For Love of a Vacuum

A few years ago, one of my kiddos, a preschooler at the time, was undergoing some speech testing. One by one, pictures of common objects were shown, and one by one, the names of the objects were given while the therapist evaluated the pronunciation of each sound.

This went on without a hitch for dozens of picture cards, until one particular card was shown. It was a picture of a seemingly ordinary, everyday household appliance. Yet, the drawing brought a look of confusion to my preschooler's face, as though it was a foreign object, never before seen.

It was a vacuum cleaner.

My husband and I were sitting in the room, trying to be invisible. Nearly impossible when you're cracking up laughing (and dying of embarrassment)! I'm still not sure why that picture was so unrecognizable. It was even the same style and color of my machine. My "sweet" husband had his own theories on why one of our children would act as though a vacuum had never been seen in our home. But I think I'll let him keep his wisecracks to himself.

The truth is, I use my vacuum cleaner for a variety of tasks. It saves me lots of time and trouble. Oh, yeah, it also keeps me from having to get my hands dirty. Gotta love that! Of course, I use my vacuum to clean my floors (Really. I do.), but here's a few additional ways I use this multi-purpose cleaning machine:

 

-Furniture - Since most vacuums come with a furniture attachment (the one that looks like a brush), it only makes sense to use this appliance for cleaning the family room's pillows, sofa, and chairs. I regularly sweep the seats, sides, backs, and underneath the cushions. Where do all those crumbs come from?!? It also does a great job of sprucing up the fabric on the dining room chairs.

-Baseboards and windowsills - With the furniture brush still attached, the vacuum makes quick work of dusting the baseboards, wood trim, and window sills. No more dripping buckets of water, dishpan hands, or sore knees.

-Blinds and curtains - While I'm using the brush to get the dust off the windowsills, I'll also give the blinds and curtains a quick once-over. This might not get them as clean as a good washing, but it does take care of most of the visible dust between the more detailed (and time consuming) cleaning sessions.

-Lampshades - I'm not sure why, but lampshades seem to be dust magnets. I suppose that's the reason this is one of my favorite vacuum tasks. Every few weeks, I use the furniture brush to rid my shades of all that dust. Imagine, clean lampshades without the sneezing. Wow!

-The skinny attachment for the dryer lint trap, the furniture brush for bed skirts, books on the shelves, and baskets setting around.....the possibilities are endless. Anytime I have a major dusting job, especially one where a dustcloth doesn't ealily do the trick (like with lampshades or baskets), I turn to my handy-dandy vacuum cleaner.

 

See, Honey, I really do use it. Now, stop laughing!

Those are some ideas that work for me. Find more helpful tips over on Works for Me Wednesday.

Do you have a favorite use for your vacuum cleaner? Tell us about it in the comments section. The more wisdom, the merrier!

 

Photo credit: Andrea Hague

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Related posts:

1. Living Room: Vacuum
2. 31 days to {a better ordinary} :: day 7 ~ weekly housecleaning
3. Dining Room: Floors and Dust