De-Stinking Your Smelly Vacuum For Good
If you have a smelly vacuum, you have probably already tried all of the tricks to eliminate that putrid smell each time you turn it on to clean your home. Vacuuming up coffee grounds, dried orange peels or baking soda can only do so much when it comes to preventing your home from stinking each time you turn on the vacuum. If you want to get rid of that smell for good, you will have to do a full cleaning of the entire vacuum, replace the filters and avoid vacuuming certain areas of your home. Here, you will learn some tips to help you make the process easier and avoid this disgusting mess again in the future.
Clean the Machine
This doesn't mean just wiping down the surfaces that you can see – you have to rip that baby apart to get the grime out of it. If you aren't really sure about how well you will be able to put it back together after ripping it apart, take pictures of each step and take notes. Tape the screws to a piece of paper and label where each screw came from.
The hose can be a bit tricky to clean. It is long, narrow, and has all sorts of ridges that catch dirt. To make it a little easier for you to get it clean, remove the hose from the machine. Then, take it outside and run the garden hose through it for a bit. Tape a bottle brush to a mop handle and send it through the hose repeatedly. Lastly, rinse the hose out and watch for the water to run clear. It may take a few attempts to get the hose truly clean and free of nastiness, but it will be well worth the effort.
Get all of the hair off of the beater brush quickly by running a box cutter from one side to the other a few times. Then, get an old hair brush and use it to pull the dirt and hair out of the beater brush. This will expedite the process drastically. After you have the brush free of hair, wash it with a gentle cleaning product.
If you have a cloth bag cover, you need to get it clean too. That fabric will capture a lot of dirt, dust and allergens. Some of these bags can be removed and run through the washing machine and then line dried, while others require a hand-cleaning. The tag or owner's manual should tell you the best method of cleaning the bag.
Let the vacuum parts dry after you have them cleaned well and then rebuild the machine. Don't forget to clean or replace the filters or you will be back where you started – with a stinky vacuum.
Avoid Future Odors
To avoid future odors, don't use your vacuum to clean up messes that could potentially smell or contain moisture. These types of messes should be vacuumed using a wet-dry vacuum.
Clean the filters often and replace the bag before it becomes over-full and wipe out the catch canister every few weeks.
Vacuum some baking soda once each month to help eliminate the odors before they get bad.
If you don't have much luck in removing the smells from your vacuum or don't feel comfortable ripping down the machine yourself, talk with your local vacuum expert, like Lincoln Vacuum, for assistance.
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