13 things you should never ever vacuum

Don’t put your vacuum – or yourself – at risk by sucking up these items. Some things are best left for brooms.

All coffee drinkers know the struggles of cleaning out the ol’ coffee maker, unless you’ve given into the coffee-pods craze. Wet coffee grounds are a pain to clean, but don’t make that a job for your vacuum. They can clog pipes, ruin the motor and spur mildew growth inside the machine.

Learn the 10 golden rules of cleaning. 

Some kitchen spills can be cleaned with a vacuum, like sugar and salt. Others, like fresh produce, baked beans and potato salad, cannot. They can clog the vacuum just based on their size and damage the motor because of their moisture. What’s worse, the foods could spoil inside your vacuum and start to smell. You don’t want to be stuck cleaning up that mess.

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Dead leaves and flowers that fall off houseplants could easily clog your machine. Pick them up by hand instead.

Follow these tips for growing indoor plants. 

Sucking up fireplace ash with a vacuum is basically the opposite of cleaning. The particles are so fine that they could get blown out the back of the machine and right into the air. Good Housekeeping suggests covering them with wet coffee grounds before sweeping them up so you don’t inhale any potentially harmful dust.

Home renovations are a big undertaking, but don’t try to breeze through the clean-up with a vacuum. Like fireplace ash, construction debris is made up of fine particles that can burn out the motor or get released back into the air. Sweep it all up to keep your vacuum – and yourself – safe.

Learn this great trick for catching dust during DIY.

These are things you probably wouldn’t vacuum up on purpose. That’s why it’s extra important for you to check your floors before your hit that power button, especially if you have young kids. Small objects that get sucked up could break into pieces, cut the bag, or wreck the vacuum’s motor – or do all three.

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Vacuuming up liquids is dangerous, plain and simple. You could be electrocuted. At the very least, the machine will undergo certain damage. Investing in a wet/dry vacuum designed to handle these problems is one solution, but there are plenty of other ways to clean spilled liquid: a mop, almost any Swiffer product, paper towels, regular towels, washcloths – you get the idea.

It may not seem like a big deal to quickly vacuum over a cord so you can get that hard-to-reach corner, but it is. The vacuum can break apart the cord’s exterior and eventually expose the dangerous wires inside. Cords for vacuums themselves are usually more heavy duty, but they can suffer the same damage.

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Eyeshadow, bronzer, foundation, blush, even broken bits of lipstick – none of these things should ever go in your vacuum. They could melt inside the machine and cause serious damage.