You will agree with me that it is unavoidable to break something in the house now and then, the rate is even higher when you have kids.
Do not get me wrong I love my kids, once in a while they get on my nerves when they go playing in the house and breaking glass flower vases or anything breakable.
Sometimes it becomes very difficult to pick up every bit of broken glass especially if the broken glass is on a carpet.
I happen to own a good vacuum cleaner for laminated floors that I bought recently. I was wondering whether one can vacuum glass. I did some research to find out.
So, can you vacuum glass?
Yes, you can vacuum glass safely. Vacuuming glass is the safest and best way to make sure you have picked every bit of the broken glass. However, before using a vacuum, you need to first pick you need to pick the large chunks of glass, followed with the smaller chunks and lastly only use your vacuum cleaner on the finest chunks. Of course make sure you are wearing gloves.
What You Should Do With Your Broken Glass
The first thing that should always be at your fingertips when you are dealing with broken glass is your safety and the safety of others.
If you have kids like me, pets or any other person around make sure they are as far as possible from where the glass broke. So, what if it is the kids who broke the glass?
In this case, grab a pair of thick soled shoes and thick gloves like the one worn by heavy duty workers and whisk your kids or pets to safety.
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When to Use Vacuum Cleaner to Clean Broken Glass
At this stage, you probably have cleaned all the large chunks and the subsequent chunks plus the content of the glass. You are now left with minute fragments of the broken glass.
When doing this research I came across a lot of contradicting information. Some that claim it is safe to vacuum glass and some that claimed it is not safe. Well let me set the record straight once and for all.
You can vacuum broken glass, it is very safe and probably the best way to clean fragments of broken glass. But before vacuuming glass fragments, there are a few things that you need to consider.
The concern that most people have is whether the glass fragments will cause damage to the vacuum’s fan or motor.
To ensure that your vacuum’s motor and fan are safe, never ever vacuum large chunks of broken glass. Vacuum cleaner should be the last resort after you have cleaned the large chunks of broken glass and you are only left with small minute fragments of glass.
It is virtually impossible for the smaller fragments to get to the motor of fan due to the filters in the vacuum cleaner.
Never use your vacuum cleaner if does not have the filters or the dust bag. Secondly, make sure the vacuum cleaner’s horse is not blocked.
How to Vacuum Broken Glass
After ensuring the vacuum cleaner has its dust bag and all the filters are functional and the cleaner’s hose is not blocked.
If you are using an upright vacuum cleaner like Shark Navigator Stick Vacuum, do not use the main floor head, or anything that rotates it is prone to scattering the broken glass fragments and worsen the situation.
Set your vacuum cleaner on the lowest power setting, this is a precautionary measure to ensure that in case you may have not picked all the larger chunks of glass they do not damage your cleaner.
After cleaning the whole area using the lowest power setting on the cleaner. Now switch the cleaner on a high power mode and clean the area again. At this stage you should be able to pick even the smallest fragments of glass.
To ensure that you have thoroughly cleaned all the fragments, darken the room if you can and use a high light source and scan the area. If there are fragments that you may have missed, they will reflect light and you will be able to see them.
Lastly, empty the content of the vacuum cleaner bag into the box with the larger chunks of glass. Label the box as containing glass before throwing it in the rubbish.
Remember there are some people who will be collecting the rubbish, their safety should be your concern as well.
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How to Clean Up Broken Glass Without a Vacuum Cleaner
If for some reason you are afraid of using your vacuum cleaner to clean glass fragments. There are a few tricks that you can use to use to help you get rid of the small fragments.
These tricks will work after you have cleaned the larger chunks of broken glass following the steps outlined above.
Using a Slice of Bread
Using a slice of bread, and wearing some heavy duty gloves. Press the slice of bread on the area where you have the small pieces of glass.
The slice of bread will collect the small fragments, you can use another slice of bread to collect the fragments of glass. The slices of bread used will be determined by the extent of the space covered with fragments of glass.
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Using a Dump Paper Towel
Dampen a paper towel and fold it several times, wear heavy duty gloves and use the dump paper towel to clean the fine fragments of the broken glass.
Using a Tape
One of the most effective ingenious way to remove smaller fragments is by using a tape. Wearing some heavy duty gloves, cut your tape in considerable length. Tape the area with the broken glass fragments and then remove the tape one by one.
This is one of the most effective way besides vacuuming that will help you get rid of fragments of broken glass.
Using a Piece of Potato
While this method may not collect fine fragments of broken glass. It is an effective method to collect some fragments of the broken glass.
The first step is to cut a piece of potato into two halves. Wearing heavy duty gloves, press one half of the piece of potato on the area with broken glass fragments and keep repeating until you are satisfied with the results.
This trick can be followed by the tape method for an effective clean up.
FAQ
Can you vacuum glass with a Dyson?
Yes you can vacuum broken glass with a Dyson, all you need to do is to follow the advice I have outlined above.
What is the best way to clean up a broken glass?
As outlined above the best way to clean up a broken glass is by using a vacuum cleaner. We have also outlined several safe tricks to help you clean up broken glass if you do not have a vacuum cleaner.
How to clean up broken glass without a vacuum
You can use our suggested tricks above such as bread, tape and potato to clean broken glass without a vacuum cleaner.
How to clean up a lot of broken glass
using a vacuum cleaner is the best and safest way to clean up a lot of broken glass ensuring you do not leave some small fragments an attended.
Vacuum cleaner for glass
I have been using a Dyson vacuum cleaner for cleaning glass and this vacuum cleaner is worth a try.