Shop these 8 best vacuums for pet hair

Table Of Content

• Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Handheld Vacuum
• Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra Upright Vacuum Cleaner
• Best robot vacuum cleaner: iRobot Roomba i7+
• A pretty smart robot vacuum
• A Self-Emptying Model That Boosts Suction On Rugs
• Rug Doctor Pet Portable Spot Cleaner
• The 4 Best Robot Vacuums For Pet Hair - Spring 2024
• What is considered good suction for vacuum cleaners?

If you have pets, you’re going to have to vacuum more frequently than you would otherwise—although most pet owners will tell you their furry friends are well worth the trade-off. Brown recommends vacuuming daily and keeping a vacuum on each floor of the home for easy access. Vacuums, including those designed for pet hair, come in several different styles, each with different intended uses. In our Lab tests, we first timed how long it took to get the vacuum up and running from the moment the box was opened, taking note of how easy or difficult the assembly was. In fact, Dr. Johnson says allergen particles can linger in the air for days or even weeks after being disturbed.

Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Handheld Vacuum

The edge-sweeping brush allows the vacuum to clean along walls and baseboards even better than upright or stick vacuums, and its low profile slides easily clean under furniture, such as beds or couches. When the dustbin reaches capacity, the j7+ returns to its base and automatically empties its bin into its enclosed bag system, and then returns to its cleaning cycle. The bag system keeps allergens sealed inside—once it’s full, simply toss the closed bag in the trash.

Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra Upright Vacuum Cleaner

For cleaning pet hair off furniture, stairs, or car upholstery, the Black + Decker Furbuster is lightweight and easy to carry around your home. The handheld model comes with a motorized pet tool that makes quick work of hair on virtually any surface, and the strands don’t get wrapped around its spinning brush roll, either. We prioritized vacuums from reliable brands, including Bissell, Dyson, and Miele, and we looked for specific features that are beneficial for pet owners, including good filtration, non-tangle brush rolls, and large bins. If you’re in the market for a lightweight vacuum for pet hair but don’t want to shell out an arm and a leg for a Dyson or other similarly-priced models, the Hoover Onepwr Evolve Pet Cordless Vacuum is a great lower-priced option. We found this vacuum performed particularly well on carpets, especially for pet hair.

Best robot vacuum cleaner: iRobot Roomba i7+

You’ll need two hands to operate it—one hand to guide the canister and the other to push the vacuum itself—but we weren’t overly tired from doing this. "Always start a pet hair removal project by vacuuming, as no other tool or trick will remove as much hair as quickly and easily as a vacuum," adds Melissa Homer, chief cleaning officer at MaidPro. "Most pet owners need a weekly vacuuming to keep up with hair and tracked in dirt." If you're a pet owner, there's no doubt you've had to deal with the hassle of shedding from your pets.

However, I also used rayon fibers to mimic the texture of soft dog hair and scattered that throughout the different surfaces of my home, too. In contrast, the laser brush head illuminated all the hair I didn’t know I was missing. Though some vacuums I tested, like the Bissell ICON Pet Turbo Edge, had a convenient light on the suction head, this is the only vacuum that projects a laser light at a specific angle to illuminate microscopic particles.

A Self-Emptying Model That Boosts Suction On Rugs

The Best Vacuums for Pet Hair, According to Our Rigorous Home Testing - The Wall Street Journal

The Best Vacuums for Pet Hair, According to Our Rigorous Home Testing.

Posted: Tue, 02 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Top-performing vacuums came home with us for long-term testing, and we’ve updated this article with new insights based on how well the vacuum performed for up to six months of use. Overall, this vacuum is priced above the median of all the vacuums we tested, but we think it comes at a reasonable price point for a canister vacuum that’s designed to clean pet hair from your entire home. This bagged canister vacuum excels on both bare floors and carpets, and it has many adjustment options and attachments that make picking up fur a breeze. With that being said, a corded vacuum provides a more consistent clean compared to a cordless model, which eventually runs out of battery power and needs to be recharged, says Neumann.

Rug Doctor Pet Portable Spot Cleaner

Next, I considered the height of the vacuum and the length of the extendable arm. Although any good canister, stick or robot vacuum can pick up pet hair, having a dedicated machine designed for the task can make the process of cleaning your home much more efficient and streamlined. Vacuums for pet hair differ from standard vacuums in a variety of ways—some have a HEPA filter that’s ideal for dealing with pet hair and dander, while some have specially-designed bristles that are resistant to tangling. Either way, the best vacuums for pet hair should effectively trap hair from hardwood floors, carpet and upholstered furniture without getting tangled or clogged in the process. Most importantly, I loved that this vacuum has a designated mode for vacuuming bare floors.

The 4 Best Robot Vacuums For Pet Hair - Spring 2024

Similar to our choice for Best Robot, upon its maiden voyage the Neato D8 connects to wifi and maps out its new digs communicating through the NeatoApp on a mobile device. From the app, areas can be restricted, cleanings can be scheduled, and the overall maintenance needs of the vacuum can be monitored. The power cord extends 26 feet and self-retracts back into the vacuum with the push of a button. With four suction levels to choose from and a brush roller, this vacuum is effective across a variety of flooring types. The best carpet cleaner is the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Carpet Cleaner 35799, which has excellent cleaning abilities, helpful attachments, and an easy-to-use design.

And it’s also worth noting that we were expecting it to be louder—it came in at 83 decibels, making it one of the quietest machines we tested. We wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s quiet—no carpet cleaner is—but you could have a conversation over it with someone else in the room. For starters, one of the biggest differences is the iCarpet’s 2-liter tank capacity, which is roughly half the size of the 1-gallon tank in the ProHeat 2X Revolution. This means that the iCarpet is a bit lighter (22 pounds when full), and we’d argue that the smaller tank size means it’s a bit better equipped for smaller spaces, since you’ll likely go through that volume more quickly. The iCarpet also happens to be a bit quieter (82 decibels, less than the average of our tested pool of cleaners, which was 85 decibels). Upright carpet machines are cumbersome in general, but this one is more streamlined than most.

This Miele canister vacuum model comes with a turbo brush floorhead specially designed for picking up dirt and hair from low- to medium-pile carpets. We are always impressed by the design and performance of Miele vacuums in our tests, and this canister vacuum was no exception, picking up dry oats from carpets, hardwood flooring and tiles without leaving anything behind. Thanks to its small size, it can be easily stored and carried from room to room, and its 32-foot operating radius is great for cleaning large areas.

So it can hold a respectable amount of debris—including loose carpet fibers and fur—without needing frequent emptying. If you don’t stay on top of it, pet hair can quickly take over your home, working itself into carpeting and furniture and forming dust bunnies that linger in every corner. But not every vacuum is designed for all the mess your animals leave behind—you need a powerful vacuum that can efficiently pick up fine hair and pet dander to leave your home looking clean and smelling fresh. Our best overall canister vacuum pick is the Kenmore Pet-Friendly Pop-N-Go Bagged Canister Vacuum because it is extremely effective at removing pet hair from carpet and upholstery. Plus, it comes with a wide variety of attachments for different cleaning tasks, all of which can be stored on board. And for those who suffer from allergies, the HEPA filter and bagged design prevent allergens from releasing into the air when emptying.

This is because it seamlessly removed large chunks of pet hair and even bits of kibble without missing debris or pushing anything across the floor. We did notice that, when the time came to empty the dustbin, we had to manually remove lightweight debris such as pet hair that wouldn’t fall out simply by shaking it. When you have dogs or cats, removing fur from nearly every surface is simply a part of everyday life. That's why finding a vacuum cleaner that works well on pet hair is so important. With the push of a button, the canister can be emptied directly into a trash can.

The compact size and wheeled design also are super helpful in moving the machine from room to room and taking care of small to medium-sized messes. Pet owners know that fluffy friends come with their own set of messes, which is why we recommend the Rug Doctor Pet Portable Spot Cleaner for any pet waste-related, deep cleaning needs. If you purchase this cleaner through Rug Doctor's website, an 8-ounce bottle of their Pure Power Pet Stain and Odor Cleaning Solution is included, but you can also purchase it separately. This small but mighty machine was ready to go out of the box and was also pretty intuitive to use. Our favorite feature on this cleaner is the retractable handle, which makes rolling it between spots and storage easy.

The second advantage is a super-soft brush roll for cleaning hardwood floors without scratching them. Consider opting for a vacuum with a height-adjustable floorhead, like the Kenmore Floor Care Elite. This feature allows you to raise or lower the brush roll, optimizing suction power and agitation according to your carpet's pile.