On hard surface floors, repeated strokes back and forth in a zig-zag pattern with the floor attachment will ensure you have removed most of the dust and dirt on the floor. Vacuum wood floors with the grain of the wood. On carpets, use slow, deliberate, overlapping strokes in a zig-zag pattern. Do not press down as you run your vacuum. This will impede airflow. Approach the fringes on carpets from the inside of the carpet out. Reduce vacuum suction to avoid damaging the fringes. The vacuum handle usually contains the suction control. Turn off the beater bar if that is an option.

The denser or harder the material you are vacuuming, the stronger the suction of your vacuum cleaner should be. Hard floors require the highest suction. Oriental carpets, with their dense piles and stiff backings, require the second highest suction. The third highest suction setting is required for wall-to-wall carpeting. Heirloom or antique rugs require the gentlest suction. High suction can bury the vacuum tool in the carpeting – like what happens when you vacuum drapes and the cloth is pulled into the vacuum, cutting off the airflow. This same advice goes for vacuuming upholstery – do not use downward pressure on the fabric of upholstery as it will block airflow. Using the wrong suction setting on your floors and upholstery results in a failure to clean your floors thoroughly. It also causes stress on the vacuum motor and belts. Since this can’t happen on hard surface floors, use the highest suction setting and let the suction pull dust from grooves, indents and seams of the floor.

Poorly designed vacuum cleaners will spew and leak dust out of gaskets, joints, and bags. Even vacuum motors create dust when running. The purpose of additional filters around the vacuum motor is to catch this dust. If you detect a strong odor when you turn on your vacuum, it may be time to get a new vacuum. It may mean the dust created by the motor is being recirculated in your vacuum.