If you’ve got a bustling household with kids, pets, and all the chaos that comes with it, the quest for the perfect vacuum cleaner can be a never-ending struggle. But fear not, I’ve cracked the code!
Here’s the kicker: you’ve been asking the wrong question all along. It’s not about finding the one and only vacuum for your large family; it’s about discovering the dynamic duo of vacuum cleaners that will make your life easier.
In this post, we’re spilling the beans on why you need not one, but two vacuum cleaners to conquer the family mess. Don’t fret; it’s a game-changer, and I’m here to walk you through the “why” and “how” of it all. Get ready for a household cleaning revolution!
What 2 Vacuums
Out of the two vacuum cleaners, one is more important than the other. The one vacuum you need to have to combat the messes your family will make is a good shop vacuum. The other vacuum will be a good regular vacuum cleaner, try to get one with a HEPA filter system on it if you can.
Everyone is always asking what is the ONE BEST vacuum cleaner and it doesn’t exist. Not every mess is the same, and thus you clean them differently.
When you have a big family, you’re going to be running into all kinds of messes like…
Kids spill milk – shop vacuum.
Shattered glass from wine – shop vacuum.
The dog makes a mess on the carpet – shop vacuum.
A lot of dog hair – shop vacuum & carpet rake.
Leak in the basement – shop vacuum.
There are much more things a shop vacuum can do that a regular upright or another household vacuum can’t do. This is why it’s important to have both. You never know what messes you’ll run into, and a shop vacuum can handle it all.
You may have noticed that for the dog hair or even cat hair we mention a carpet rake. A carpet rake is one of those things that make getting the hair out of carpets so much easier, it’s like you’re brushing the carpet. I’ve owned many vacuums and none would get the hair out of the carpets as well as a carpet rake. Plus, not using a carpet rake makes me feel like the carpet is not fully clean and maintained – that’s why I use a carpet rake like this one here (Amazon Link Ad).
Then when it comes to the standard vacuuming of the carpets, you just use a regular vacuum cleaner for that. We talk more about what you might want to consider for a regular vacuum below – and it might not be what you expect.
I’m a huge fan of having a shop vacuum for your home. These things are durable and quite affordable. I’m a big fan of Vacmaster 4 Gallon (Amazon Link Ad).
I talk a lot about how great a shop vacuum is for any home and have more info on it here.
Regular Vacuum
There are many different vacuums to choose from. Everyone likes to recommend Dyson, and they’re great vacuums and will do well when combined with a shop vacuum. But they’re not the only option.
To be perfectly honest any vacuum you buy that has an actual HEPA filter system will be just fine. The better vacuums are the ones that use bags, no matter what the commercials say it’s the best way to go. Combine with a HEPA filter and bag vacuum you have fewer issues with pet dander and allergies in your home. If those two things are not that big of a deal, then a vacuum with no HEPA filter will be fine to use.
But I want to mention another vacuum cleaner you might not have thought of. Have you heard of a backpack vacuum cleaner? The backpack vacuum might be a better option for a large family living in a large home. You often see them in commercial settings, but if it’s good enough for a business, then it would be good enough for your family.
The best thing about backpack vacuums is that you can plug in a long cord, or some are battery-powered. There is nothing better than plugging in once and being able to clean the entire home in one go. Even cleaning the stairs is so much easier as the vacuum is on your back and you don’t have to worry about it falling when cleaning the stairs.
I can talk days about how great backpack vacuum cleaners are; they’re like a good combination of a shop vacuum and a regular vacuum. I have talked a lot about backpack vacuums here and also talked about the battery-powered ones here if you want to learn more about them.
What About Central Vacuums
A central vacuum cleaner can be ideal for a large home, but I’m not that big of a fan. You have to get it installed, and the tubes run through the home, and when they go out it seems to be a pain to deal with.
One reason why I’m not a fan is the tubes often don’t reach all the places of the home. Plus, you’ll run into messes that a shop vacuum would do better at and a central vacuum might not be able to handle things like wet messes.
Cleaning odd places like the sofa and flooring edges are why I love the backpack vacuums with a long hose or battery powered. I feel cooler when I “suit up” in my backpack vacuum.
Consider This
I know it sounds odd to buy 2 different vacuum cleaners especially when money is tight. But consider what would happen when the dog tracks in mud and you try to clean it with a regular vacuum instead of a shop vacuum – you would kill it as those vacuums are not made to suck up clumps of mud and be out a vacuum again.
Or if the kids flood the bathroom what do you do? You use a shop vacuum to suck up the water.
Or how about you drop a big glass vase on the floor and you have millions of sharp shards of glass that could potentially hurt someone’s foot. You can’t use a normal vacuum cleaner for that as it would chew the vacuum up from the inside and a broom would miss all the small pieces that really hurt to step on. You need a shop vacuum as they’re meant to handle those odd things.
With a large family, it’s just a matter of time when the next mess comes around and having a good shop vacuum like the Vacmaster 12 Gallon (Amazon Link Ad) is worth it as you’re ready to handle it.