This is the one thing that’s killing your vacuum cleaner — and experts say we’re all guilty of doing it

Cordless vacuum cleaner leaning against sofa in living room.

I’ll hold up my hands and say that, before I spent hundreds of hours testing vacuums and became Ideal Home’s Certified Expert in Vacuums, I didn’t exactly treat my vacuum cleaner with the respect it deserved. My biggest mistake? Overfilling my vacuum cleaner dust bin - and it’s not hard to do.

After all, many of the dust bins of the best vacuum cleaners have a ‘MAX’ fill line, but most people simply ignore it - especially if it looks like there’s still loads of space in the bin to fill up with dust, dirt, crumbs and other debris. So, most of us keep going and only empty it when it’s completely full.