What Are HEPA Vacuum Cleaners? – Are They Worth Buying?

There has been a lot of hype lately regarding HEPA vacuum cleaners.

As spring approaches every year and we get an influx of those pesky pollen and manipulative mold spores, we bring on the “joy” of red runny noses, itchy, watery eyes, and sneezes so violent you could swear you’ve loosened some of the shingles on your roof.

Add in pet dander and other pollutants–and if you have any allergies or asthma symptoms–good luck enjoying your long-awaited warmer weather.

There is a way to gain some relief–by cleaning your house using a vacuum that has HEPA filter technology.

What is a HEPA filter?

HEPA, or “high efficiency particulate air” filter is a unique way of cleaning the air that a vacuum sucks in to take care of the dirt and dust you so desperately want to eliminate. Standard vacuums have their own brand of air filtration, but if it isn’t based on the HEPA system, odds are you are not only missing a lot of allergen particulates, but you are also blowing them about the air in your house.

These filters are specifically designed to catch and hold those irritating particulates as air is forced through it’s very fine mesh. So, if you suffer from allergies, asthma, or any kind of breathing problems, HEPA vacuum cleaners could be the solution for relief your looking for–or a step in the right direction. They make excellent vacuums for pet hair.

How Much is a HEPA Vacuum And is it Worth it?

It turns out that most of these units aren’t that much more than your typical vacuum cleaner. As a matter of fact, there are many machines that come standard with a HEPA filtration system and that’s great news for your pocketbook and your nose. If you need to spend a little more for a machine with HEPA filtering, will it be worth it?

Let’s take a look at what you get for that extra dough:

1. They trap more dirt and dust from the air exhaust than your standard vacuum.
2. They throw 90% less dirt, dust, and dust mites out into the air as they clean.
3. They can remove many of the particulates that tend to make your allergies worse.
4. They can eliminate irritating particles from the places where they usually rest and launch into the air from, such as carpets, drapes, couches, and other flat surfaces.
5. They are extremely thorough when it comes to eliminating pet dander, which is the dead skin cells your pets shed. I know, disgusting, but it is dander that we breath in and have a fun-filled sneezing attack from!

Taking just the above advantages (there are many more) we can see that if we are an allergy sufferer or a struggling breather, a HEPA vaccum cleaner could have a serious impact on our quality of life.

Final Words: Frequent Use and Patience

As you begin to incorporate your new vacuum into your world, understand that a single clean will not completely eliminate the airborne pollens, dander, and allergy-producing particulates. It takes quite a few turns to really start to reap the benefits of cleaner air.

As you proceed with your cleaning habits, you will need to alter them to get to the areas where pollutants are hiding, areas that you normally don’t clean. Be patient and don’t give up until you’ve spent serious time cleaning every nook and cranny. Before you know it, you will start to breath a lot easier and notice a lot of your allergy symptoms dissapearing.