This tip comes from T.J. Haas, owner at Syracuse, N.Y.-based Mad Science Flooring:
We semi-frequently have problems with vacuuming. The typical cause of the issues is: I’m not the one vacuuming. I noticed a pattern like this: I vacuum and everything’s fine, and someone else vacuums and I wind up with issues. So I looked and watched and eventually isolated the issues to the simple use of force. I push down on the vacuum wand with my whole upper body, and it’s evident that people other than me have an issue applying that level of force. So when I inherited an old-school metal vacuum head in nearly perfect condition, with special thanks to my good friend, mentor, and borderline second-father-figure Bobby Pearce (out of Auburn, N.Y.), and I noticed the heft compared with modern plastic handles, I decided to make some modifications to the original design. By simply adding wheel weights from Harbor Freight, I was able to add a couple pounds to the increased weight of the metal vacuum head and increase the pressure on the floor when vacuuming. The new helper said the vacuum has a good feel to it, and the results are pretty good.
As a side note, I very much prefer a good, flat horsehair brush to felt, but we added some felt around the horsehair, leaving about 1/8 of the brush sticking out to still allow the brushes to brush, and the felt to help suck the brush to the floor.
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