner or melt parts of the vacuum cleaner. In these cases, it is nearly impossible to service the vacuum cleaner.
Live animals or people: You've probably seen videos of people vacuuming cats or dogs, but it's best to be extra careful if you try to do so. First, most animals are afraid of vacuum cleaners because they are loud. If your pet is not afraid of vacuums and you want to try vacuuming their fur, use a special pet hair attachment - not the one that comes with the vacuum. You may harm your pet. Never use vacuum cleaners such as guinea pigs, hamsters or gerbils. You could hurt them -- or worse, suck them into a vacuum.
Don't vacuum your hair either. The suction might pull out more hair than you want. Also, your hair may get caught or tangled in the vacuum, and you may need to cut it to get it out.
You may have heard of earwax vacuums, but these are special devices that are different from commercial vacuums. Never try to vacuum the earwax with a regular vacuum - you could seriously damage your eardrums.
Anything that's wet or sticky: If you vacuum up wet cat litter, wet pet food, dirt, candy, etc., they can get stuck in the vacuum's hose or bag and clog it. Even if the item goes into the bag, it will mold inside the vacuum bag, and the next time you turn on the vacuum, you may blow out invisible mold spores in your home.
We hope this has given you valuable advice on items in your home that you shouldn't vacuum. We want you to use your vacuum cleaner safely to keep your home clean.
