Almost everyone knows what a vacuum cleaner is and what it’s used for – which is mainly to suck up dirt and debris from a carpet or floor. And, most machines come with a handy hose attachment that is great for ridding the ceilings of cobwebs, or getting in between those hard to reach places. However, a vacuum with an attachment can also be used to clean up other things as well, and here are just several of them:

Vacuum hair clippings, don’t sweep them! If you cut hair for a living, or just for fun, you won’t have to hunt down the broom and dustpan anymore when you give those haircuts!

If you have a vacuum with a hose attachment, you no longer have to spend all that time sweeping the hair clippings into neat little pile, or trying to find something to dust off those annoying little hairs that are now glued to the person with the new “hairdo”. Just get out your machine, attach the hose and suck up all the excess hair from wherever, or whomever, it landed upon. This will save you time, so you can move on to your next client – or onto the next unwilling family member, as the case may be.

Use it remove that itchy beach sand from your clothes and body. Most people love going to the beach, yet not surprisingly, most of them don’t relish the thought of all that “cling on” sand that sticks to the inside of their shoes, clothes, and body, from a trip to one.

If you are a beach “lover” who can’t stand one grain of sand on your body from the event and must have it removed immediately, then make sure you always carry a car vacuum with a hose attachment in the car. After a day at the beach, first find any clothes or shoes you’ve left on the ground, and use the hose to suck all the sand from them – taking special care to remove it from your shoes and socks before attempting to put them back on. Then once your body is dried do the same thing – have a friend suck all the sand off your bathing suit, out of your hair, and especially from your skin in hard to reach places.

Deep cleaning your purse – If you’re a woman than you probably have a purse. And, you probably also know how “gunk” has a tendency to collect at the bottom of it, and no matter what you do in trying to remove it, there are still things like tiny beads, pebbles, lint – and God knows what – hidden in its folds.

But with a vacuum attachment you can fix this problem right away – just tip the purse upside down and empty out the wrappers and other large debris. Then stick the hose down near the seam, and suck up the dirt as you vacuum away. Just make sure you don’t have any hard candy or gum stuck to the cloth that may clog the tube or your machine.

Use it to play with the cat – This last way to use your vacuum hose should only be tried if your pet has an extremely good sense of humor, and you are REALLY bored. The way you do this is by turning on the vacuum and letting your cat get used to the sound. If she seems OK with it after a few minutes, then use the hose to lightly “suck” at her paws, at the fur on the top of her head – or lightly suck her tail into the tube. If at this point she still hasn’t scratched you, it might be a good time to have someone take a picture before she suddenly changes her mind.

So now you know there are many different ways you can use a vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment, besides just using it to get into those hard to reach carpeted places. If you reflect on it a bit, you may be able to figure out a few more things you can do with it, that aren’t mentioned here.

Lindsay Eckhart is a mother of 3 kids. Lindsay is very particular about the cleanliness of her home so she is always on the lookout for the best lightweight vacuum cleaners or best upright vacuum cleaners to do the job. She has been using a lot of vacuum cleaners at home for a very long time and she sure knows a lot about them.