A pet cat or dog brings happiness, comfort, and friendship into your home. However, they also leave behind an abundance of hair on your clothing, furniture, and floor. As with children and clutter, managing cat and dog hair in the home is a constant fight that you accept when you welcome these bundles of disorder into your home.
A vacuum cleaner is an essential tool for removing pet hair, dander and dust, particularly for allergy sufferers. Many models now feature specially engineered floor heads and attachments for tidying up after dogs.
In our quest to find the best vacuums for pet hair, we tested and evaluated 10 robot vacuums, 7 cordless stick vacuums, 6 upright, and 9 canister vacuums.
Here are our top choices of vacuums for pet hair in 2022.
The best vacuums for pet hair in 2022
Best upright vacuum: Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-Off Upright Vacuum
Consider a corded upright vacuum if your home is too large for a single battery charge of a stick vacuum, particularly if you have a lot of carpets. They are bulkier, heavier, and less agile than portable vacuums, but their suction is more vigorous and does not run out of energy.
Because of the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-Off Upright’s Pet Turboeraser small brush tool, it is the best upright vacuum for pet hair, beating out the five other uprights we tested. However, it’s suction based, rather than motorized, so that it won’t be as efficient as a motor-driven pet hair vacuum.
The lift-off function of the Pet Hair Eraser allows the canister, hose, wand, and motor to separate from the floor head, allowing you to easily vacuum upholstery, curtains, fixtures, and other items above floor level. It’s not the skinniest of the 6 upright vacs we evaluated at 18 pounds, and it’s not the greatest on hard surfaces, but it’s the best option for pet owners. People who are allergic to dust or pet dander should pick a bagged canister vacuum instead of a bagless vertical like the Bissell.
Best value robot vacuum: iLife V3S Pro
The iLife V3S Pro was the greatest of the 10 robot vacuums we evaluated at removing pet hair without choking since it lacked roller brushes. It’s a bargain compared to other robot vacuums, which go upwards of $300.
The iLife V3S Pro eliminates pet hair and cat litter from wood and low-pile carpet. It uses bump-and-run navigation instead of mapping, meaning it cannot avoid wires or feces as the Roomba j7+ can, but it will ultimately clean the whole room. Unlike more costly robots, it cannot empty itself and lacks a bin-full indication. However, if you make it a practice to clear the trash bin every day, you can substantially reduce the amount of pet hair in your room with no effort.
Best robot vacuum if the price isn’t an issue: iRobot Roomba j7+
If price isn’t an issue, the iRobot Roomba j7+ is a good choice and more intelligent than most robot vacuums. In contrast to the iLife V3S Pro, it is not bump-and-run: It maps your home along with no-go zones and has built-in object identification to avoid electrical wires, headphones, and — most significantly — pet waste, allowing you to potentially prevent a ‘pooptastrophe.’
The j7+ is self-emptying, unlike the iLife V3S Pro, which must be emptied after every operation. Its rubberized multi-surface brushes are equal only to the V3S Pro’s lack of brushes in preventing pet hair tangles. The Dirt Detect function lets it zero in on specific problems, such as a cat litter spill, and clean them thoroughly.
The Roomba j7+ is the most incredible robot vacuum on the market, but it is costly and, during our tests, its self-emptying cycle generated a jet-engine-like noise. It is an appealing improvement over the iLife V3S Pro if you have the funds, particularly if you have dogs prone to going to the bathroom indoors.
Best canister vacuum: Kenmore BC4026 Pet-Friendly Pop-N-Go
For people with allergies to pets, carpets, dust, or dander, a canister vacuum can provide more strong suction, deeper carpet cleaning, and superior air filtration than an upright vacuum. The Kenmore BC4026 Pet-Friendly Pop-N-Go is not extremely agile by traditional vacuum standards. However, its electrical floor sweeper brush removes an incredible amount of dust and pet hair from even the densest carpets.
Similar to the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser upright, the Pet Powermate includes a small turbo brush that does an easy job of cat hair on cat trees, microfiber furniture, and pet beds. In contrast to the Bissell, Kenmore’s version is motorized, allowing you to adjust the suction level without altering the brush speed, which significantly aids in removing pet hair without breathing in the material.
Because of the HEPA-compliant dust bag and exhaust filter, the BC4026 is three times more effective at dust collection than the Dyson V11 Animal stick vacuum or Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-Off Upright. It also has three times the dust capacity. The Kenmore upright weighs 22 pounds, 4 pounds more than the Bissell, and its floor head nor canister are as maneuverable. But for raw power, nothing beats a canister vacuum, and the Kenmore is far less expensive than the Miele Complete C3 Kona, which is significantly more maneuverable.
Best cordless vacuum: Dyson V11 Animal
The Dyson V11 Animal is the best cordless stick vac for pet hair and the best of the 7 stick vacuums we tested. Depending on the size of your apartment or home, it may be the only vacuum you need. The crevice tool and tiny motorized brush tool are ideal for scrubbing furniture pieces, cat towers, and pet beds in handheld function. Its swivelling floor head makes quick work of pet hair and dust, even in carpets with a high pile. Because it’s small, lightweight, and cordless, taking out the vacuum isn’t as difficult as it may be with other types of vacuums.
The battery life is the biggest drawback of the V11 Animal. At its default and Boost settings, the battery life is between 30 and 45 minutes, which may not be sufficient. Unlike other stick vacuums with interchangeable batteries, Dyson’s rechargeable battery is built in, which must be recharged after running out of power. Dyson uses a trigger-style power switch, which you must keep down the entire time you are vacuuming—good for little tasks, but you may find it a bit annoying if you’re cleaning a whole house.
Best portable vacuum: Bissell Pet Hair Eraser
The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser is the best portable vacuum for pet hair; its motorized brush allows it to pick up pet hair off furniture, floors, in the vehicle, and wherever else we find pet hair (which, as any cat or dog owner knows, is basically everywhere). Although the Pet Hair Eraser is 17 inches in length and weighs around 3 pounds because of its big canister, it is well-balanced and pleasant to use.
The motor-powered pet hair brush connects securely and allows us to remove deeply entrenched dog hair from carpets, rugs, couches, and even the carpeting of our test vehicle. The 23.6-ounce canister, which was the largest of all the handheld vacuums we tested, did suck up a great deal of hair before needing to be cleaned, and the 17-minute runtime allowed us to work until the job was truly finished. Additionally, the long crevice tool and flat upholstery brush allowed us to reach areas where the motorized main brush couldn’t reach.
Because of its many uses, the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser might serve as your sole portable vacuum. Even though its increased power and capacity make it bigger and more challenging to control than its competitors, it’s an excellent choice for cleaning the house or keeping your car clean. Because of the narrowness of the nozzle, you may want to seek elsewhere if you’re going to clean up after children. It also lacks a charging station and includes a wall-wart power supply cord, making it less handy than our other preferred handheld vacuums.
Choosing the right pet hair vacuum for you
The bristles on the brush head of a vacuum are meant to stir carpet and remove dirt, debris, and hairs from the ground. However, as anybody using a hairbrush knows, hairs become entangled in the bristles over time. If you have pets who shed excessively, the hair on the brush might build so quickly that it jams the vacuum, reducing airflow or prohibiting the brush from rotating at all. That’s why there are vacuums created explicitly for pet fur, with brushes that won’t clog up on the hair and motorized tiny brush heads that can remove pet hair from furniture and stairs.
Pet-specific vacuums typically feature HEPA filters to control dust, dander, and pet-related allergies in general. If you’re concerned about these difficulties, you may wish to look for a bagged vacuum instead of a bagless type; the bag offers an additional filtering step and prevents dust leakage when emptying.
If you have several cats and dogs in your home, a traditional vac or stick vacuum will provide you with the power and equipment necessary to remove animal hair, dander, and dust from every surface. These corded devices have more powerful motors and better suction, and those that are pet-friendly have powered brushes intended to do quick hair work, avoiding clogging. They may be a bit more cumbersome than cordless sticks, but they will not run out of power during your weekly cleaning.
A portable stick vacuum is usually enough if your flat or small house has primarily bare flooring. If you have a large home or a lot of carpeting, a standing or canister vacuum is a better option than a cordless stick vacuum since they generate greater suction and won’t run out of power in the middle of a task. Many of them are also portable vacuums, ideal for keeping upholstery free of pet hair and cleaning up tiny pet-related spills.
A robot vacuum is a fantastic addition to a portable stick, upright, or canister vacuum if you’re cleaning up after dogs. Utilizing a robot vacuum regularly may reduce the daily accumulation of dust to a limited extent, making your weekly duties easier. Tiny roller brushes on most robot vacuums may quickly become clogged with pet hair; thus, regular maintenance is required. Our current category favorite, the iLife V3S Pro, circumvents this issue by omitting the roller brush.
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