Best Vacuum for Pet Hair 2020 – Reviews and Buyer’s Guide

To make this list of 10 best vacuum for pet hair, our volunteers collected various products available in the market.

For selection, we carried out an intensive research and went through various expert reviews, blogs, trade magazines and manufacturer’s website.

We had to navigate scores of product’s pages on the sites of retail giants like Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Alibaba etc. for collecting meaningful data.

Our Top 3 Recommendation

Our pick

MIELE Complete C3 Marin

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Runner-up

SHARK Apex AZ 1002

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Upgrade pick

MIELE dynamic U1

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How We Picked

Since we were collecting models for tackling pet hair we were specially inclined towards those models which were either designed with special consideration for pet hair or were equipped with such accessories and attachments that add value in relation to this particular aspect.

We conducted comparative analysis based on all these features, keeping price in mind and narrowed down our picks. Initially, we got 80 products shortlisted from our research. Out of these, we further selected 25 products based on our ranking. On these 25 remaining, we conducted rigorous tests to make our list reliable and foolproof.

How We Tested

The team of our engineers carried out tough in-house testing, and then shortlisted the products. The tests were conducted to assess the products on performance, durability, ease of operation and maneuverability.

In order to analyze the vacuum cleaners, we took different things as samples like cat hair, cat litter, long hair of dog, miniscule dirt particles and baby powder. We spread them on the different nature of floors and surfaces including tiles, hard floors, carpets, upholstery, deep down in sofas etc. All 25 machines were evaluated for each sample and each type of vacuumed area.

For fair results, the coverage area and amount of dust samples was kept same every time. Areas were precisely marked for this purpose, and the samples were pre-weighed. Furthermore, time given to each model was same, which was recorded precisely. The pre-weighed dust samples were weighed after vacuuming test again to measure the amount of dust suctioned.

Some models were immediately disqualified on account of scattering dust even if they managed to pick some too.

We know that customers are annoyed with the noise some machines create while cleaning. This factor was also examined .A decibel meter was used to measure the noise made at ear level, for all the models, when they were operated at their maximum power setting.

The scoring was done for each model from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, and 1 as the worst. The overall score is composed of:

1. MIELE Complete C3 Marin Canister – The Best Vacuum for Pet Hair 2020

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This vacuum is reliable, easy to use, lightweight and quiet. It is equipped with 1200 watt vortex motor that gives it a great suction power. It therefore excels in capturing stubborn pet hair from carpets, rugs and tiles. It is a bagged vacuum and does not spread dust and pet hair in the air. This also works as a vacuum for tile floor.

Its motor has six different speed settings which can be controlled by a footswitch. The variability of motor speed caters to all types of surfaces by changing the suction power. In this way, Marin ensures that it captures all pet hair from very small to those slightly bigger in size.

Marin is also equipped with a HEPA filter which captures and retains 99.9% of all particles. The filter retains all of them once captured and ensures that they are not expelled into room again.

The SEB 236 electricity-driven electro premium power brush and SEB 300-3 Parquet twister are features that make it a perfect machine for cleaning pet hair. The SEB 236, power brush, with the help of a swivel neck and 5 height levels adjustment, helps cleaning all debris from medium to high-pile and plush carpets. The Parquet twister can rotate up to 180 degrees providing agility to the vacuum for perfect cleaning.

2. SHARK Apex AZ 1002 Duo Cleans – Innovative Pet Hair Vacuum Cleaner

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The vacuum comes from the famous brand SHARK which is known for manufacturing home appliances for specialized applications. The Shark AZ 1002 is also an exceptional machine which is though, a great vacuum cleaner overall, but is a wiz at removing pet hair especially.

The AZ 1002 does all the immaculate cleaning through innovative SHARK technologies. The first and foremost is Duo clean, that with its dual brush roll system deep cleans carpets, leaving no debris un-captured, let alone the pet hair. The Zero-M removes all the pet hair from brush roll effectively. This task is greatly appreciated by customers knowing that capturing pet hair is one thing, but cleaning them from brush roll is damn frustrating because, vacuums often fail to do this. The third one, Powered-lift-away superbly enhances your reach. You can detach the pod and clean under-furniture and above-floor areas with pushing a button.

The device has HEPA filtration which guarantees 99.9% capture and retention of all debris and pet hair. The LED lights on handle and cleaning head provide visibility in corners, tight spaces and under-bed areas to capture all hidden particles and pet hair.

The machine has certain negatives as well. One, it is bulky with 25 lbs. weight. This makes it difficult to maneuver. Secondly, it is noisier than most other models.

3. MIELE dynamic U1 – The Ultimate Vacuum for Cats and Dogs Hair

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The name says it all. The dynamic U1 is a cat and dog vacuum cleaner that cleans the fluff which pets like cat and dogs spread all over. The 1200 watt robust vortex motor provides great suction to clean your carpets, workplace and cars. The 39’ cord and Swivel neck make it a breeze to moving around and cleaning large rooms.

The STB 102 mini turbo brush can remove pet hair along with other dust from cut-pile carpets, upholstery and other furnishing. Besides, you can do it with great maneuverability because, the 39’ cord lets you comfortably move around and clean large spaces. It spans a 46’ operating radius which is incredible for a vaccum.

There are some other high-end features which need to be mentioned. These include HEPA filtration for capturing and retention 99.9% of allergens/lung-damaging particles, LED headlight for illumination of pet hair and dust in dark corners and Swivel neck technology for great maneuverability.

There are no obvious negatives and finding one need a magnifying glass. We can’t identify any except that it is expensive and lacks a micro-fiber pad for picking up larger debris.

4. Bissell 1650 A – Engineered for Pet Owners of Any Kind

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The Bissell pet hair eraser 1650 A is a premium vacuum cleaner, specialized for pet hair cleaning. The patented cyclonic pet hair spooling system manages the hair internally, by trapping and separating hair (both human and pet) from dust and spools these, for hands-free empty.

Thanks to its innovative suction channel technology, the vacuum creates a direct suction path and provides a powerful edge-to-edge suction. This maximizes collection of debris and fluff of pet. The customer’s reviews show excellent remarks for its special ability to pick medium and long dog hair.

The sturdy construction and easy maneuverability often surprise the users. The swivel steering feature makes moving around furniture and other spaces a breeze. The cleaning head is equipped with a switch which is meant for height adjustment according to surface level, making it a nice vacuum that offers a multi-surface cleaning. The brush roll is protected from being clogged with something too big (like a pet toy) by a light surrounding height switch that turns red in such situation. The smart seal allergen system prevents all allergens and dust particles from exiting the vacuum.

Even this great machine has certain drawbacks: the cord cannot be retracted, that becomes a problem for many users. Secondly, it is bulky with 18 lbs. of weight.

5. Kenmore 81614-A – Best Vacuum Cleaner for Long Pet Hair

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This vacuum combines many features in one package. Out of those many, the quality, performance and affordability make it a perfect choice for all the folks who are in search of an all-surface cleaning device that is good for pet hair as well.

The two-motor system is equipped with 12 amps suction power which helps cleaning upholstery, carpets, stairs and pet hair with equal ease and efficiency. The two engines create suction strong enough to vacuum even the most difficult dirt. The vacuum is further strengthened by power flow technology that ensures that you never lose suction. This consistent power flow makes it possible that no debris is left behind.

The HEPA filters save you from allergens and irritants that cause allergies or intensify asthma. By keeping 99.9% pet fur and dirt sealed in vacuum they offer you clean breathable air. The 28 feet long cord is quite sufficient for comfort cleaning and one does not need to change outlets every now and then. Additionally, the auto rewind mechanism recoils the cord once, the cleaning task is finished. That’s a good feature for convenient storage.

If you intend to go for carpet cleaning after hard floor, the Pop-n-Go floor brush can save ample time by making quick works without bending for changing the tool.

6. Eureka NEU562A  – Best Upright Vacuum Cleaner for Pet Hair

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Famous for its all-roundedness, the Eureka floor rover upright vacuum cleaning machine for pet hair comes without a bag installed. Eureka boasts that this machine will be their most powerful device till date. Contrary to most other vacuums that have a similarly high suction power, it does not produce a lot of noise when functioning. Maneuverability is facilitated by a swivel, so you can easily reach to and cover challenging spots.

The secret behind the strong suction power is the multi stage cyclone system. It is responsible for distancing the large particles form the small ones. The HEPA filter performs the duty of collecting 99.7% of allergens from the air.

The mobility of this machine is enhanced by easy gliding wheel. It is richly equipped with extremely helpful tools like adjustable crevice tool, dusting brush with soft crystals, pet tool and 2- in-1 upholstery tool. The overall efficiency of cleaning is maximized with the aid of these accessories on a number of different surfaces including deep pile drugs, upholstery and wooden floors etc.

However, dragging with vacuum cleaner is a difficult task because of its large weight about 17 pounds which handicaps the cleaning of areas under the furniture.

Conclusion:

7. SHARK TRUEPET MINI-A  – Powerful and Versatile Cleaner

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The smart vacuum comes with dynamic features that cause the task of vacuuming to become much less tiring. It gives the best performance on carpets and easily adapts to hard wood floors. It is mid-range- price device, with an efficiently high suction power. It is very efficient in plugging away the surface litter and embedded debris.

True Pet motorized brush and pet multi tool, encourages pet hair removal from a varied range of surfaces. Furthermore, locating debris and dust under furniture is made extremely easy by the illumination of LED lights. It is also equipped with swivel staring wheel providing maneuverability.

The company has taken the convenience of the users into special consideration. One example of this consideration is the presence of fingertip controls like the power on- and-off button smooth conversion from hard floor to carpet mode on the device. To ensure that the room is free of allergens, this vacuum cleaner is equipped with an anti-allergen complete seal technology and a HEPA filter.

8. Dyson Cyclone V10 – Most Lightweight Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner for Pet Hair

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The Dyson V10 leaves all other Dyson stick vacuums behind in terms of the suction power. It comes with a considerable number of accessories and tools. It is very comfortable to maneuver around the room with this vacuum because of its light weight. It also comes with a 2-in-1 feature: that is, it easily converts to a handheld vacuum. This contributes in it’s becoming an all-rounder vacuum.

It is capable of delivering a run time of 60 minutes when a non-motorized tool is attached. The main reason accounting for the impressive performance of this vacuum is the advanced cyclone technology it works on. Via this technology, 14 cyclones altogether, produce forces of a weight greater than 79,000g to get hold of nano-sized particles, into the trash can or bag, such as pollen and bacteria.

However, the running time falls down to as low as 10 minutes when a motorized brush is attached and the power setting is put at its maximum.

9. Hoover T-Series UH30310 – Best Bagged Vacuum Cleaner for Pet Hair

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This Hoover T-Series Wind Tunnel Pet Bagged Corded Upright Vacuum UH30310 is loaded with a special technology ‘Wind Tunnel’ which ensures that minimum dirt and filth is left behind after a cleaning session is over. What further makes certain that the cleaning is done with utmost perfection is the HEPA media bag with activated carbon. It is able to catch all sizes of dust particles, assuring a thoroughly cleaned the room or house. It contains the bag check indicator which is responsible for strict monitoring of amount of trash collected in it. It is made user friendly with the provision of our controls. Furthermore, there are 5 different adjustable position to which the height of the vacuum can be set.

The cleaning process is facilitated by the availability of the head light all grime become easily detectable from challenging spots. It is positioned perfectly so as to not miss a single particle of pet hair behind.

The maneuverable of this vacuum demands a little effort on the carpet, though the same experience is effortless on the floor.

10. Dyson Ball Animal 2 Iron – Best for Challenging Spots

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With making the Dyson Upright vacuum cleaner ball animal 2, the company marked the end of corded vacuum cleaners. After the introduction of cordless Dyson V10 series, they unveiled their intention of not making any corded vacuums anymore.

It seems that cordless vacuums are all they are planning for the future. But their corded models are still being sold. This upright vacuum is able to clean multiple floors, be it carpets or hard floors. Sucking in considerable amount of pet fluff is not a big deal for it.

The cleanup process of the bin is very hygienic, aided by a push button. The ball animal 2 has a special carbon fiber turbine head which helps in drawing in grime from low spaces, underneath furniture. A tangle free turbine tool comes along facilitating the cleanup of hair from upholstery and carpets.

Whole-machine HEPA filtration makes the trapping of bacteria and allergens a definite thing. It has a commendable suction power of 306 AW which makes it perform tough cleaning tasks smoothly.

On the downside, reports have been made regarding the pulling the rug up issue when vacuuming. Also, this is not a lightweight product to go for. But the overall suction power quality and HEPA filter characteristic outweighs the downsides of this product.

Buying Guide: How to Buy Best Vacuum for Pet Hair ?

Since the market contains a huge range of vacuum brands to choose from, you must definitely be wondering about where to begin from and on what basis to make your selection. Some features should definitely be assessed in detail prior to making a decision in buying a vacuum for your pet hair and these are discussed below.

Canister Versus Upright Vacuums, or Combined – Which Is Better?

These two words, canister and upright will cross your sight repeatedly during your survey for the best vacuum. There are certain differences between the two types. Let us put light on them.

Canister vacuums

These vacuums contain a wheeled body along with a separate long hose. They offer great ease while cleaning the room as they let you reach out to places that are not easy to reach otherwise. Therefore, compared with upright vacuums, the overall cleaning experience with these types of vacuums is much more flexible. The motor keeps following wherever you go pulled after you through the hose, that also means it gets banged on whatever comes in its way, be it a wall or any object. Another drawback of these vacuums is that they occupy more space.

Upright Vacuum 

Contrary to the canister vacuums, the has a single unit where both the motor and the suction head are accommodated. The benefit of being compact is therefore that they occupy relatively lesser space for storage.

Some models which are on the high-end side (such as Groom plus Style’s top-rated Dyson model) are equipped with a telescoping hose making it feasible for you to even cover the area under coffee table and also mount up the stairs.

When it comes down to the point of efficiency and performance, both types of vacuums impress similarly, though some models do perform better than others. Therefore, it is completely your choice as to which type you go for since you know what suits your individual needs and preferences more.

Bag versus Bag-less Vacuum Cleaners:

Next factor is whether to buy a bagged vacuum cleaner or a bag-less one, and why.

A bagged vacuum cleaner contains a bag inside where all the vacuumed dirt and dust is collected. However these bags have a limited life span and need to be replaced. Generally, the upfront cost of a bagged vacuum is cheaper than a bag-less unit, but the ongoing cost of replacing the bags is quite a burden on your pocket.

However, the bag-less vacuums will provide you convenience as you will be free from the hassle of purchasing new bags. With regards to cleanliness, bag-less vacuums will definitely be a cleaner option because you will not be touching the dust and dirt filled bags while emptying them. Most people are dust allergic, so this vacuum will give them the benefit of not having to get into contact with dust. The buying costs of these vacuums are comparatively higher, but there is no future hassle for buying bags. Furthermore, in case of any precious commodity of yours getting vacuumed fortuitously, the process of getting it back is much easier in this type of vacuum.

The HEPA Air Quality Feature.

The HEPA feature (which stands for High-Efficiency Particulate Air) is a baseline feature in vacuum cleaners. It performs the most crucial duty of sucking up the tiniest of particles suspended in the room air which might otherwise become a cause of allergy to people as they inhale the air. Most modern vacuums have this feature incorporated into them. In some vacuums, these filters need to be changed from time to time, as the manufacture suggests it to be. Whereas on others, like Dyson, this HEPA filter system installed will serve for a lifetime without needing replacement, and is non-washable. Others come equipped with washable filters, like Shark and Hoover on our list.

The Power and the Performance of the Pet hair Vacuum Cleaner

The suction power of a pet hair vacuum cleaner is yet another very significant feature that needs to be evaluated as it is what you are purchasing the vacuum for. The performance of a low suction vacuum will be poor as it will only clear the dust off the surfaces but will fail to pull out the pet hair embedded in carpets.

It is a challenging task to give preference to one vacuum over the other on the basis of the suction power because there are multiple factors which cumulatively determine the power and performance of a vacuum. The power consumption mentioned on the box by the manufacturers does not precisely define its suction capability. The varying units of power like amps, watts and horsepower educate you about the amount of energy consumed. We need to know the how efficiently the vacuum is able to convert that amount into useful work.

One needs to pay attention to two most important values when looking for a good pet hair vacuum cleaner: CFM (cubic feet per minute) or AW (air watts). CFM is the amount of air measured in cubic feet drawn up in the dirt bag by the running vacuum in a time of sixty seconds.

AW is the unit of best use. It educates us about the actual suction the device is capable of delivering. As obvious as it sounds, the greater the value of AW, the higher the efficiency of the machine with regards to the suction power. In case the vacuum is equipped with a HEPA filter, this makes a higher reading of these two values a must. This is essentially because the device needs to work extra hard to pull in dust particles from little gaps embedded in the filter, therefore, requiring more power.

The ideal reading an AW should have mainly depends on the work load you need the machine to take and whether or not the machine comes along with a HEPA filter installed. However, a minimum requirement for a satisfactory cleanup experience would be a value of 100 AW for the upright vacuums and 220 AW for the Canister ones. The latter one requires more AW as there is a hose attached to it which acts as a hurdle in smooth suction of dirt.

Take into consideration your target areas for vacuuming

You should know very well exactly where you are going to use the vacuum machine as well as the nature and amount of pet hair shedding that is to be cleaned. Never go for a machine which has a huge suction power if that is beyond your requirement when you can easily do with a nominal power too.

If your pet sheds hair a lot in the entire house, then a versatile pet hair vacuum is what you need to go for with an excellent performance on all kinds of surfaces, whether it be floors, carpet, upholstery and in cars. It should also be well accessorized to deep clean the fabrics.

If this is not the case and your pet’s hair shed is confined to a limited amount, then you will do just great with a low suction power pet hair vacuum cleaner. In fact, in this particular case a normal vacuum cleaner would also do the job. The area that will come into your coverage also needs to be taken into consideration as different pet hair vacuum cleaners have different battery lives and if you make the wrong purchase (that is with lesser power than you require), then the machine may run out mid-way of cleaning demanding a recharge, which will be super annoying for you.

The accessories that the vacuum for pet hair comes loaded with:

The accessories that some vacuum cleaners come with offer a more comfortable cleaning experience. In some cases, you will be required to buy the essential accessories separately, while in other scenarios, the manufacturer will accommodate them in the price tag of the vacuum cleaner set. Each accessory is beneficial in its own way, depending on how you bring it to your use.

FAQs Regarding Vacuum for Pet Hair

Wrap up:

Cleaning up pet hair is a disturbing factor in every pet lover’s life. We have tried our level best to present the best vacuuming products that give you a sigh of relief. For each we have highlighted salient features as well as drawbacks. At the end of the day, it is your choice based on your needs, preferences and above all the price. We can only assure that our list of products will not disappoint you and save much of the hassle which buyers go through.