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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

... to think that a vacuum cleaner should, you know, vacuum up stuff?

54 replies

ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/09/2022 17:42

OK. So I'm a housework slut, as evidenced today by the way I didn't know how to get the flex out of the (5+ year old) vacuum cleaner: had to google the maker's instructions as I have no idea where DH put our copy. He does what vacuuming gets done, which is why once it was plugged in & switched on I had to search the house for the stiff hosey bit with a brush on it that slots on the end of the bendy hose.

What sort of sick !"£$%^&* stores the brushy bit in one place & the main body in another room entirely? What's THAT about?

Anyway. Once it was assembled I set to - & found that the vc just moves stuff around; so now I have a neat pile of scrumpled hair in one place, craft detritus (miniscule pompoms, I think) in another, etc. WTF is going on? I checked the instructions & they don't seem to cover this. No lights on the vc are flickering, so I guess the bag isn't full - that's how the old one used to speak to us. I extracted a long lump of hair & fluff from the hole in the brushy bit, but still no luck.

See, this is why I don't do hoovering. It's so bloody dispiriting. It never comes up to my expectations. Polishing furniture, dusting ornaments, cleaning windows, even cleaning toilets: fine. Lovely to see them sparkle. Vacuum cleaners are the work of the devil.

OP posts:
ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/09/2022 17:43

I have unwittingly enabled voting. Go for it.

OP posts:
Mydoghealsmyheart · 21/09/2022 17:47

I agree OP. I’ve got a Shark vacuum and it’s rubbish. Have to go over everything at least twice. Thankfully I have my trustee Sebo as well.

oviraptor21 · 21/09/2022 17:49

Something wrong with the suction level? What happens when you put your hand up against it?

oviraptor21 · 21/09/2022 17:49

Change of filter?

GobbolinoTheWitchesCat · 21/09/2022 17:51

Are you hoovering with the brush attachment?

Don't. That bit is for curtains or something and no normal person ever uses it.

mycatisannoying · 21/09/2022 17:51

I have a Miele. Enough said Halo

TracyBeakerSoYeah · 21/09/2022 17:54

Funnily enough I have a Shark corded & I love it! Really love it!
I hated my previous Dyson.

However I don't get the love for the heated Lakeland airer that everyone raves on about.
I do have one & to be fair I did think I loved it when I first got but after a few weeks the novelty of it wore off & it's not really that brilliant as you have to keep bloody moving the stuff around & it's not that cheap to run.
Switched off it does make a good airer.
(Feeling guilty in case my LHA knows how I feel)
Excuse me for going off at a tangent.

Getoff · 21/09/2022 17:57

If you are vacuuming floors, the bit on the end should look like the one in the below link. It has a switch on it for switching between hard floors and carpet. I think the hard floor setting is the one that pokes the brush out.

www.google.com/search?q=vacuum+cleaner+head+replacement&rlz=1C1VDKB_en-GBGB960GB960&sxsrf=ALiCzsYDVSOCeXwFZx2_fzv_CySjP4jE7Q:1663779277099&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjx8a7mrKb6AhWHJ8AKHRLzAcMQ_AUoA3oECAEQBQ&biw=1920&bih=1769&dpr=1#imgrc=C8G45i0ylhoJDM

Yerroblemom1923 · 21/09/2022 17:58

Sharks are sh*t. Cordless Dyson Animal V11 also the same. Spits bits back out. Wish I knew the answer. My current favourite is the Dyson V10 cordless. Yes, you have to empty the compartment 50 zillion times if you have a dog and cat but at least it picks up and doesn't kick off.

WatchoRulo · 21/09/2022 17:59

I have to make sure stuff isn't blocking ours. I am the only person who does this so when I come to use it there's quite often some crap blocking it.
That said - vacuum cleaners aren't magical - they can't always pick everything up all the time on any variation of surfaces - to be able to do that they would have to be so powerful they would cause damage.

ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/09/2022 17:59

LOL. It's a Sebo Airbelt K1 Komfort 2100 Watt with a 3 microfilter system, & it still doesn't suck worth a damn. With my trusty previous vc (RIP), if I'd pulled a lump of hair & dust free of the nozzle, it would've sucked up not just the lump but my hand as well. This one just sat there like a wet lettuce while I pulled the lump out & threw it in a bin.

I remember seeing a demo of how easy it was to rub the sole of your trainer over the carpet & get all the hair into one lump which you could then pick up & put in the bin. This vc does much the same, but is noisy & uses electricity while doing it.

OP posts:
ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/09/2022 18:00

That was to @Mydoghealsmyheart

OP posts:
ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/09/2022 18:04

oviraptor21 · 21/09/2022 17:49

Something wrong with the suction level? What happens when you put your hand up against it?

Just tried. It seems to be blowing. How is it doing that?

OP posts:
ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/09/2022 18:05

GobbolinoTheWitchesCat · 21/09/2022 17:51

Are you hoovering with the brush attachment?

Don't. That bit is for curtains or something and no normal person ever uses it.

I'm using a metallic tube with a huge brush on the end of it, not the teeny-tiny brush for upholstery, which I never use either.

OP posts:
ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/09/2022 18:07

Getoff · 21/09/2022 17:57

If you are vacuuming floors, the bit on the end should look like the one in the below link. It has a switch on it for switching between hard floors and carpet. I think the hard floor setting is the one that pokes the brush out.

www.google.com/search?q=vacuum+cleaner+head+replacement&rlz=1C1VDKB_en-GBGB960GB960&sxsrf=ALiCzsYDVSOCeXwFZx2_fzv_CySjP4jE7Q:1663779277099&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjx8a7mrKb6AhWHJ8AKHRLzAcMQ_AUoA3oECAEQBQ&biw=1920&bih=1769&dpr=1#imgrc=C8G45i0ylhoJDM

Thanks. I'm entirely ignorant about all of this, but I'm trying to clean a carpet.

OP posts:
Michiru · 21/09/2022 18:07

Take the tube off and see whether you can see the other side through it. If you can't, it's blocked. Do the same with the flexible hose.

Check the filter. See if it needs changing.

Check the holder bit to see if it needs emptying.

Try those first, they are the usual ones that cause low suction.

oviraptor21 · 21/09/2022 18:09

ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/09/2022 18:04

Just tried. It seems to be blowing. How is it doing that?

Well that made me lol! How are you getting it to blow - must be some magical setting somewhere!

ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/09/2022 18:09

WatchoRulo · 21/09/2022 17:59

I have to make sure stuff isn't blocking ours. I am the only person who does this so when I come to use it there's quite often some crap blocking it.
That said - vacuum cleaners aren't magical - they can't always pick everything up all the time on any variation of surfaces - to be able to do that they would have to be so powerful they would cause damage.

This one is only ever used on carpets, & I expect there to be less detritus on the carpet after vacuuming than there was before, otherwise what's the point? (Not getting at you, just at vc's.)

OP posts:
NumptiesIncorporated · 21/09/2022 18:11

I need to clean the filter on mine after every couple of vacuum sessions, otherwise it's not worth using.

I echo everyone else. Have you checked the filter?

ifIwerenotanandroid · 21/09/2022 18:12

A man has arrived. I hope he will be able to solve this problem...

He walked straight past the vc & didn't even notice it in the middle of the room (it's not a big room).😂

OP posts:
pogostickplastique · 21/09/2022 18:15

The thing about vacuum cleaners that most people forget is that they are a machine and therefore require maintenance. They need cleaning, filters changing/ cleaning, hair removed from brush rolls. Also emptying. Have you done any of those things?

Nitgel · 21/09/2022 18:17

I love my miele low maintenance

greenhousegal · 21/09/2022 18:17

I agree about a Miele. 15 years old now and would suck up gravel.

I also have a Shark cordless with anti hair wrap. It's bloody brilliant for days when I just need to keep up appearances. It stopped suction one day and I got the garden hose and put it all the way through the solid bit. Out popped a lot of gunk and away we go again.

I'm like OP though. I don't vacuum often, the bloke does that, I only clean when he is not here or suffering from gout lol.

Deguster · 21/09/2022 18:22

You forgot to mention the absolute best thing about a Sebo - it weighs approximately the same as an entire Panzer tank.

So maneuverable! 🙄