The Best and Worst Times to Vacuum your Apartment

When I was in my college apartments, there were designated quiet hours that you’d get in trouble for ignoring. Even if you don’t live in a college apartment, there are still quiet hours. Vacuuming is one of those chores that could get you in trouble with your neighbors and landlord if you do it at the wrong time. Not sure what those hours are? I listed them out for you. 

The worst times to vacuum your apartment are between 10pm and 6:00am on weekdays and between 11pm to 8:00am on weekends. The best times to do so are between 10am to 7pm on weekdays and weekends.

If the hours below don’t work for you, I have a solution at the end of this post that lets you vacuum during any hour of the day.

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The Worst Times to Vacuum

Between 10pm and 6:00am on Weekdays

These are the worst hours to pull out a loud vacuum and start going to town on your floors. That’s because these are the times that most adults with a 9-5 job are asleep. Most of them get up from 6am-6:30. Adults who work remotely may go to bed a little later and wake up around 7 or so. According to a survey done by Sleep Cycle in 2019, most Americans “…go to bed at 11:39 p.m.” and “…wake up at 7:09 a.m”. That means that you can count on most people in your apartment complex to be asleep during the hours that I stated above.

As you can imagine, struggling to fall asleep at 4am when you have work the next day is a nightmare, so don’t be that nightmare for your neighbors. Not to mention, there are probably kids living in your complex too, and they typically go to bed from 8pm-9pm and wake up from 7-8am. Make life easy on their parents and let them get their full night’s sleep in, otherwise they’ll be cranky.

Between 11pm and 8:00am On Weekends

Since people usually have off from work and kids are usually home from school, everyone takes advantage of their free time and sleeps in a little later. They also stay up a little later to enjoy their Friday and Saturday. This doesn’t mean that the weekend turns all hours of the day into fair play when it comes to loud noise. The schedule might be less strict, but people still have plans and need their sleep. That’s why it’s best to avoid the hours that I stated above when it comes to vacuuming your place.

According to a survey done by Withings, people usually go to sleep “…around 12:10 a.m. and the wake up time is around 8:10 a.m.” on the weekends. This applies to both adults and children since their schedules aren’t separated by work and school. If you vacuum during these hours, you have the potential to disturb the whole family. I’m sure you won’t want to deal with that.

What Could Happen If You Vacuum Anyway?

Let’s say you decide to be a rebel, or just completely inconsiderate of your neighbors. These actions have consequences. At first, you may get an angry letter or visit from one or more of the other residents. If you’re not the confrontational type and prefer to avoid conflicts, this may be anxiety inducing to you.

If you receive a visit from the people that you’re disturbing and still carry on vacuuming, then there’s more consequences to come. From there, they might call in a formal noise complaint against you, which will get you in trouble with your landlord and/or the police. Is sucking some dust off the floor really worth all that? Well, if you decide that it is, then the consequences escalate from there.

After dealing with your landlord and/or the police, the next step is to evict you from your home. That’s right, you have to pack your bags and vacuum during unreasonable hours somewhere else. I’m sure vacuuming at a specific hour isn’t so important to you that you’d be willing to lose your home over it, right? If you’re reasonable, please just choose a different time to vacuum.

The Best Times to Vacuum

Between 10am and 7pm On Weekdays and Weekends

Now that you know the times that you should absolutely avoid when vacuuming, it’s time to discuss the best times to do so. 10am-7pm are optimal vacuuming hours because you’re likely to disturb the least amount of people when doing so. You also respect the universal quiet hours when you choose to clean up during these times, which should keep you out of landlord trouble.

These are great options to choose when you don’t want to disturb other adults because most jobs start at 9am. You can’t wake someone up who’s already out of the house. Even though they probably get home at 5:30 or later, 7pm is still a good vacuuming hour. This is because most people, even children, don’t go to bed at 7pm. In fact, that’s usually dinner time so it’s fair game to clean your apartment.

Quietest Vacuums

It’s true that the best hours to vacuum don’t fit some of your guy’s schedule whatsoever; however, you can’t just leave your floors dirty. In that case, one of your best bets is to buy a vacuum that makes minimal noise. Thanks to modern technology, we don’t have to deal with the explosive sound that we used to; that is, if we can afford the alternative. Fair warning, these solutions aren’t cheap.

1. Eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 11S – $159.99

When you want a quiet vacuum, make sure to check the decibels in the product description. You’re aiming to buy one that’s 67 decibels and under. Also, avoid 70db and higher at all costs. Unfortunately, most vacuums have 75db and up, so it’s hard to come across the quiet ones.

This particular vacuum has 55db. That’s right, Fifty-Five! Since you now know how rare it is to find a vacuum significantly lower than 70db, you may understand the price tag. It’s not just the noise level that demands the extra dollars in your wallet; it’s the autonomy. These vacuums do the job on their own; all you have to do is switch it on.  

2. Soniclean WhisperJet C2 Canister Vacuum Cleaner – $250

This vacuum falls at 58db, which is still impressively low. You may be wondering why it costs $90 more than the first one even though it’s louder and not automatic. Well the bigger price tag is only justified if you prefer this one’s features to the first vacuum.

For example, even though automatic ones sound good in theory, they’re not built for all living spaces. You might have some valuable things on the floor that would get sucked up if you didn’t clear the area first. Also, the first vacuum is limited with the areas it can clean. What about behind the oven? What about the corners of the room? Tight corners are this particular vacuum’s specialty, so you’d get a thorough job done at any time of the day.

How to Vacuum

1. Clear The Floor Of Things That Might Get Damaged

When I was a little kid and watching my brother vacuum underneath his bed, I saw one of his headphones get caught inside of it and, as you can guess, break. That taught me that, before you start vacuuming willy nilly, you have to make sure that fragile items aren’t lying around. Make sure to pick up any electronics, wires and anything else that might get damaged. Also be mindful of things that would break the vacuum itself if it were to suck it up. 

2. Start With The Corners Of The Room

Next, you’ll want to use an attachment that’ll let you vacuum the crevices of the room. This will help get rid of built up dirt and dust that the main head can’t take care of.

3. Next, Go To The Furthest Corner Of The Floor 

After that, it’s time to switch to the main vacuum head. Start by positioning it in the furthest corner of the room. This will let you clean the entire room and land at the exit so that you don’t step on your progress. 

4. Remember To Get Underneath Furniture

As you’re vacuuming, take the time to get underneath your furniture too. You’d be surprised how much dust can collect under there if left unattended. 

5. Change Attachments And Filters When Necessary

If the main head of the vacuum isn’t quite getting some pesky dust patches, remember to utilize the other attachments that are available. If you have one of those vacuums that you can take apart and piece back together, like a Bissell featherweight, then utilize that too.  

6. Repeat At Least Every Two Weeks 

Ideally, you’d be vacuuming your home once a week, but we all know life is busier than that. You should aim to get the task done at least once every two weeks. This will keep the dust and dirt to a tolerable, not so visible level.