Home Technology
How to vacuum properly: top tips from a cleaning pro
Jayne Cherrington-Cook
6 vacuum attachments you didn’t know you needed
Move over crevice tool! These vacuum attachments will elevate your vacuuming to another dust-free level
Today’s vacuums are no longer a machine that you use merely to clean floor spaces. Thanks to their various attachments, they can now get into little crevices you can’t quite reach, and even vacuum your upholstery.
“Versatility is important if you want to tackle different surfaces and furnishings,” says cleaning expert Sarah Dempsey at Myjobquote.co.uk.
Today’s vacuums are no longer a machine that you use merely to clean floor spaces. Thanks to their various attachments, they can now get into little crevices you can’t quite reach, and even vacuum your upholstery.
“Versatility is important if you want to tackle different surfaces and furnishings,” says cleaning expert Sarah Dempsey at Myjobquote.co.uk.
Credit: ShutterstockWhen it comes to attachments, Sarah believes there are two that all good vacuum cleaners should have.
“A nozzle or crevice tool is great for using in corners and along ledges and skirting,” she says.
“And an upholstery attachment allows you to tackle soft furnishings including sofas, mattresses, curtains and cushions.”
Most vacuum cleaners come with these two attachments as standard, but if you want to up your vacuuming game, why not invest in these vacuum attachments as well?
1. Radiator brush
Improve the efficiency of your radiators
Credit: MieleDust build-up on radiators can prevent heat from being released into a room, resulting in higher heating costs. Cleaning inside and behind radiators though is tricky, even with a vacuum cleaner, as the gaps aren’t quite big enough for a crevice tool. This is where a fluffy radiator brush attachment comes in.
Miele’s radiator attachment has a flat brush that can get into those radiator crevices, but also into any other little nooks that are hard to dust or vacuum.
Amazon sells a universal radiator cleaning attachment from Vacspare that attaches via a simple 32mm (1.25 in) push–fit fitting and is compatible with Hoover, Vax and Panasonic among others.
As well as the radiator brush, the Vacspare comes with an extra-long, thin, flexible crevice attachment that’s great for reaching high corners where spider webs and dust like to gather.
2. Dog grooming tool
Get a hairy situation under control
Credit: DysonTurn your vacuum cleaner into a dog grooming tool with the help of this handy vacuum attachment.
We all know how much dogs moult. While giving them a regular brush helps with the shedding, it often results in a deluge of dog hair that needs vacuuming up.
This attachment allows you to combine both stages in one. Attaching to the end of your vacuum cleaner’s hose, the suction gently lifts loose hair and dry skin and suctions it into the machine. This is especially good if you have allergy sufferers in the house as it helps to contain those allergens.
Ultimately this should help to keep your home cleaner as fewer pet hair tumbleweeds will have a chance to accumulate in corners of the house.
Dyson, Henry and Shark all have versions of this tool, but you can also snap up an attachment via Amazon, which is cited as being “nearly universal” so should fit most types of vacuum cleaner.
3. Mattress tool
Banish the dust mites
Credit: SharkAn average adult person sheds up to 1.5g (0.05oz) of skin in a day, which is enough to feed one million dust mites. These little blighters love carpets and soft furnishings, but what they really love is mattresses, which is why it’s good to give yours a regular vacuum.
While nothing stops you running your vacuum over the mattress without an attachment, it’s preferable to use a special tool so you don’t risk any cross-contamination from the floor to your sleeping space.
It’s advisable to vacuum your mattress every six months. However, if you have an allergy sufferer in your household, it will need doing once a month to remove the build-up of dust, dry skin and dust mites.
In general, mattress vacuum attachments come with wider, flatter nozzles that can suck up dust and allergens more easily. Additionally, they’re ideal for cleaning sofas and other upholstered materials since they don’t suck up the fabric, which could ruin some delicate materials.
4. Drill dust catcher
The perfect DIY accessory
Credit: KärcherAnyone partial to a bit of DIY knows that drilling always leaves a mess. While it’s not that much of a fuss to clean up, what if you could drill and catch the dust at the same time? With this type of vacuum cleaner attachment you can do just that.
The premise is simple: stick the vacuum cleaner attachment against the surface you’re drilling into, turn it on, then get drilling. By diverting the vacuum flow near to the tool, it sucks up any dust and debris that falls as you drill.
Kärcher has a drill-dust catcher that’s compatible with a whole host of its wet and dry vacuum cleaners. Its version features a hole that you put the drill through, and it should work for walls and ceilings.
A more generic product is available via Amazon that claims to work with almost all hose-mounted vacuum cleaners.
5. Keyboard cleaner
Keep it clean while you type
Credit: AmazonMicrobiologist Dr Charles Gerba calls keyboards a “bacteria cafeteria”, citing them as the third most germ-ridden item in any workplace. As we tend to eat at our desks, food can also be easily lodged in the keyboard.
If yours needs a good clean, the first step is probably to give it a vacuum. But using your vacuum straight on the keyboard isn’t advised. While you’ll be getting rid of the crumbs and debris, you may also suck the keys off as many keyboards have pop-off keys.
The answer is to use special attachments that are gentler. Amazon sells a universal mini cleaning kit that not only works well for a keyboard but is also a great choice for other intricate or fiddly areas, such as the car or behind furniture.
Another option for keyboards, also sold on Amazon, is a special dust brush attachment, which comes with 30 flexible, micro-sized suction tubes. This allows the attachment to get into small spaces but disperses the suction so it’s not too powerful, meaning your keys remain attached.
6. Crevice tool with a light
Light up the dirt
Credit: DysonTrust Dyson to elevate the standard crevice tool!
This new vacuum attachment has LED lights along two pipes right to its end, enabling you to see dust and dirt even in the dimmest corners of your home.
It’s great for getting into those gaps between furniture or even within your car, and is compatible with the Dyson Outsize, V15, V11, V10 and V8 vacuum cleaners.
Where Dyson leads, other companies follow, so expect to see other lit-up vacuum attachments coming to other vacuum cleaners near you.
Written by Jayne Cherrington-Cook she/her
Published:
Jayne is the Senior Editor for Home Tech. She cut her online journalism teeth 23 years ago in an era when a dialling tone and slow page load were standard. During this time, she’s written about a variety of subjects and is just at home road-testing TVs as she is interviewing TV stars.
A diverse career has seen Jayne launch websites for popular magazines, collaborate with top brands, write regularly for major publications including Yahoo! and The Daily Telegraph, create a podcast, and also write a tech column for Women’s Own.
Her passion for technology began at age 11 when she received a BBC Micro computer one Christmas and became obsessed with beating Chuckie Egg (if you know, you know) and writing simple computer programmes. As her family’s IT department, when she isn’t writing or geeking out about some new tech, she can be found on the floor of her son’s bedroom putting together his latest gaming set-up or helping her dad understand how cloud computing works. Jayne is determined to make technology accessible for everyone because she believes technology should enhance life, not hinder it.
Jayne lives in Kent with a shepsky, her husband and her son, who is attempting to teach her the ways of TikTok, Aston Villa and anime. A keen neurodivergent ally after her son was diagnosed as autistic five years ago, when Jayne does have some rare downtime she enjoys yoga, reading, going to musicals and attempting to emulate Beyonce (poorly) in street dance classes.
