You may or may not be one of those people who enjoys doing the vacuum cleaning. Whether you are part of the vacuum retentive brigade or not however, there would be few who would think that vacuuming is a bad thing. While the intention might be good new research has shown that when it comes to doing the vacuuming a cleaner is only as good as his tools and there is a vast variety in how good those tools are.
Researchers from the Queensland University of Technology tested a range of vacuum cleaners sold in Australia. The cleaners were from eleven different manufacturers, included those sold for household and also commercial use, and ranged in age from six months to 22 years. Some of the cleaners cost less than $100 while the most expensive tested was almost $800 retail. The researchers looked at the effect that brand, age, and other factors had on vacuum cleaner performance.
Get ready dust-phobes and germ-phobes, that they found was that all vacuum cleaners released some fine dust and bacteria into the air. However, newer and more expensive vacuum cleaners released significantly less dust and bacteria compared to older and cheaper models. Interestingly, those with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters were only slightly better in terms of dust and bacteria released than other models.
Alas then, as far as vacuum cleaners go, it seems that you get what you pay for and age can weary them. So you might want to trade in that thirty year old monster (“It’s my mum’s old one, I can’t believe it’s still going!â€) for a slightly more slender, newer model.
