Why You Want To Think Twice Before Vacuuming Up Hair On The Floor

If you are a pet owner with animals that shed mercilessly, or you have a household with long-haired members, you may be wondering whether you can just vacuum the hair away from your floors. While it's normal to expect your vacuum cleaner to be able to pick up hair, excessive hair can be too much for your machine; it can actually damage the vacuum cleaner. You can vacuum up normal everyday hair, and most of the time you'll have no problems. But when you have a big pile of hair, such as from a DIY haircut or pet trim, it's a better idea to sweep up the majority of it first. That way, you won't risk longer hairs wrapping around the beater bar of the vacuum and impeding its efficacy.

Vacuums with new technology like Hoover's ANTI-TWIST models are designed for households with a lot of hair. The brush bar rotates through a comb with teeth to remove the hair. If you've ever had a vacuum that got clogged with hair around the roller brush bar, you understand how annoying that can be! We'll address the easiest ways to remove hair from your vacuum, and shed some light on how hair can damage your vacuum cleaner. It will definitely make you think twice before vacuuming up hair on the floor.

Luckily, there are a couple of fairly simple methods you can use to clean hair out of your vacuum. The first way involves a safety cutter, which is definitely an ingenious way to go. Simply open up the vacuum floor head, either with the push of a button or by using a screwdriver. What makes the safety cutter perfect is that you can run it along the hair against the bar lengthwise while simultaneously rotating the bar gently. Then you can just grab the ends of the hair and pull all the strands out at once. You should never use scissors as they can damage the bar. 

The other great way to remove hair from a vacuum cleaner is with a seam ripper. With this cheap and incredibly convenient tool, you can easily get in there and slice through the hair in much the same way as with the safety cutter. Be sure to make several passes with the seam ripper to get through all the hair to the roller itself. Make sure you check the brush bar afterward to ensure there's no damage and it doesn't need to be replaced. Always keep an eye on this in the future.

Whew! Now that that's over, let's talk about why it's so important to clean out excessive hair from your vacuum cleaner. Keep in mind that some models are not equipped to handle a lot of pet hair, and if you don't have one designed for this capability, the vacuum cleaner can be less efficient and prone to breakdown. Pet hair in particular can be problematic if it gets into the motor; it can cause it to overheat and stop running completely.

Additionally, hair can clog the filter of any model, so if you know you're picking up a lot of hair, clean the filter often. A bagless vacuum cleaner is recommended. You'll also want to check the hoses and vacuum attachments periodically to make sure there's no buildup of hair inside. If any part of the vacuum becomes clogged with hair, you run the risk of blowing the motor. If you're able to purchase a new vacuum and you have a household with a lot of hair, consider new technology, as well as specialized heavy-duty models made to handle all types of hair. Until then, use a broom to sweep up larger piles of hair.