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Why It’s Smart to Put a Pair of Tights On Your Vacuum Cleaner

Written by

Taryn Williford
Taryn Williford
Taryn is a writer, editor, content strategist, and homebody from Atlanta. I might have helped you declutter your apartment through the magic of a well-paced email newsletter. Or maybe you know me from The Pickle Factory Loft on Instagram.
published Mar 8, 2018
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Size doesn’t matter. We each possess a few tiny things (earring backs, a sentimental ring, an important LEGO piece, a single minuscule screw that apparently is supposed to hold your entire IKEA table together) that, if lost, would bring about certain ruin. OK maybe not ruin — but losing them would definitely put a kink in an otherwise pleasant day.

So file this tip away for later. You might not need it today or tomorrow, but when the time comes that you do, you’ll be thankful (you’re welcome, in advance).

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The next time you lose something small in a shaggy rug, under the sofa or deep in the abyss of a floor air vent, grab your vacuum and a pair of tights (or pantyhose or thin-ish socks) and get to work.

Here’s how: Take the tights (or pantyhose or thin socks) and slide one foot over the end of your vacuum’s hose attachment — securing it firmly with a rubber band or hair tie or whatever similar thing you might have on hand.

Turn the vacuum on and point your tights-protected hose in the general area of where you think the lost thing might be. After a few minutes (or likely only a few seconds) of blindly waving it around, you should pick up the hose end (leave the vacuum on and sucking the whole time) to find your tiny object securely hanging on in the opening.

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Turn the vacuum off — somewhere far away from the shag rug and any floor vents — to reclaim what’s yours and move on with your day (with both earrings on).

This hacked-up rig lets the vacuum do its thing with constant suction, pulling your earring back or whatever up into its grip, but the pantyhose keeps the thing from getting sucked up into the bag or bin to be lost forever.

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Cleaning