What Happens If You Never Vacuum?

Vacuum cleaning is one of those household jobs that is both tedious and time consuming.

Wouldn’t life be so much better if we didn’t have to do it?

Come to think of it, how big a deal is vacuuming the house anyway?

After all, people have been living in houses for thousands of years but only vacuuming for about a hundred. So, what happens if you never vacuum?

Read on to find out.

The Consequences of Never Vacuuming

If you were to throw out your vacuum, here is what would happen:

• You’d give free reign to the proliferation of dust mites in your home, which can cause allergic reactions.
• Your carpet will deteriorate, becoming dull and rigid.
• Bed bugs may proliferate.
• Smoke may get caught in carpet fibers, producing a bad odor and further deteriorating the carpet.
• Mold may spread around your home.
• Your house becomes musty.
• Your carpets will not last as long.
• Pet hair and dander may become commonplace

Let’s consider these effects in a little more detail.

Dust Mites

Even the most meticulously vacuumed homes contain dust mites.

These tiny creatures feed off your discarded skin cells. They will exacerbate dust allergies and sinus or hay-fever issues.

When you vacuum regularly, you pick up the dust mites that reside in the fibers of your carpet.

You will not be able to rid your home of all of them but you will dramatically reduce their number, which will help immensely with allergies.

Carpet Quality

Your vacuum cleaning removes dirt from your carpet, which will make it look a lot cleaner.

But dirt doesn’t just make your carpet look nasty, it also ruins it. Dirt acts like minute razor blades which cut the fibers. Vacuuming on a daily basis will remove between 85 and 90 percent of the dirt in the carpet.

When you don’t vacuum, the particles of dirt will drift deep down into the carpet pile. This will make it much more difficult to get out.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs live in your bedroom and feed off of human blood.

When you are asleep, they enjoy a nocturnal feeding frenzy. These vampirish little pests aren’t going to kill you but they are exceedingly annoying.

The best way to rid them from your house is to regularly vacuum both your mattress and your bed.

In addition to dust mites and bed bugs, your carpet can also be a breeding ground for all manner of bacteria. In the absence of regular vacuuming, entire colonies of bacteria can proliferate.

If you’ve got kids, allowing bacteria to breed on your carpets is not a very smart move.

All your pride and joy has to do is to run their hands through the carpet and then suck their fingers for the little nasties to end up in their gut.

Odor

If you’ve got a smoker in your household, then you’ve got an extra big incentive to regularly vacuum your carpets.

Your floor covering will trap second hand cigarette smoke. And, as you are no doubt aware, second hand smoke can be very bad for our health.

Even if you don’t get sick, you’ll have an unpleasant odor that lingers throughout your home.

Regular vacuum cleaning can help to eliminate much of the problem.

Mold

Just like rust, mold never sleeps.

Not only does it look unsightly, but it can cause a whole host of health problems. Damp homes are especially prone to the problem, but those that are not regularly cleaned are as well.

Vacuuming will not only remove mold particles from your carpets and upholstery, it will also prevent the mold from spreading throughout the house. The vacuum cleaner will uplift the dormant spores from the carpet.

On top of vacuuming, be sure to dust and clean all of your household surfaces to keep mold at bay.

Pet Hair

If you’ve got a pet, then you have one more compelling reason to regularly vacuum your carpets.

Pet hair and dander (dead skin cells) will quickly overtake your home, making it messier and smellier. Of course, they can also trigger a whole range of allergies.

You can get special pet vacuums, which are great when pets are prone to losing a lot of hair.

F.A.Q.

Can you over vacuum your carpet?

Yes, you can over vacuum your carpets.

Going overboard with daily vacuum cleaning of the entire carpet will place undue stress on the fibers and the pile, which may reduce the carpet’s life and dull the color of the carpet.

The better the quality of the vacuum cleaner, of course, the less stress there will be on your carpet.

You can vacuum your carpet’s high traffic areas every day. These will probably include the lane from your entrance to the kitchen bedrooms and bathrooms.

Then every third day, you can give the entire house a good going over.

Can I vacuum less if I have a stain resistant carpet?

Actually, the vast majority of carpets are now stain-resistant.

But this will not affect the frequency with which you should vacuum. The ability of the carpet to resist stains does not affect the ability to withstand dirt, grime and debris.

Are there any brands of vacuum cleaner that are bad for carpets?

Surprisingly, the answer is yes.

There are some cheaper models of vacuum cleaner that can damage your carpet by breaking down the fibers. A common problem that may result from this is uneven carpet wear.

Many carpet manufacturers nowadays display a list of approved vacuum brands on their website, so you should check this out (provided you know the make of your carpet!)

Summary

While it may seem like a painful chore, the effort that you put into regularly vacuum cleaning your home will pay off big time in terms of keeping out the nasty bugs and molds that can turn your haven into an allergy ridden nightmare.

By regularly vacuuming, you’ll also be improving the odor of your home and preserving the life and health of your carpet.