Years before I became an expert tips and tricks finder I sold Oreck vacuums. Not door-to-door—don’t feel too bad for me. But I did sell them, and lots. I told my customers they wanted a machine with a solid beater bar with thick bristles; this is what loosens dirt from deep within the carpet. If you just clean the surface, you’ll actually embed grime deep into the fibers whenever you walk on it.

This vacuum tips pays homage to my days telling friends, “No, my job does not suck. Yes, I get the joke.”

When you move from your carpet to something more fragile, like a rug or floor, turn the beater bar off. Most machines have a setting for this, or automatically adjust whenever you used the low-suction setting. This way you won’t do any damage by cleaning to aggressively.

For more vacuum tips, visit Quamut.

Image sean dreilinger