Is a vacuum a must?

[wagamama]

In other words, can I keep my floors clean without one? We will be moving into a new house soon, and the floors will be either wood or laminate in the entire house. I really hate vacuums, hate pulling them around, hate the feel of them. I like low-tech stuff, and I would much rather just sweep. But is that realistic? Would sweeping pick up all the dust, or would the floors gradually get grungy? Am I crazy to consider not having a vacuum?

[ParisApril]

No!

I rarely use my vacuum. We only have 2 big rugs, I just sweep them, 2 small rug, I shake those outside. I keep the vacuum for when my DH gets the urge to clean (4x a year). Every time I use it I am disappointed that it doesn't pick anything up!

[AJP]

I don't see why you'd need one with hard floors. The occasional wet mop should keep things from getting grungy. I hate vacuum cleaners, also. My husband and I had a conversation a few days ago about "what came first, the vacuum cleaner or the wall-to-wall carpet?" We decided the carpet and vacuum industries must have been in collusion, like "I'll invent this stupid carpet that gets tacked down and can't be picked up to be cleaned, and you invent this obnoxious machine that gives the illusion of cleaning it - okay?" You can get non-electric carpet sweepers, but they don't suck the dust out like a vacuum cleaner does (or is supposed to). I absolutely detest wall-to-wall carpets. It seems insane to me to have something like that on your floor that can't be picked up and washed or taken outside to beat the dirt out of it. Really, I mean, ick. I have carpet now because it was here when we moved in, and we haven't been able to justify the expense of replacing it with something else, but I yearn for the day when I get to choose to not have any carpeting in my house, except for rugs small enough to get washed or cleaned outside.

[LaughingHyena]

I usually sweep my hard floors, vacuming just seems to blow the dust around. I do like my microfiber mop. I use it damp after sweeping to get the last bits of dust, then the cloth comes off and goes in the washing machine.

[zoebird]

when i had laminate floors, i swept daily (sometimes twice), and would wet mop it about once a week (sometimes twice). it was great. i had no need for a vacuum. my parents--against protestations--bought me a dyson anyway ("to keep things clean for the baby") but since i only had carpet on the stairs, it was *never* used. i gave it to my sister. she has dogs and cats and carpet and hardwood and lots of soft furnishings. all are happy.

[ChetMC]

No Need

I agree. You don't need a vacuum. It can sometimes be convenient for rugs, furniture, getting dust of tight places if you're cleaning cupboards or something, but you don't need it.

[ollyoxenfree]

Even though we have mostly hardwood flooring, I find a vacuum really useful.

It's easier to use the small brush attachment for dusting baseboards. I like using the extending wand to reach up into ceiling corners for cobwebs, and to dust around the door frames. I can quickly do the baseboards and corners every week.

If you don't use a vacuum, how do you take care of these areas? Is there another quick, easy way that I've missed. I'd love to know - it will be helpful at the cottage where we don't have a good vacuum.

[RiverSky]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

Even though we have mostly hardwood flooring, I find a vacuum really useful.

It's easier to use the small brush attachment for dusting baseboards. I like using the extending wand to reach up into ceiling corners for cobwebs, and to dust around the door frames. I can quickly do the baseboards and corners every week.

If you don't use a vacuum, how do you take care of these areas? Is there another quick, easy way that I've missed. I'd love to know - it will be helpful at the cottage where we don't have a good vacuum.

I like the vacuum for those things and for vacuuming everyone's mattresses once a month and for vacuuming the couches every week or so. I like to get the dust out of those areas and have no idea how someone would do that otherwise.

I think if anyone has a vacuum cleaner that doesn't seem to actually clean, then they have a crappy vacuum and need to buy a much better one. We lived in an old rental house for 5 years and after four, we finally tore up the orange shag carpet to reveal the hardwood below, and found that our Hoover had done a great job sucking everything up from the carpets, that there was only a small bit of dust along some edges and we were very pleased.

I do think it's possible to go without one with mostly only hard floors but myself, I am not that talented with a broom and find that corners get left messy and other odd areas that I can clean so mich better with a vacuum cleaner and crevice tool.
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[Purple*Lotus]

I wouldn't bother with floors like you will have. Now if you had carpet at all, then yes, that would be a must. I might want one if you plan to have large rugs, though.

[mamadelbosque]

We have all hardwood floors and a couple rugs.. and I vacuume everything. But I rarely (like, maybe 4x a year, probably closer to once or twice, tbh) mop. I hate mopping. So I just vaccume. And a *GOOD* vacumme *MADE* for hardwood floors is SO easy!!! We have a rainbow.

[cristeen]

We also have hardwood and i love our vacuum. I use it far more readily, and its far more effective than a broom. If you try to use an upright on hardwood, all it will do is scatter detritus everywhere. You really need a good canister vac for hardwood (and anything you might find at Target does not fall into the categorization of 'good'). Most mainstream vacs are built to be disposable and just dont do a good job. If thats all youve ever used, i completely understand the dislike. When i got my Riccar, i discovered how fun vacuuming can be.

broom alone will not be sufficient, youll discover. A dust mop or smething like a swiffer is far more effective, but youll need some way to wash as well. I hate mopping, so the broom is used for things too big for the vacuum, the vacuum is used for all the grit and the hoover floor mate is used maybe twice a year in lieu of mopping.

[dbsam]

I need a vacuum for my hard surfaces. We have wood in all the bedrooms and tile in the bathrooms, kitchen, LR and foyer. I tried using a broom but always go back to the vacuum...I think it does a better job. I agree with pp's that you need a good vacuum or attachments designed for hard surfaces.

[SquishyKitty]

We have too many pets to not vacuum. Especially living in such an old house as ours (250+ years old) everything gets very dusty very quickly; a broom just wouldn't do the job.