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There’s One Cleaning Tool You’re Probably Not Using Enough—Here’s How to Put it to Work

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Shifrah Combiths
Shifrah Combiths
With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town…read more
updated May 3, 2019
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(Image credit: Lauren Kolyn)

Vacuuming isn’t on many people’s lists of most-hated chores. In fact, I’ve seen it pop up multiple times as people’s favorite cleaning “guilty pleasures.” I get it, for sure. It’s a quick way to make a room look much cleaner and the rewards for your effort are instantly apparent. No matter how much you love to vacuum and how often you do it, though, you’re probably not taking full advantage of everything your vacuum cleaner can do.

This weekend we’re going to focus on one of our underappreciated vacuum attachments. We’re going to use our crevice tools to their fullest potential and satisfyingly suck up all the dirt that hides in the places that our good cleaning intentions and regular vacuuming don’t quite reach.

Apartment Therapy Weekend Projects is a guided program designed to help you get the happy, healthy home you’ve always wanted, one weekend at a time. Sign up now for email updates so you never miss a lesson.

(Image credit: Jenson)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

This Weekend’s Assignment:
Find a few ways to put your vacuum cleaner’s crevice tool to work.

Get out your vacuum cleaner and your crevice tool. Even if you already use it; this weekend we’re just going to use it more. We’ll be looking for areas to address (and you can use the list below as a starting point). We’re going to end up with a houseful of spic and span nooks and crannies.

Keep in mind that you can attach your crevice tool to a shorter or longer hose or tube. Some tasks will be easier to do standing up, while for others you’ll need to configure your vacuum more like a handheld.

Don’t have a crevice tool? No sweat. You can hack a vacuum crevice tool attachment with just an empty paper towel roll.

(Image credit: Joe Lingeman)

Here are some places to tackle:

  • Your baseboards.
  • The toe kick areas in your kitchen.
  • The concave corners of your walls.
  • Between your couch cushions.
  • Between your couch cushions and the back of the couch, if the cushions are attached to the back of the couch.
  • Between the seat cushion and the sides of arm chairs.
  • The space where the rug or floor hits the baseboards.
  • The place where furniture that’s sitting on the floor and the carpet or floor touch.
  • Underneath the fridge.
  • Tufts in your chairs, couch, or ottoman.
  • Bookshelves.
  • Window ledges.
  • Sliding door or window tracks.
  • Air vents.
  • The dryer lint trap (unplug the dryer first).
  • Concave corners and edges of stairs, especially if they’re carpeted.

Can you think of any other spots that need some care?

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

You can catch up with weekend projects right here. Share your progress with us and others by posting updates and photos on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #atweekendproject.

Remember: This is about improvement, not perfection. Each week you can either choose to work on the assignment we’ve sent you, or tackle another project you’ve been meaning to get to. It’s also completely okay to skip a weekend if you’re busy or not feeling the assignment.

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Cleaning
Cleaning Tools
Weekend Projects