Is It Better to Sweep or Vacuum Carpets?

Carpets are continuously exposed to various types of dirt on a daily basis! It could be mud, pollen, hair, or even poo. So, it’s essential that you clean your carpet frequently.

But should you brush the carpet clean or hoover it?

To sweep or to hoover, what will it be? Find out what the best option is below!

 

Sweeping Carpets: Pros and Cons

Advantages of sweeping carpets

Here are some pros of sweeping a carpet:

• Little to no noise is made when you use a brush and pan set to sweep a carpet.
• You can sweep a carpet at any hour because you’re not going to wake anybody up.
• A brush and pan combination is extremely convenient to use because you can just grab it and start cleaning the carpet.
• Can be used to pick large bits of grime off a carpet. A hoover cannot always do this!
• You can pick up a sweeping set for a reasonable price.
• Low maintenance—there’s very little upkeep with a brush and pan set.
• Normally very light, so can be carried around with ease.
• You can usually clip the brush and pan together, so it’s easy to store the tools.
• There’s no need to use expert tools, you just have a brush and a pan to sweep the debris into. This, in turn, means less things can go wrong or break down!
• You don’t need electricity or a battery to sweep the carpets, you can use your own energy to carry out the sweeping!

 

Disadvantages of sweeping a carpet

Here are some cons of sweeping a carpet:

• You can’t sweep every single piece of dirt out of a carpet’s fibres all the time.
• The lack of suction will lead to grime being left in the carpet’s fibres. This essentially means that the carpet is still dirty after sweeping it.
• You’ll have to empty the dustpan on a regular basis, especially if you pick up large clumps of debris.
• Hair gets tangled very quickly in a brush head. This can then hinder your sweeping experience.
• You may flick dust and pollen up into the air as you sweep, and this can be troublesome for those with allergies.
• It can be time consuming to sweep a carpet. And the time you spend sweeping may not actually be worth it.
• Sweeping a carpet is hard work, so you’ll likely be quite tired by the end of the cleaning session. It is, however, a very good workout!

 

Vacuum Cleaning Carpets: Pros and Cons

Advantages vacuuming cleaning carpets

Here are some pros of hoovering a carpet:

• A vacuum cleaner usually has lots of suction, so it can draw toughened dirt and bacteria out of a carpet’s fibres with ease. In particular, it can remove pesky chunks of food that are wedged into the carpet’s fibres. If you didn’t remove them, they’d start to go stale and smelly!
• You can use a hoover to clean other items in your home. You can vacuum carpets, hard floors, and curtains, for example.
• It can be much quicker than sweeping.
• You get lots of nozzles and attachments, so you can choose a different tool to suit the surface you want to clean. You can also choose a suitable attachment to reach into difficult spots, so you end up with a more thorough clean.
• Some vacuum cleaners can bend to fit under sofas.
• The strong suction is likely to suck up loose dust particles and pollen before they float up into the air, especially vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters. This, in turn, can protect those suffering with allergies.
• Hoovering a carpet can draw bad odours out of it.

 

Disadvantages of vacuum cleaning carpets

Here are some cons of hoovering a carpet:

• The initial cost of buying a hoover is typically more than that of a broom or dustpan and brush set. What brand of vacuum cleaner you buy, and what additional features you want your machine to come with will dictate how much it’ll cost. You can pick up some vacuum cleaners for under £100, but a lot of them are priced well into the hundreds of pounds!
• You need electricity or a battery to run a vacuum cleaner.
• If you do have a battery-operated vacuum cleaner, you’ve got to make sure that you charge the battery up, otherwise you won’t be able to use it.
• You may need to invest in hoover bags, which is an added cost.
• Over vacuuming can damage a carpet’s fibres, especially if you don’t choose the right cleaning setting on your vacuum!
• There may be more maintenance work involved. For example, you might have to clean the brush bar on a regular basis, if hair gets tangled up in it.
• If you have a corded vacuum cleaner, you’ll have to navigate around the cord as you hoover. This isn’t usually too much of a concern but it can be a trip hazard in some cases. You may also have to stop, unplug and plug your vacuum cleaner in again if you don’t have a long enough cable. This can be a tad inconvenient.
• A vacuum cleaner can be noisy! Which means you can’t use the vacuum cleaner as and when you want to.

 

Is Sweeping Better than Vacuuming?

Both sweeping and vacuuming have their pros and cons. But when it comes to cleaning carpets, vacuuming a carpet is far easier than sweeping it clean. It’s usually much simpler to hoover a carpet, it’ll take less of your energy, and you get a far superior finish.

This is mainly because a vacuum cleaner is a powerful device that is able to suck up dirt that is embedded deep into a carpet’s fibres. In turn, it can remove the grime and harmful bacteria with very little trouble.

A brush or broom, sadly, isn’t a match for it. And while brushes can dislodge dirt, they won’t give a carpet the best overall clean. There’ll likely be some debris left behind. And if it’s not removed, it can fester in the carpet’s fibres, start to stink, and can ruin a carpet’s longevity in the long run.

Plus, sweeping a carpet means that you’re more likely to flick dust up into the air, which isn’t ideal if you have allergies. And it’s normally more tiring for you to brush a carpet!

A brush and pan set is handy to have around to sweep up general dirt off carpets. But on the whole, it should be kept for cleaning hard floors.

 

Do You Sweep or Vacuum Carpets First?

When it comes to cleaning carpets, it is usually better to simply vacuum them, without sweeping at all.

A vacuum cleaner will be able to suck up the majority of the dirt on and in your carpet’s fibres. However, if you see large chunks of dirt that you wouldn’t be able to hoover over, you should sweep them up with a brush and pan set first.

It’s not essential to sweep a carpet, and unless you’re actually told to do so, you don’t have to brush it either.

In the majority of cases, you can just vacuum a carpet. And in doing so you’ll be able to suck up dirt that’s buried deep in the carpet’s fibres, remove pesky odours from it, protect your carpet from damage caused by dirt, and make your home more hygienic by removing bacteria and pollen from the carpet’s fibres.

 

How Often Should You Vacuum a Carpet?

You should aim to vacuum a carpet at least twice a week. But if you need to increase this frequency for high traffic areas (hallway, stairs, and living room) you can do so. Similarly, if you have pets, you might need to vacuum more than twice a week.

For carpets that don’t see much foot traffic and don’t get too dirty (bedroom), you can hoover them once a week.

Continuously maintaining your carpet stops it from getting overrun with grime and bacteria. And in turn, your carpet shouldn’t smell, will look fresh, it should last longer, and will be more hygienic.