Do I Need More Than One Type Of Vacuum Cleaner?
With so many “best” vacuum cleaner articles out there you could be forgiven for thinking that the perfect all-round vacuum cleaner exists. But I’m our experience having more than one type of vacuum cleaner is hugely important to maintain a clean home. So if you’re wondering ‘do I need more than one type of vacuum cleaner?’; we believe that if you can you should but it’s always better to have at least one than nothing at all.
Do I Need More Than One Type Of Vacuum Cleaner? – Here’s a Few Reasons Why You Do
Let’s take a look at some of the main compelling arguments for having more than one type of vacuum cleaner
One vacuum can’t do the whole job
The reality is with any vaccum is that it won’t be able to offer you everything you’ll need to keep your home as clean as you want and in the way you want.
You may have an upright that does a great of taking care of carpets, stairs and hard floors but it may not be the best option if you need to quickly scoop up some dropped crumbs of couscous.
It might take you longer to take it out, unravel the cord etc and do the reverse than the time it actually takes you to vacuum the mess.
By the time you’ve taken it out, you’ve lost the will and may be tempted to leave it all together next time or try to do it manually, resulting in substandard cleaning.
You’ll likely sacrifice a feature(s) with only one vacuum
Another reason why only having one type of vacuum cleaner will limit you is that you’ll likely have to sacrifice ideal features depending on the type. For example, upright vacuums can be great for cleaning your carpets but typically become tiresome when trying to clean your stairs.
Whilst canister vacuums are generally highly effective but can be cumbersome to get around especially to and down the stairs depending on their weight.
Often the best way to overcome some of these deficiencies is having a second option all together that allows you to fully get around the limitation.
Possible Combinations For Vacuum Cleaners
Here are some possible combinations we believe could make excellent vacuuming partners based on our own experience.
Cylinder + Cordless Stick
The first vacuum cleaner in this combination is a classic cylinder vacuum. These are fantastic on carpets and hard floors as they can typically have great suction. A great example of this type is the British-made Henry hoover. This is one of the best floor cleaners we’ve come across.
Cylinder (or canister) type vacuum cleaners typically come with a range of cleaning tools and attachments that make certain jobs a lot easier. For example, Henry’s crevice tool helps us get right into tight spaces like the edges of the floor and skirting and in between our sofa cushions to clear food crumbs and the like.
As great as our cylinder vacuums are (we have two at home; Henry & James) they’re sometimes too time consuming and overpowered for the smaller jobs. Sometimes I need to quickly clean up a spot on the floor and don’t want the hassle of heading downstairs to the storage cupboard and lugging Henry upstairs.
That’s where our brilliant Dyson V7 cordless stick vacuum comes into play.
This battery-operated beauty is always ready to clean at the press of a button and is the perfect companion to the more serious Henry or James canister vacuums.
As well as being quicker to get going our cordless stick doesn’t have a long cord, hose and attachment to put away so it’s perfect if we’re short of time but still need to give a room a quick spruce.
So why not just use the cordless stick on its own? Good question and a number of years ago, we tried this for a short while but what we found is that the cordless stick on its own couldn’t do the serious heavy lifting especially on our carpets. Whenever we’d clean with our Henry canister it would still manage to pick up a lot more dust and dirt than the cordless stick was able to on its own.
Best Suited For: Most homes
Upright + Cordless Stick
The other combination that works really well is having an upright corded vacuum alongside a cordless stick.
In our case, we also have a Shark upright Lift-Away model which means the dust canister can be lifted off the main unit to become a portable cylinder-type vacuum. This is a real game changer and makes cleaning the stairs much easier.
Upright vacuums tend to be particularly effective when cleaning carpets hence why upright vacuum cleaners have been the tool of choice in hotels.
Much like cylinder vacuums though they can be a bit much if you just need to do a quick isolated job like cleaning up a dry cereal spill. And Shark Lift Away aside upright vacuums can be tricky to use for cleaning the stairs using their various attachments.
Best Suited For: Most homes particularly those with multiple floors
Robot + Cordless Stick
The last combination you could look at is a robot vacuum such as a xx and a cordless stick vacuum. In this combo you want to make sure the cordless stick is capable of doing some serious heavy lifting for those areas your robot can’t cover such as the stairs. This combination is probably best for homes that don’t have cleaning needs that are too high or frequent / think 2 to 3 people with little time to spare.
The advantage with this combination is that the robot vacuum not only cleans on its own but can also be set to clean on a set schedule. Whether your are asleep or at work, your robot vacuum could be making your life easier by hoovering your floors.
Best Suited For: Smaller apartments/one storey homes
Upright + Robot
Another combination to consider is having an upright vacuum paired with a robot vacuum.
This combination gives you an excellent cleaning range with the upright particularly on carpets and then the robot vacuum allows you to do regular scheduled cleans to stay on top of cleanliness in between the big cleans with the upright.
Best Suited For: Smaller homes and apartments
Cylinder + Robot
The cylinder and robot vacuum combination is well suited to those who have large spaces to clean but not enough time to keep on top of the day-to-day routine of keeping their home clean.
This combination is all about convenience. Although with a cylinder vacuum, you get everything you need, having a robot vacuum can help with those mundane but regular floor cleaning assignments. It’s a great way to save you time if you’re in a busy household.
Best Suited For: Busy family homes
Conclusion: Do I Need More Than One Type Of Vacuum Cleaner?
So, do you need more than one type of vacuum cleaner? It’s not a must but having more than one type of vacuum cleaner can make life a whole lot easier. Having two different types of vacuum can be very handy when tackling jobs that need specific features that some vacuums don’t have. There are several possible combinations that could offer an effective solution for vacuuming at home – the cylinder and cordless stick vacuum combo being chief among them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need two vacuum cleaners?
You don’t necessarily need two vacuum cleaners but it can make cleaning easier if you have two different types to tackle different jobs. For example a cylinder vacuum and robot vacuum cleaner combination can work well and handle differing tasks around your home.
Do I need more than one vacuum?
You don’t need more than one vacuum cleaner though it can be useful. But if you do get more than one it’s best to make sure you get two different types eg a cylinder and cordless stick or upright and robot vacuum.
What Are The Two Types of Vacuum Cleaners?
There are more than two types of vacuum cleaners though the two most common are (i) cylinder vacuum and (ii) upright vacuum. In total there are five types (i) cylinder vacuum cleaner (ii) upright vacuum cleaner (iii) cordless stick vacuum cleaner (iv) robot vacuum cleaner and (v) handheld vacuum cleaner.
