I recently saw a viral video on TikTok of someone vacuuming a rug as slowly as possible, after they heard that the cleaning trend reveals how much secret dust you can pull up by doing so.
As Homes & Gardens' resident professional vacuum tester, I had to try it out for myself, and the results echoed what I've already seen in years of testing: Vacuuming with fast strokes is nowhere near as effective as taking your time.
Before trying this trend, I hadn't vacuumed this slowly, and luckily, I have one of the best vacuums to try it out with: The Dyson V15 Detect.
This clever Dyson counts how many particles you've picked up during your cleaning sessions, up to the millions, so I was able to see whether this technique is as effective as it seems. Spoiler alert: It's astounding.
What Is the Trending 'Slow Vacuuming' Method?
TikTok user @itsmorganstarr revealed how simple the 'Slow Vacuuming' method is: Just vacuum your rug or carpet as slowly as possible. Doing so allows the bristles to repeatedly agitate the same carpet fibers, dislodging the dust, dirt, and household debris that is buried deep within.
Leaving dust and other household allergens on floors with fast strokes often leads to sneezing, dryness, and poorer health for anybody who suffers from allergies (I know this first-hand), so learning how to banish them from carpets is key.
And if successful, this could demonstrate that even weaker vacuums can still be your best carpet vacuum, and maybe you don't have to fork out $500+ on those with the most powerful suction, after all.
So, I set my Dyson V15 Detect to work on my favorite IKEA rug, and cleaned it slower than I've ever done in my life, to find out how effective slow vacuuming is.
Slow Vacuuming: The Results
As you can see, the beauty of using this smart Dyson vacuum is that I could see precisely how much debris was being picked up as I cleaned.
I was truly amazed at the numbers, given that it had only been a week since the rug was last vacuumed. I wasn't expecting that particle number to climb so rapidly, especially while the vacuum was barely moving. Usually, the cordless vacuum needs to travel across a long stretch of floor for the number to rise that sharply.
By the end of it, I'd reached more than 300 million sucked-up particles, and the dustbin had been filled with so much more dust than I could have possibly thought was there.
To put this into perspective, after the usual weekly deep clean of my entire bedroom – the biggest room in the house – I typically reach around 100-200 million particles. So, to have picked up more than that from one 6.6' x 4.1' rug, is astounding.
Sure, it takes a little longer, but the results speak for themselves. My Dyson also revealed that if I just keep the vacuum still, it can take as long as 10 seconds for it to stop collecting new dust, showing just how deeply embedded it can be when it comes to soft flooring.
I've just found my favorite new way to deep clean my rug that requires hardly any extra effort, just a few more seconds of my time.
What the Success of Slow Vacuuming Reveals
It should come as no surprise that dust, dirt, and other household mess can settle deep into carpets and soft flooring, but vacuuming slowly has revealed just how deep it goes, and what you need to do to get it out.
If you've ever found that your allergy symptoms persist after vacuuming, and you've wondered whether it's the fault of your vacuum, you may find some reassurance in the fact that, actually, all you need to do is vacuum more slowly.
What's more, letting dust build up can actually damage and deteriorate the quality of soft flooring. So if your cleaning sessions are leaving lots behind, that doesn't bode too well for the lifespan of your precious rugs and carpets, and you can potentially save money down the line by cleaning more attentively.
And personally, I'm thrilled to discover how much of a difference this technique achieves. I vacuum for a living, and I'm always on the lookout for ways to make affordable vacuums more effective. My rugs and carpets will be cleaner than ever, and my allergies and asthma triggers will be quashed even more.
What to Shop
All prices were correct at the time of publication.
If, like me, you want to be able to see exactly how much dust you're vacuuming, invest in the Dyson V15 Detect. It's the best-performing cordless vacuum we've tested, and it's made cleaning my home easier (and more enjoyable) than ever. And on hard floors, it has a green laser that reveals dust you can't see.
Read more in my five-star Dyson V15 Detect review.
Slimmer, lighter, and almost $200 more affordable than the V15 Detect, the V12 Detect Slim shares all of the same smart features, but is packaged into a smaller model. It's perfect for small homes, and while its suction isn't quite as strong as the V15, it's still more than enough for deep cleaning carpets.
Read more in my full Dyson V12 Detect Slim review.
Our favorite carpet vacuum, the Shark POWERDETECT has unrelenting suction that can pick up masses of dirt and hair in one. Combine it with this new technique and your rugs and carpets will be immaculate.
Read more in our five-star Shark POWERDETECT Upright review.
For powerful carpet vacuuming on a budget, this Bissell upright is the ticket. It shares many features you'll find in Dyson and Shark models, like floor sensors that automatically optimize suction, and it costs $100s less.
Read more in our full Bissell SurfaceSense Allergen Pet Lift-Off review.
The Dyson Ball Animal 3 performs exceptionally well on high-pile carpets, making light work of all the dust and debris that gets trapped between the fibers. It's a heavy unit, but one that'll help to deep clean your home with unparalleled suction.
Read more in our full Dyson Ball Animal 3 review.
If you want to take your carpet cleaning to the next level, this is a seriously powerful carpet cleaner that actually washes your carpets. It utilizes steam cleaning to pre-treat and target mess, breaking down the bacteria and removing stubborn stains.
Read more in my five-star Bissell Revolution HydroSteam review.
Next, discover how the best robot vacuums will keep your home clean for you, with strong winners from our weeks-long testing sessions.
