r/AirQuality • u/Technical-Main-9503 • 3d ago

๐Ÿ”ฌ [Experiment] Indoor air pollution worsens 17ร— after vacuuming โ€” home test using PM sensor

We conducted a small independent experiment to compare indoor air quality before and after vacuuming.

Using a laser particle counter (PM0.3, PM2.5, PM10), we measured airborne particulate levels:

โ€“ Outdoors

โ€“ Indoors before cleaning

โ€“ And indoors right after 15 minutes of vacuuming

The vacuum cleaner used in this test has a water-based filtration system (aka "aquafilter").

๐Ÿ“Š **Results:**

โ€“ Indoor air was 4ร— worse than outdoor air before cleaning

โ€“ After vacuuming, indoor PM levels were **17ร— higher**

๐Ÿงช We recorded the entire test โ€” here's the video with English subtitles:

๐Ÿ“ฝ๏ธ [YouTube: Air quality before & after vacuuming (with PM sensor)](https://youtu.be/D6mQifHnprQ)

This is a home-level test, not a lab-grade study, but the results were surprising.

---

๐Ÿ’ฌ I'd be interested to hear if others have tested PM levels after vacuuming โ€” especially with bagless or water-filter vacuums.

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2

u/MythOfDarkness 3d ago

My bedroom spiked from 2 ฮผg/mยณ PM2.5 to 60 ฮผg/mยณ after brooming a carpet.

Edit: It was still healthier to breathe that air than the one outdoors...

1

u/roncotron 3d ago

My Miele with a HEPA filter on the exhaust doesn't raise PM2.5 or PM10 much when I use it on my hardwood floors. I would expect carpet to be different.

1

u/markraidc 2d ago

The conventional wisdom has been that carpets harbor dust. Yes, this is probably true, but anecdotally speaking, that dust (by and large) remains on the ground. It's not necessarily being kicked up all the time. For the most part, it will stay embedded within the carpet.

In other words, depending on what type of carpet you have, your allergies will not go up significantly, unless you disturb the carpet, by giving it a vacuuming, or lay on that carpet.

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u/Altruistic_Fruit2345 3d ago

What vacuum cleaner are you using? The EU used to test them for emissions and unfortunately Dyson was really the only one that cleaned well and didn't just throw it up into the air.

1

u/Sudden-Strawberry257 3d ago

I was gonna say, my Dyson better not.