Do I really need a vacuum cleaner?

[Tau]

We have recently bought a new vacuum cleaner, but the thing is so horrendously noisy that I have to wear earplugs when using it, so I have decided it needs to be replaced.
But then I thought that perhaps I don't actually need a vacuum cleaner at all.

We do not have carpets anywhere in the house - we have linoleum and wood. Currently I vacuum these and then mop them.
We do have some rugs and door mats, but I don't vacuum these. I usually beat them to get the dust out, and they are machine washable. Our furniture covers are also machine washable. We do have a cat.

So could I manage with just a broom, dustpan and brush, and mopping, or would that not get the house as clean as a vacuum cleaner?

Hell, that reads so fifties... perhaps I should start wearing dresses with polka-dots.

But seriously, what do you think about the vacuum cleaner dilemma. Is the thing a necessity or not?

We have wooden floors in our lounge and brushing never gets as much dust up as vacuuming, so yes, I think you need one.

If it's so noisy, can you turn the suction level down a bit? That might help?

I'm in two minds. Part of me just thinks 'of course you need a vacuum' as if its the most shocking thing to do without. But I don't actually vacuum our wooden floors in the kitchen. Plus there's something very comforting about sweeping :)

Takingthestairs, turning the suction level down does make the noise a bit less, but not much, and then the vacuuming isn't all that great anymore. The outside of this vacuum cleaner is badly made too; after a month it started falling apart - poor device is now hanging together with tape. It was just a bad buy.

I agree that brushing doesn't take up as much dust as vacuuming, but I always mop the floors anyway, also now, after vacuuming.

Delayintactic I had the same thoughts as you did - initially it never occurred to me to go without a vacuum cleaner! But then I was talking about my childhood with someone, and I remembered we didn't have one when I grew up. I grew up in the tropics and we had tiled floors in the first house and wood in the second. The house was always clean - had to be, or we'd get bugs. I do think my mother and our cleaner swept twice a day and mopped every other day... but the UK is not the tropics.

Why don't you try it for a few weeks and see how you get on?

Microfibre captures much more than a sweeping brush. That's all I use - we have hard floor covers all over.

I'd still have one but almost purely for doing the dusting - I have a dustbrush fitting for my vacuum cleaner to remove dust. But then I'm not a great housecleaner, so the dust does build up rather before I get around to it.

I will try it for a few weeks, yes. And I will certainly try the microfibre things too - I already use those on everything else in the house.

One thing I think the vacuum cleaner is great for is getting rid of the dust-and cobweb jungles on the ceilings - I tend to ignore those for months (perhaps even years) until they start to look like low hanging clouds, and by then using a brush creates a fuzzy avalanche... I guess thumbwitch can relate to that
Of course the simple solution is to clean that more often.

Sure can! - you should have seen the crap that built up on the ceiling fan, mind you that wasn't all my dust, the previous tenants hadn't ever cleaned it either, I don't think!
Good for cleaning out aircon vents too...

Yes you are right. Microfibre captures much more than a sweeping brush. That's all I use - we have hard floor covers all over.
You can also read some details here
nirmalbharatyatra.org/best-vacuum-cleaners-in-india/

and by the way I am not linked to this website.

When people say microfibre, do they mean the cloths or is there a microfibre brush you can buy (like a broom)?

Crimson I have a couple of microfibre floor mops

I Hoover them to remove the dust they collect

I was getting by with your method but I started feeling like I was pushing dust around the house. Doesn't help that my cat moults pale fluff all year round
I bit the bullet and bought a Shark vacuum and it's transformed my rooms. I use the duster attachment to hoover blinds, surfaces, skirting boards, doors - anything I can! I do find it a bit heavy (even in stick mode) but I persevere as it makes such a difference. It's fairly loud however!