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While vacuuming, I heard the typical 'kaclink kaclink' of a larger solid object being sucked up. I think it might be an earring I lost a few days ago, so I'd like to get whatever it is out of the bag. How can I do this while minimizing the amount of dust gets back into the air?

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Try using water.

Take the dust and put it in a plastic garbage bag and then add water slowly while holding the bag as shut as you can.

Now that the dust is wet you can handle it without it blowing in your face. Add the mixture slowly to a bowl or buckets of water and the dust should float making anything appear.

If the earring is big you can sift through the wet dust. Please do either method outside so that any spilt dust does not go in your face.

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  • I would add: You can use a sieve to filter out the finest dust, keeping just things like hairs and other larger/very sticky stuff, and your earrings.
    – yo'
    Commented Mar 25, 2015 at 18:05
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    @yo' I didn't want to add that one as it would involve dust getting everywhere! But it is a valid method that would work ;)
    – Pobrecita
    Commented Mar 25, 2015 at 23:37
  • Well, you can combine the two methods and run a shower on very low over the the siege. The dust will make it through even wet.
    – yo'
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 0:20
  • A coating of mud may make it visually unidentifiable.
    – Mazura
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 8:26
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Get a second vacuum with a hose attachment. Over the opening of the hose, attach (with duct tape?) a screen that will let through dust and dirt but nothing bigger than, say, a popcorn kernel. Then simply vacuum all the dust from the first vacuum's bag into the second vacuum's bag through the hose. The larger object -- such as an earring -- will get caught by the screen or will just remain in the first bag.

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    or a sock - which would keep bigger items from getting in
    – Journeyman Geek
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 11:22
  • Thanks! But I actually did the art in MS Paint!! That's why it looks so clunky and patchy.
    – BrettFromLA
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 16:19
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The trick to this for me has always been surface area. I cut open an old grocery store plastic bag, and lay it on a table. I then cut open the dust bag, and carefully spread it into as thin of a layer as possible so that there's no need to dig a lot. Cleanup is simple: fold the grocery bag to seal the dust.

In general, you're trying to avoid getting dust into the air column, and the surest way to do that is to disrupt the pile as little as possible. If the depth of the pile is thin enough, you should be able to do a quick visible inspection in order to find your lost trinket.

I also tend to use a pair of tweezers to work through the debris or fish things out of the bag when I can see them towards the top.

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  • Or a tarp; lay it out like airplane wreckage. Use a dusk mask, paying special attention to clumps of hair in which it may be caught.
    – Mazura
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 8:30
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If the biggest problem is making a mess, I would take it outside. Having some dust fly around there doesn't really seem like a problem. And if some of it does reach the ground, rain (Or a bucket of water) will wash it away soon enough.

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The dustbag contains not only dust and dirt - it's also heaving with bacteria, so although I do exactly what you now intend to do, I first take the precaution of wearing a face mask (just a basic dust mask) and rubber gloves. If you can, take the bag outside and spread a sheet of something (plastic, tarpaulin, whatever) and put the bag on it. If its disposable, then slit it open and rummage for what you want, if not, you'll have to either put your hand in and rummage, or gently tip and pull out the contents onto your sheet and poke around to find the object. Best not done on a windy day... and after all that, I hope it is your earring and not something you don't even want, like a bottle top!

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If you can find someone who has a metal detector . . . with two large plastic trash bags, sort half of the debris into one bag and test it with the metal detector, keep dividing the contents by the results of waving the metal detector over the bag.

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  • I can't imagine a standard metal detector ever recognizing something as small as an earring.
    – yo'
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 0:21
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    In fact metal detectors are designed to find objects as small as earrings.
    – dotancohen
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 12:05
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    I played with one once, it found small bits of aluminum foil.
    – Anonymous Cowherd
    Commented Mar 27, 2015 at 2:58
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Get a really strong rare earth magnet and run it around the part of the bag that would be the top of the dirt pile. If you feel it connect to something, bring it to the top of the bag and then try to pull it out with your finger. If your earring was a non-magnetic metal (which is most likely) and this plan doesn't work, it's likely you will feel extreme rage having failed after all the trouble of getting the magnet. To handle that, tell the vacuum you hate it, optionally kick it a few times, then tell it it's sacked. Then go watch QVC so you can buy a new earring.

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One method to recover the potential earring would be to take the bag to an open area where making a mess would not be a concern, and just splitting the bag and spilling its contents.

The wind will carry away the dust and fine particles (hold the bag from upwind) and the earring and other heavy objects will fall straight down. Just be sure to clean up the bag pieces and other large refuse so as to leave the area unpolluted.

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  • Not a concern for whom? Thanks for the suggestion to further pollute the air we breathe but not the scenery. I can't see this as a socially responsible answer.
    – Stan
    Commented Aug 3, 2016 at 15:43
  • @stan: Thank you for taking the environment so seriously! Note that the contents of the vacuum cleaner bag are detritus that had settled out of the atmosphere recently. Thus, 'polluting' from the bag is akin to 'releasing carbon' in a wooden stove: no net effect on the environment. It is the release of ancient carbon, or processed non-biodegradabe material, that pollutes the environment.
    – dotancohen
    Commented Aug 3, 2016 at 15:49
  • If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong. content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1966870,00.html
    – Stan
    Commented Aug 3, 2016 at 15:53

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