How often should you vacuum carpet? Expert advice to avoid overdoing it

It might not be everybody's favorite cleaning task, but there really is a certain number of times we should be vacuuming our carpets every month. 

The best vacuum cleaners can dig deep into carpets, removing all the dust and dirt that builds up from our home activities. Any home with pets should listen closely, and if you wear shoes indoors you might need to be vacuuming more often than you realize.

Read on for our expert advice on how often you should be vacuuming your carpets.

How often should you vacuum carpet?

'On average it’s best to run the vacuum round at least once per week,' explains Michael Witherspoon, cleaning expert from GK Products. But as with any cleaning routine, understanding how often you should vacuum carpet largely depends on your home activity.

'The frequency will depend on a number of factors, including whether you have pets, whether shoes are worn in the house, the type of carpet you have fitted, and what the room is used for,' Michael adds.

An example is if you have rooms where young kids might be crawling around. In this case, you might prefer vacuuming a couple times a day, so that you're removing any dirt that they could be putting in their mouths. On the other hand, for a room that isn't used very often and it's rare for shoes to be worn, a weekly vacuum will be enough to remove any built-up dust.

Tina Priestly, owner of Ready, Set, Refresh, agrees: 'I recommend vacuuming at least once a week to keep those pesky dirt, dust, and mystery particles at bay. You'd be surprised how quickly they accumulate, especially if you have a busy household or pets roaming around.'

Vacuuming regularly is more important than keeping your carpets looking fresh. Letting dust and dirt build up 'may result in bacteria growing, resulting in potential health issues for those that use the room and lasting damage to your carpet,' Michael says. 

'Dirt may also stain the carpet, making it harder to remove and clean in the future,' Michael adds. If you have pets, not vacuuming regularly will inevitably lead to pet hair being embedded into the fibers of your carpet, making it much more difficult to clean down the line.

You can also limit how quickly dust mites reproduce by vacuuming regularly. Dust mites predominantly feed off our skin cells, and if left unattended, they'll reproduce around your home, causing allergies and spreading their own messes in the process. Vacuuming regularly removes both dust mites and the skin cells that they feed on.

Luckily, carpets are durable, and there isn't really a danger of vacuuming too often. 'Some believe the vacuum can damage the carpet, but in actual fact the dirt embedded into it is likely to cause more lasting damage than it being vacuumed too frequently,' Michael explains. 

If worrying about damage to the carpets, consider choosing softer suction or flat vacuum heads. But, really, as long as you're vacuuming at least once a week, you can save the rest of your time for more enjoyable activities.

FAQs

How to vacuum carpet

When dealing with carpets, especially high-pile carpets, it's best to move slowly to give the brushroll enough time to agitate all the trapped debris. It's helpful to start at one end of the room to avoid missing any spots, and you can even slightly overlap each pass so that the carpet's being vacuumed more than once, from a different direction.

Remember that high-traffic areas that are carpeted should always be given more attention.

Can I freshen up carpet with powders before vacuuming?

You can actually follow these three simple tricks to freshen up your carpet when vacuuming. Not every carpet deodorizer is safe for the vacuum as some can clog the vacuum's parts like the filter and motor. So make sure you've chosen a safe substance to leave your home feeling fresher.

How can I deep clean carpet?

To truly deep clean your carpet, you need more than just a vacuum cleaner. A dedicated carpet cleaner, like the Shark CarpetXpert, will use a cleaning solution that actually washes the carpet fibers and removes stains and bacteria from the material.

For more carpet goodness, find out how often you should replace your carpets, too. We also recently learned how effectively shaving foam cleans carpets, to give your floors a deeper clean.