There are a multitude of factors to be considered when choosing a vacuum cleaner, all of which can be as mind boggling as the last. Not the least of these is those little plastic extras that seem to come with every type of canister vacuum you can think of, most of which look like they should be on the set of a science fiction movie. So what are all those attachments, and do you really need them?

Most vacuums seem to come with certain attachments as standard. There's often a long slender nozzle that looks like it might be the most useful of the bunch - you could probably use that for cleaning under the furniture without having to half cripple yourself by moving it. There's often a little round one, with a kind of brushy end: this one tends to scare your cat if you rush at her too quickly while brandishing it. There's one more too, usually, but it's always rather non-descript, so that when push comes to shove, you don't really remember what exactly it looks like. This line up surely can't be any help is getting the housework done - can it?

The truth is that certain vacuum cleaner attachments, despite their strange appearance, can be rather useful. The little narrow looking one actually is quite handy for squeezing into almost unreachable parts. And you really shouldn't try to intimidate your pets with your vacuum attachments - though there are attachments designed especially to help eliminate the hair and fur that many pets leave behind. You can even use certain of these to groom your pet before the hairs escape, though remember that gentleness is the key when using one of these.

And that's not all. There are specially designed vacuum attachments that allow you clean your blinds without having to invest the time and energy in taking them down. Fitted with special 'fingers', these fit between your blind slats, removing dust and dirt in one fell swoop. Another attachment is designed to spruce up your ceiling fan, while there are several shapes and makes of attachment that clean up your upholstery.

So who'd have thought it? Those vacuum cleaner attachments really are useful after all. Just be sure to read the instructions before proceeding with the micro cleaning that these accessories allow - you don't want to ceiling fan clean your cat!