Suck It Up: 11 Vacuum Attachments You Should Own (and How to Use Them)

Vacuum attachments can turn a carpet-cleaning machine into an all-purpose dust and dander eliminator around the home. You probably have a few of these add-on gadgets lying around your home—do you really know what they’re supposed to do? Get the scoop on the real uses for the brushes that came with your machine, and discover some accessories you don’t have but should that will make home maintenance a heck of a lot easier.

This attachment is pretty self-explanatory: It extends the length of the vacuum hose and can be paired with other vacuum attachments, which fasten to the end of the wand. Use the extra length of one or all three tubes on a canister or upright vacuum for getting to those high, low, and hard-to-reach places, like the ceiling fan, under the fridge, or behind furniture. 

Connect the wand to the vacuum and twist the desired attachment onto the other end. With this handy tool, dust can no longer hide! 

Get the First4 Spares Universal Chrome Wand Extenders on Amazon for $23.95.

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Dust and pet hair cling to the fibers of fabric, furniture, car seats, and stairs, and can be difficult to budge. Win the battle against dusty cushions with an upholstery cleaner attachment. This kit includes a turbo brush for stubborn pet hair, along with five dust attachments and an adapter kit to manage the fit for most standard vacuums. Use the attachments on furniture, linens, and even a mattress! 

Get the VACEXT Upholstery Cleaning Kit on Amazon for $22.99.

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This flat, wide attachment should be your go-to tool for cleaning hard-surface floors. Its short bristles sweep the floor for dirt, crumbs, and hair while the center sucks up the rest of the debris. This attachment with horsehair bristles and a swivel design maneuvers easily around a room and under furniture. 

Get the Anboo Hardwood Floor Brush attachment on Amazon for $13.99.

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Identify a dust brush attachment by its circular or rectangular shape and long bristles. As the name suggests, this attachment is designed for dusting. Its long, soft hairs are gentle and won’t scratch surfaces. Use it on furniture, blinds, lampshades, workbenches, or the dashboard of the car. Dirt and dust will cling to the bristles and get sucked into the open center of the brush. 

Note that this attachment is suitable for workshop vacs, and has a larger diameter collar than most household vacuum wands. 

Get the Workshop Wet/Dry Vacuum Dust Brush Attachment on Amazon for $13.32.

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This might be the most familiar vacuum attachment on the list. The narrow, angled crevice tool should be the go-to vacuum accessory for cleaning areas that the vacuum is too bulky to reach. Slide it along baseboards, between vents, and in other tight corners to pick up dust and debris. You can also use this attachment to clean under couch cushions. 

Get the 1.25-Inch Workshop Crevice Tool on Amazon for $7.55.

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Pet owners should consider adding this attachment kit to their collection of grooming tools. The rubber-bristle brush is meant to help keep a pet’s hair soft and attach to a vacuum tube to suck hair directly from the brush to the vacuum canister. This kit comes in an ergonomic design, with a flexible extension hose and an adapter to connect to wands between 1.25 and 2 inches in diameter. Just beware, pets might need to get used to the sound of the vacuum! 

Get the Gforest Pet Vacuum Grooming Brush Kit on Amazon for $25.99.

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The turbo brush attachment is perfect for when you need more power than a bare-floor attachment and less heft than a full-blown vacuum. With both a rotating head and rotating bristles, it can provide a deep clean for hardwood floors and many stairs without the need to lug the vacuum up every step. Next time you need to do a 10-second tidy, grab this attachment with a universal 1.25-inch fit. 

Get the EZ Spares universal turbo floor brush on Amazon for $21.99.

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Make quick cleanup of big rooms with hardwood floors or other surfaces with a large brush attachment. With natural horsehair bristles and removable soft rubber to adjust height, cleaning efficiently carries no worries about scratching hardwood surfaces. The full-size (11.8-inch) head covers plenty of square footage and swivels 360 degrees, so catching dust bunnies under furniture is a breeze. The tool should fit all 1.25-inch vacuum attachment wands. 

Get the Anboo Extra-Large Floor Attachment on Amazon for $13.99.

Look down at your laptop: Is your keyboard filled with dust and crumbs from working lunches? Crevice tools are about as handy as a standard vacuum attachment can get, but keyboards’ crevices can be too tiny for standard tools. This keyboard micro vacuum attachment kit comes with both a curved and straight wand extender/adapter and three tools that all measure no more than 3.5 inches long. The micro tools include brushes and a tiny crevice attachment to make efficient work of keyboard cleanup with a standard vacuum attachment wand.

Get the EZ Spares 7-piece Micro Vacuum Attachment Kit on Amazon for $10.98.

If cleaning the clothes dryer’s vent never occurred to you, put this important home maintenance task on your to-do list right away—doing so will prevent fires and higher utility costs. With the right tool, cleaning the dryer vent can be a snap. This handy vent-cleaning kit has a flexible hose and guide wire to remove lint remaining in the machine’s vent filter and wall connection. It’s narrow enough to pull lint from nearly any part of the appliance and from clogged outdoor vents or even under furniture. The adapter fits vacuum wands up to nearly 2.5 inches in diameter. Just be sure to check the narrow tube every few minutes for clogs, then slide it back in. 

Get the Sealegend Dryer Vent Cleaner Attachment Kit on Amazon for $11.89.

Maybe it’s only when the sun hits just right that all the dust under the stove or refrigerator shows up, and moving the appliance to get to it is not a fun prospect. With a flat vacuum attachment, it’s much easier to reach under the fridge and back to the wall. At 36 inches long when straightened, this flat tool can get behind bedroom headboards and low furniture, too. It’s made to fit 1.25-inch vacuum wands and is an easy, sometimes-used tool to stow away between cleanings.

Get the All Parts Etc. Under Fridge Cleaning Tool Flat Attachment on Amazon for $18.99.

All prices are current as of October 3, 2022.