Household Cleaning On A Budget My Vacuum Cleaners Broken What Shall I do

What do you do if your Vacuum cleaner suddenly stops working and you don’t have the money to buy a new one? Don’t panic. There are loads of ways to get around this, you just have to use your head. Household cleaning doesn’t have to be a chore, with a bit of common sense you can make your house sparkle again with just a little know how.

Vacuum Cleaners are the most temperamental out of all your electrical appliances. Why is it they always get so blocked? Or maybe they keep churning out the dust that they've just sucked in! At the end of the day you know for certain when it has finally given up and there is nothing you can do to get it working again. You’ve cleaned it out, changed all the innards and still it just sits there looking smug in the corner.

So its back to the good old reliable broom. But it’s a big house you scream, how can I clean a whole house with just a broom? Well, don’t panic, there are certain little tricks that you can use to make your carpets look and feel clean again.

First of all there is one rule and one rule only for cleaning a house. Never clean one room at a time. Why? Well two reasons. 1. Because you will spend so much time on it, trying to get the dust off everything you won’t have time to do the rest. 2. You will track all the dirt from the other rooms in and out while you are cleaning.

So if your Vacuum packs up, sweep all the way through the house first. Make sure you start upstairs, this way you brush all the dust and fluff into the upstairs hallway. Then you can see exactly where it is and and not put your foot in it!

So now you are standing there with the broom. And I know what you are thinking. What about all the dust flying in the air when I start to brush the floor? Well, here’s a little trick that I use sometimes when the Hoover, or Vacuum has gone to that great big appliance in the sky.

Get a bottle with a water jet attached to the top, and fill it up with water. You can add a drop of lemon juice to the water to make your carpets smell nice too. Before sweeping the room, gently squirt the water onto the carpet. Make sure that you turn it on to spray first, you don’t want a great big jet of water soaking your floor. So, spray it on the carpet first. This will keep the dust and fluff on the floor, and when you sweep, your broom will collect the dirt and dust and pile it onto the dustpan. Don’t forget to spray the broom too. It really does work, and its great if you have allergies. No flying dust.

When you have finished sweeping the floor in one room, go back in and do it again! Sorry, it’s the only way to make sure you got all the stray dirt up. This time it will be so much easier. Just gently glide a wet broom around to pick up the extra dust. Then open the windows to make sure it dries off quickly. Or if you prefer, turn the central heating on full blast. That will dry it off nicely.

That’s all very well you might say, but what about all the animal hair? Its stuck to my carpet and it won’t come off. Well, there are a number of ways to sort this out. And one of the best is a garden hoe! Whether you have a big prong fork or a smaller one, it works just like it does on your grass.

Before sweeping with a broom, go over the carpet and gently rake up the hair. This should pick up most of it, but if it doesn’t, then you will have to take drastic measures! What does that mean?

Get on your knees! Sorry, but drastic is as drastic does. Find an old hair brush. A sweeping brush is either too hard or too soft, and also much too big and bulky to use. The best sort of brush is one with a lot of bendy bristles. And just go over the carpet inch by inch and brush it up. Sorry, hard on the knees but it does work! And don't forget to cover your face, you don't want to be coughing up fir balls!

If you really want to get at all the dirt and grime that sticks right down into the carpet, then another good idea is to get a paint roller! Yep, you heard me! Preferably one of those on a long pole. Make sure its dry, and then add sticky paper, sticky side up you understand, onto the roller. Then just go over the carpet a few times. If you have a spungy mop, then do the same thing. Loads of sticky tape or paper. You will be amazed at how much dust and dirt comes up.

If you are cleaning small mats, then do what our mothers used to do. Put them out on the washing line, or over the balcony and give them a good whack with a broom! But cover your mouth first, you don’t want to be eating dogs hair! And while you are there, get the paint roller again and give it a once over. Works every time.

To save you putting the small carpets in the washing machine, just hang them on the line and get out the hose. Lather them up with carpet wash and then just rinse them down. Leave on the washing line until dry.

If you usually use a washer vacuum, and you definitely need your carpets to look nice for visitors, but your vacuum is broken, there are a number of ways to give them a quick wash that won’t leave your house smelling mouldy because you put too much water down.

Its back to the broom again! Just get a bucket of soapy water, and dip the broom in. Using a broom will stop you slopping water everywhere because the broom will not hold water like a sponge or cloth. Using circular motions go around the carpet making sure that you don’t get it too soapy. When you have finished, go over it again with clean water. When you have finished, get either plain paper or old cloths and lay them over the area that you have washed.

Then comes the fun bit! Jump up and down on the cloths to make the water penetrate into the cloth or paper. If you just leave it, it will dry slowly and maybe start to smell. When you have done your jumping and you think it has worked, take off the cloths or paper, and open the window, or turn on the heating to dry it out. Either way the quicker you dry it, the less smelly it will become.

So, if you have to clean your Household On A Budget and your Vacuum breaks down. Don’t panic, with a bit of hard work it will look as good as new. But don’t let the dog back in just yet. Or the cat!