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We all love the convenience of a good vacuum cleaner. Whether you are doing your weekly deep clean or trying to quickly tidy up before guests arrive, your vacuum is likely your go-to tool. It is incredibly tempting to treat this appliance like a magic wand that can erase every single mess on your floors. However, vacuums are highly specialized machines with rapidly moving parts, sensitive HEPA filters, and powerful motors that can easily be damaged by the wrong types of debris.
Learning about the things you should never vacuum is the absolute best way to extend the lifespan of your appliance, prevent foul odors, and save yourself hundreds of dollars in repair or replacement costs. From common household spills to post-renovation dust, certain messes require a traditional broom, a mop, or a heavy-duty shop vacuum.
In this comprehensive guide, we will break down the top things you should never vacuum, explain exactly why they are so dangerous to your machine, and tell you the best ways to clean them up instead.
The Ultimate List of Things You Should Never Vacuum
Protect your cleaning appliances by keeping them far away from these ten household messes.
1. Large Pieces of Broken Glass
When a glass drops and shatters on the kitchen floor, your first instinct might be to reach for the vacuum hose to ensure no tiny shards are left behind. However, vacuuming broken glass is highly dangerous for your machine. Large or sharp shards of glass can easily puncture a vacuum bag, slice through the flexible inner hosing, and severely scratch the internal plastic components. In some cases, glass can even get lodged in the vacuum motor, causing a complete mechanical failure.
What to do instead: Use a traditional broom and dustpan to carefully sweep up the larger pieces of broken glass. To pick up the microscopic, invisible shards, press a piece of soft bread or a damp paper towel against the floor. Safely dispose of these items immediately.
2. Fine Dust (Fireplace Ash and Drywall Dust)
If you have recently completed a DIY home renovation or cleaned out your fireplace, you are likely dealing with a massive amount of incredibly fine dust. Standard household vacuums are not designed to handle ultrafine particles like drywall dust, sawdust, or fireplace ash. These microscopic particles will instantly coat and clog your vacuum filter. When the filter is suffocated, the machine loses suction, and the motor begins to overheat. Furthermore, standard filters cannot trap particles this small, meaning the vacuum will simply blow the fine dust right back out through the exhaust, heavily polluting your indoor air quality.
What to do instead: First, sweep up as much of the dust or ash as possible. Then, use a specialized wet/dry shop vacuum equipped with a heavy-duty fine dust filter. For the remaining residue, wipe the area down with a damp microfiber cloth.
3. Wet Messes and Spilled Liquids
It should go without saying, but unless you own a machine specifically marketed as a wet/dry vacuum cleaner, you should absolutely never vacuum up liquids. Sucking up water, spilled milk, pet urine, or even very wet food poses a severe risk of electrical shock. Beyond the safety hazard, moisture trapped inside the dark, enclosed space of a vacuum bag or dustbin creates the perfect breeding ground for mold and mildew. The next time you turn the vacuum on, it will blast a foul, musty odor throughout your entire home.
What to do instead: Use highly absorbent paper towels, old rags, or a heavy-duty mop to soak up the liquid spill. Clean the area with an appropriate household floor cleaner to prevent sticky residue.
4. Large Clumps of Hair
Vacuuming up a few stray hairs is perfectly fine and completely unavoidable. However, if you are cleaning up after an at-home haircut or trying to tackle a massive pile of shedding from a heavy-coated pet, keep the vacuum in the closet. Long hair tightly wraps around the spinning brush roll (also known as the beater bar). As the hair accumulates, it creates intense friction that forces the motor to work twice as hard. Eventually, this trapped hair will snap the vacuum belt or burn out the motor entirely.
What to do instead: Use a rubber-bristled broom or a specialized pet hair squeegee to gather up large clumps of hair from carpets and hard floors. Once the bulk of the hair is safely thrown in the trash, you can vacuum the remaining strays.
5. Coins, Paperclips, and Small Hard Objects
Pennies, screws, nails, paperclips, and stray LEGO bricks are the natural enemies of your vacuum cleaner. When these hard, heavy objects are sucked up at high speeds, they act like tiny projectiles inside the machine. They can easily chip the plastic fan blades, dent the internal housing, tear holes in the hose, and permanently destroy the suction power of the vacuum.
What to do instead: Before you begin vacuuming a room, take sixty seconds to walk through and manually pick up any visible hard objects. A quick visual sweep is all it takes to prevent catastrophic damage to your appliance.
6. Sticky Substances and Spills
Whether it is spilled syrup, a dropped bottle of craft glue, or melted hard candy, sticky substances should never cross paths with your vacuum cleaner. Sticky messes will coat the internal hosing, the HEPA filter, and the dustbin. Once the inside of your vacuum is coated in a sticky residue, every piece of dust, hair, and dirt you vacuum in the future will adhere to it, creating massive, immovable clogs.
What to do instead: Scrape up the bulk of the sticky mess using a plastic scraper or the edge of an old credit card. Then, use warm, soapy water and a sponge to break down and dissolve the remaining residue.
7. Used Coffee Grounds
Spilled a mound of fresh, dry coffee beans? You can probably vacuum those up without an issue. But used, wet coffee grounds are a massive hazard. Because they are damp, they pose the same mold and mildew risks as any other wet spill. Furthermore, coffee grounds are notorious for clumping together as they dry, meaning they will essentially form a brick inside your vacuum hose, blocking all airflow and causing the machine to overheat.
What to do instead: Sweep up used coffee grounds with a broom and dustpan, or simply wipe them up with a damp paper towel. Better yet, toss them straight into your compost bin!
8. Cosmetics and Makeup
Spilled a jar of foundation, a powdered eyeshadow palette, or a tube of lipstick? Keep the vacuum far away. Cosmetics contain oils and waxes that melt when exposed to the high heat generated by a vacuum motor. Sucking up makeup will not only severely clog your filters, but the spinning brush roll will also grind the highly pigmented makeup deep into your carpet fibers, turning a small, manageable spill into a massive, permanent stain.
What to do instead: Carefully pick up large chunks of broken makeup by hand. For powders, lightly sweep them up. Treat the remaining color stains with a specialized carpet cleaner or a trusted makeup remover.
9. Potting Soil and Plant Debris
When a houseplant tips over, you are usually left with a pile of soil, dead leaves, and sometimes moisture. Vacuuming this up is a bad idea for a few reasons. First, potting soil is frequently damp, which brings back the risk of mold. Second, large dead plant leaves can easily bunch up and clog the neck of the vacuum. Finally, potting soil often contains tiny insects or pests; vacuuming them up gives them a safe, dark environment to reproduce inside your closet.
What to do instead: Sweep up the soil and plant debris with a standard broom and dustpan.
10. Shredded Paper
While a few small scraps of paper won’t hurt, sucking up large piles of shredded documents or confetti is a surefire way to break your machine. Shredded paper is lightweight but bulky, meaning it quickly aggregates inside the hose and the intake valve. It builds upon itself until it forms an impenetrable wall, leading to an immediate loss of suction.
What to do instead: Always use a broom to sweep up piles of paper shreds, confetti, or streamers.
Signs Your Vacuum is Damaged
Even if you are careful about the things you should never vacuum, accidents happen. If you suspect you may have sucked up something you shouldn’t have, keep an eye out for these warning signs:
- A burning smell: This usually indicates a broken belt or an overheating motor caused by a clog.
- Loud rattling noises: A clear sign that a hard object like a coin or screw is bouncing around the fan blades.
- Sudden loss of suction: Almost always caused by a clog in the hose or a completely suffocated filter.
- The brush roll stops spinning: Usually the result of tangled hair or carpet strings snapping the internal belt.
If you notice any of these signs, turn off and unplug the vacuum immediately. Check the hose for clogs, inspect the brush roll, and wash or replace your filters before using the machine again.
Conclusion: Protect Your Cleaning Investment
A high-quality vacuum cleaner is a major household investment that should last you for years, if not decades. By taking just a few extra seconds to manually clean up dangerous spills, you can protect your appliance from unnecessary wear and tear. Memorize this list of things you should never vacuum, rely on your trusty broom and dustpan for the heavy lifting, and your vacuum will continue to keep your home beautifully dust-free for a very long time.