Get your vacuum cleaner cleaning the way it should!
Agitation
One of the most important, yet overlooked, functions of a vacuum cleaner is agitation. Imagine your washing machine without agitation. You put your clothes in it and turn it on. The machine fills with water and then sits there for ten minutes. Next the water pumps out of the machine. The cycle repeats without the tub ever moving. How clean would your clothes be? The concept of your washing machine tub agitating your clothes is the same as agitation on a vacuum. You need agitation on your carpet to pick up dirt. Here are simple ways to make sure you are getting the agitation on your carpet that you need to clean it effectively.
Belts
Very few users pay attention to belts or even know what they do. Here is why the belt is so important:
That's the same concept of vacuuming your carpet without a good belt on your vacuum. You go through all the motions but there is no or little agitation involved. The belt is either not spinning the brush roll at all or it's going so slow that it is just playing with your carpet. Most vacuum belts are made of rubber, and they stretch. Once stretched out, the brush roll moves slow or not at all. And if it does move when you put your vacuum on it's back, chances are good it stops the second you put it down on your carpet. If there's no agitation on your carpet, you're just cleaning the top of it.
How often should I change the belt on my vacuum cleaner?
How do I know if the belt needs to be changed?
I could not tell you how many times I've heard, "I looked at my belt and it is fine". I get vacuum cleaners brand new from the factories that already require the belt to be changed! If a vacuum cleaner sits unused for six months, you need to change the belt. Think of a rubber band. You can tug and stretch it many times over and over again and it never loses its elasticity. If you put that rubber band on a basketball for two weeks you will find it is permanently stretched out.
Once vacuum cleaner belts are installed they get stretched tight. Just like the rubber band. If you examine the belt closely after it has been on the machine a few weeks or months you will notice that it has tiny cracks in it, showing the integrity of the rubber has been compromised.
Another indicator the belt needs to be replaced is if the vacuum pushes hard.
I changed my belt but it just burned off as soon as I turned on my vacuum
cleaner. What now?
Note: Some vacuums with geared or cogged belts can't be turned manually.
Does my vacuum have a belt that requires to be changed?
Other vacuum cleaners have geared or cogged belts. These belts have notches on them and rarely need to be replaced. If your machine has this type of belt it usually has a reset button on the machine that protects the motor should you get an object caught in the brush roll. It has been my observation the belt will break on these machines before the reset button kicks off.
Why does my vacuum go through so many belts?
Another reason may be you are using cheap after-market belts. Companies that produce after-market products don't go through rigorous testing like the original manufacturer. Even something as simple as a rubber belt has been designed to perform correctly on that particular machine. At my store I refuse to carry after-market belts. Even if the original and after-market belts look the same there is a great difference in quality and performance. So spend the extra 50 cents, your carpet and your vacuum will thank you for it!
Brush roll
As vacuum cleaner technology advances, some vacuum cleaners have switches that turn the brush roll on or off. This switch is usually labeled on the vacuum cleaner as the rug / floor or carpet / hard surface switch. Vacuum cleaners without a brush roll switch have the brush roll spinning any time the vacuum is running - including when you use the hose attachments. A vacuum cleaner that does not have a brushroll will not efficiently clean your carpet: period.
How do I know if my brush roll needs to be replaced?
It does not spin, even with a new belt.
Brush rolls have bearings on the ends of them that allow the brush roll to spin freely while the ends are stationary to the housing of the machine. If these bearings are full of hair, threads or dirt, they won't allow the brush to spin. This creates heat, causing the belt to wear prematurely.
To check this on most vacuums you can leave the belt off the machine and keep the brush roll installed. If the brush roll is hard to turn or does not spin at all, it needs to be replaced. Remember, this is only if there is NO belt installed on your vacuum.
When you put a new belt on the machine, it is noisy, and there is vibration in the handle. This is usually the effect of a bearing that has already gone beyond the "turning hard" stage. If the bearing is completely disintegrated and the brush roll is just flopping around it's time for a new brush roll.
Why does my vacuum cleaner push so hard?
2. The bag is full. A dirty bag adds 5 to 10 extra pounds to your vacuum. I can't tell you how many people come in my store with the bag just packed full and complaining about how heavy their vacuum is!
3. You need a new belt. On properly operating machines, the suction of the machine sucks the nozzle tight against the carpet. The brush roll works in opposite of that suction by breaking the seal between the carpet and your rug plate, making the vacuum clean better by allowing airflow and making your machine easier to push.
4. Your vacuum is out of adjustment. Setting your vacuum to the correct height adjustment is all it takes to make it push easy and still clean well. With a new bag and new belt on the vacuum you should set your height adjustment so that the vacuum literally picks up the carpet off the floor against your vacuum nozzle. Not all machines are capable of picking up the carpet. If your vacuum is incapable of achieving this, consider replacing it for a higher quality machine.
You need a new brush roll. On most vacuums the vacuum of the machine sucks the nozzle tight against the carpet. The brush roll works in opposite of that suction by breaking the seal between the carpet and your rug plate. This makes the vacuum easier to push. If the brushes on the brush roll are severely worn this action will diminish, making your vacuum hard to push.
5. You are using the vacuum incorrectly. This happens more often then one can imagine. Try setting the height adjuster correctly. Put a new bag in the vacuum. Put a new belt on it. Set the height adjustment on the highest setting. Turn on the vacuum cleaner and put the handle down. Does it push easy? Yes! Does it pick up the dirt? No! Now reverse the settings. Put the height adjustment all the way down. Turn on the vacuum cleaner and put the handle down. Does it push easy? No! Does it pick up dirt? Yes! Somewhere between those two settings is a happy medium. The lower to the carpet you set your vacuum cleaner does not necessarily make your vacuum perform better.
6. Your carpet needs shampooing. Many households in attempt to keep their carpets clean employ a "no shoes" policy. This actually makes your carpet dirtier and your vacuum cleaner hard to push!
The carpet absorbs oils from your feet while you walk across it. These oils mixed with household dust make a sticky film on your carpet, giving your carpet a dingy look, and making your vacuum push hard. Vacuuming your carpet will not fix this - shampoo your carpets and your problem is solved!
Lets Talk Filters
It makes me shiver just to think of where the vacuum cleaner industry has been taking you poor consumers. They have been pushing Bag less vacuum cleaners on you for years.
I guess you can tell by my first paragraph that I am not a bag less vacuum promoter. I remember when they first came out, customers asking me if the reason I didn't like them was because I wouldn't sell bags? Well the answer is no. I sell more filters and make much more money selling filters than I ever did selling bags. The truth be told; in my opinion, the best bag-less vacuums don't work as well as most bag type vacuums.
We would love to hear your comments. We would also love to know if there are other cleaning topics you'd like us to cover. Please email service@vachsakck.com or call us at 877-SHACK-OK with any questions.
In the Oklahoma City area shop www.acleanerplace.com
Diagram of simple filtration: oversize particles in the FEED (Dirty Air) cannot pass through the lattice structure of the filter, while air and small particles pass through, becoming FILTRATE.
This filter to be labeled in the USA as a HEPA filter, must meet HEPA Filtration Standards of filtration. This standard is 99.97% efficient to .3 microns. This in simple terms means it must remove 99.97% of all particles the size of .3 microns or smaller.
Since most readers are familiar with the Dyson brand of vacuum cleaners we will use one of their cyclonic units as an example of how bagless vacuums work. Keep in mind all bagless vacuum cleaners do work similarly the same. Dyson uses the term cyclone technology, but it is still simply centrifugal force that separates the large particles of debris from the air.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has linked fine particle exposure to adverse health effects, including premature death, aggravated asthma and chronic bronchitis.1 While individual particles are invisible to the naked eye, collectively they can appear as smog or dust clouds.
To combat the severity of this health epidemic and the gravity of its impact, the federal government has passed the Clean Air Act requiring the EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for the six air pollutants deemed most harmful to public health and the environment.2 Particulate matter (PM) constitutes one of these six most dangerous pollutants.
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