How to Unclog a Vacuum Hose 2023

Published by Ahmad Jamal on February 27, 2022 | Last updated on May 13, 2023

Maintaining a clean house means doing proper vacuuming & cleaning of the house on regular basis.

Sometimes improper vacuuming, hidden objects, or poor maintenance can get in the way of that, by clogging your vacuum hose.

How to unclog a vacuum hose? You may be wondering. It’s not a simple technique but it’s not that hard either.

Therefore, you need to know the reasons behind clogging a vacuum hose, noticing when a vacuum is clogged, and perfecting the best practice on how to unclog a vacuum hose.

You’ll be able to do all of that after finishing this Cleaners Advisor article, in addition to knowing more about other inappropriate methods that have been used in the last 50 years, that may not be as effective as the best way to unclog the vacuum hose.

And by the end of the article, I left some professional tips to prevent your hose from getting clogged again.

Table of Contents

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Why Does a Vacuum Hose Get Clogged?

Let’s start off by getting behind the reasons on why will anyone’s vacuum hose get clogged, as identifying the causes is the main element in preventing the clogging in the first place:

Vacuuming Large Debris.
Doing Poor Maintenance to Your Vacuum.
Vacuuming Wet & Dry Floorings Instead of Using Separated Methods for Each.
Using Wrong Vacuum Head/Equipment.

How to Know that My Vacuum Hose is Clogged?

Sometimes it’s just hard to notice a small change in performance since you vacuum on a semi-daily basis.

Here are the ways to diagnose if your vacuum hose is clogged:

Unusual Sound When Vacuuming.
Losing Suction Which Leads to Poor Performance.
Leaving Debris on the Floor That’s Usually Easy to Pick Up.
Sometimes You’ll Notice Burning Smell Coming Out of the Vacuum.
Some People Would Drop a Very Small Round Object in the Hose, But I advise to Do Otherwise as It May Make Matters Worse.

Elephant in the Room: How to Unclog a Vacuum Hose

There are handful of techniques and ways to solve the problem of how to unclog a vacuum hose.

However, some are hard to execute, some can be dangerous, others can just be too cheap and ineffective.

Following is the best way to unclog a vacuum hose:

First of all, you have to make sure the vacuum is turned off and disconnected from the power source, as it’s the safest way when handling any problem with the vacuum or its hose.

Start with opening the hose on either side, some would be easy to open with a simple pull, other vacuums would require you’ll do some screw driving to open both sides of the vacuum hose.

Get a Broomstick, and put it in the further part of the vacuum hose, then use it to get the large debris out of the way.

Don’t ever use the head of a coat hanger or any sharp items, you’ll end up damaging the vacuum hose instead of unclogging it.

Now that you need to break any kind of dust buildup inside the vacuum hose, you can use a “Baking Soda + White Vinegar” combination, by applying baking soda first, then adding the vinegar after a small while.

Leave this combination inside the vacuum hose for nearly 3-5 minutes.

Then use warm water to get rid of the combination alongside any buildup dirt inside.

Sometimes using a stream of powerful warm water can be useful too.

You’re now done with unclogging the vacuum hose, leave it to dry for quite some time of around 18-24 hours.

The next day, re-install the vacuum hose into the machine and test the suction power going back to normal yourself.

Now that you’ve perfected the best way how to unclog a vacuum hose, let’s move on to other older ways and put some red flags on every one of them.

Older Ways of How to Unclog a Vacuum Hose

After perfecting the best way, knowing the other older & ineffective ways is an essential way of understanding what to NOT do when trying to know how to unclog a vacuum hose:

1. Using Tornado Power Wipes

I’ve found an older video of an attempt to unclog a vacuum hose, but in my expertise, it may cause additional problems to you instead of solving the existing problem.

Here’s the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olgMONIOXkg

Fully depending on a wipe to get rid of some hard unmovable large debris doesn’t sound like the best solution.

Therefore, this way can get rid of small and easy-to-remove debris but will put an additional level of clogging inside the vacuum against larger debris.

2. Using Coat Hanger

Using a coat hanger has been performed too many times and it can get the job done, but there’s a high probability you’ll get the hose damaged trying to get the vacuum unclogged.

If you’re still convinced this is a proper way, this is how they used to do it:

Open the vacuum’s head, and get the beater bar out.

Use a small piece of strong wire and reach in the hose for debris that’s caused the clogging.

Most of the time the wire isn’t strong enough, and can’t get the job done.

If that’s the case, then use a Coat Hanger since they’re usually stronger.

Once you get the hanger from one side to the other side of the hose, then you’ve successfully removed all the large debris that may have clogged it.

Get the beater bar back inside the vacuum’s head, and close it back.

You’re ready to go if nothing dangerous happens.

3. Using Cheap Items

Instead of using a wire or a coat hanger, some people would resolve to use 2-5$ items that claim to get the job done.

I remember seeing a woman posting a video on social media, claiming using a handy tool named “Zip-It” to get the vacuum hose unclogged.

This is as dangerous as the coat hanger, and it’s sometimes more dangerous since you’re not familiar with such cheap items.

I advise refraining from such actions and doing them properly as described above.

4. Using Another Powerful Vacuum

This is a relatively new method of trying to know how to unclog a vacuum hose, by using another vacuum with more powerful suction power.

The method includes opening the vacuum hose’s both sides, then going to the closest side to the clogging.

After that, you’ll need to suck the clogging object in the opposite direction it was sucked in.

This is not effective to a certain extent, but it’s somehow doable with some vacuums.

5. Using a Garden Hose with Powerful Water

This is similar to the previous method, but instead of another vacuum, you’re going to use the power of water in a garden hose.

Therefore, you only need to open the garden hose’s water flow to the maximum power and target the closest side of the vacuum hose near the clogging.

It can damage the hose if it’s not susceptible to that level of water flow power, so make sure you’re not destroying the hose to get it unclogged.

How Often Should You Maintain Your Vacuum Hose?

Maintaining your vacuum hose is a key component to preventing it from clogging, especially if you use your vacuum often.

You have to take care of your vacuum hose’s cleanliness once a month on average.

If you’re a day-to-day vacuuming master, then 3 weeks is enough to make sure you’re cleaning the vacuum hose properly and checking if the hose is working as it’s supposed to.

Tips on How to Unclog a Vacuum Hose

Pick large debris with an external handle instead of vacuuming it.
Tidy the rooms you want to vacuum before vacuuming it.
Vacuum with a proper attachment.
Maintain the vacuum regularly
Don’t work on wet & dry dirt using incompetent vacuum.

How to Unclog a Vacuum Hose FAQ

How do you clean a vacuum hose?

You can use a Broomstick to get the large debris off the way, then proceed to use warm water & a combination of both white vinegar and baking soda, then rinse and repeat until you get all the dust and debris cleaned.

Why is my vacuum hose not suctioning?

It’s probably either clogged with large debris or with long hair. Either way, you should get this done as soon as possible. Cleaners Advisor has detailed guides on solving both problems.

Can I put baking soda in my vacuum?

Yes, alongside white vinegar. But make sure it doesn’t stay there for more than 3-5 minutes, then wash the combination with warm water.

To Wrap Up

This concludes the step-by-step guide on how to unclog a vacuum hose, highlighting the best method to do this essential process responsible for getting your vacuum its proper performance back again.

I’ve also compiled a list of the best vacuums for long hair, as long hair can be responsible for unclogging vacuums, as much as other large debris types.

If you’re still struggling with carrying out any of those methods to unclog your vacuum hose, leave a comment below and I’ll get back with the additional explanation on how to unclog a vacuum hose.