The Best Home Vacuum Cleaner
The best vacuum cleaner for home use is a multi-functional and easy-to-use tool. The right model should also be lightweight, efficient and quiet.
This suction model is a great value at a bargain price, with an effective anti-hair wrap floorhead as well as an odor-neutralizing puck. It also comes with a huge bin that is very easy to empty.
1. Power
A powerful vacuum cleaner can effectively manage household debris, making it simple to keep mess under control. No matter if you have a pile of pet hair or a clogged kitchen drain, it must be able to suck up the mess with minimal effort. It should also be able to capture fine dust and stop the growth of bacteria, ensuring clean and healthy air quality. Choosing the right model for your needs is contingent on factors such as the type of floor, household size and budget. The most commonly used types are uprights, portable handhelds lightweight sticks, and convenient robots.
The Black+Decker Flex Vac is a hand-held vacuum that is lightweight and has an impressively high-quality performance. It is able to remove pet hair and larger particles with ease, making it ideal for households with pets that are multiple or for large homes. It also comes with a simple-to-empty debris container that helps avoid messy cleanups. The vacuum can even be used to mop, allowing users to complete two tasks at once.
Think about a large upright or canister corded vacuum for households with a lot of furniture. These models typically feature stronger motors and a motorized floorhead to tackle difficult dirt and carpeting. They're also available in different power modes to provide different suction and a longer battery life. It's an excellent idea to look for a vacuum with a HEPA filter if anyone in your home is suffering from allergies.
2. Flexibility
The most effective vacuum cleaners can tackle a range of tasks in your home, from quick dusting to cleaning carpets. They're usually lightweight which makes them easy to maneuver, and should also offer a range of attachments that will meet your requirements.
If you have pets, think about the right vacuum to handle hair from pets. These models usually have an exclusive brush that takes hair from the main floorhead and then directs it to the dust container, so it does not block the brush roll or wrap around it.
Some of the best vacuums have smart features, that integrate with your home systems or adjust for different types of flooring and dirt levels. This is especially crucial for people suffering from allergies, since these features keep dust particles from recirculating throughout the air.
Vacuums can be expensive, but the most effective ones go on sale a few times a year during major events, such as Black Friday and Amazon's Prime Day. There are also great bargains in the spring, when sales are planned by retailers to coincide with the annual spring cleaning.
The life expectancy of a vacuum varies depending on the model and the way you make use of it. However, the majority of our top-rated picks have an average lifespan of eight years. If you want to last longer than the other contenders, pick one with an extended guarantee.
3. Simple to use
A vacuum cleaner needs to be easy to use and maneuver, even during a long cleaning session. A compact, lightweight vacuum cleaner with easy controls attachments, as well as a large, non-emptying bin are all essential. A variety of features contribute to this ease of use, such as motorized power nozzles to tackle carpets and rugs more effectively as well as a tall and wide floor head that reaches under furniture and has a rotating nozzle that allows for better corner cleaning a self-cleaning roller system and LED lighting that illuminates the path ahead.
For instance our top choice in this category, the Shark Stratos cordless vacuum, was a breeze to maneuver and utilized the lowest amount of battery power during our testing. It also has automatic adjusting suction as well as it has a sleek LCD display that has an indicator of battery power and the ability to switch between Auto, Eco and boost modes.
The Stratos also sucked up kibble, ground coffee and flour effortlessly in our tests. It also was able to handle carpets with low piles, removing the sand and rice in only two passes. It also has a front brushroll that is soft enough to capture fine particles and prevent pet fur from spilling out and a rear roll that is hard and digs into carpeting.
Likewise, the budget-friendly Kenmore Elite sucks up wet spills and messes that can be found on hard floors thanks to the power of its dual brushroll design. However, it's still light enough to be able to carry it up and down stairs, and across a home without breaking a sweat. It's also more easy to maintain than upright models, with an HEPA filter that is easily removable, as well as a dust bag that can be changed when it's full.
4. Versatility
The Levoit is an extremely versatile model, capable of handling most cleaning tasks. It doesn't have many of the advantages offered by more expensive models, but it does have a number of essential features that make sure it performs well for everyday use. For instance, it comes with multiple cleaning modes that can vary suction power and battery run time (including Eco), an 8-foot hose that can reach over floors, and a large dust cup that is easy to empty.
The brush roll is made to capture and suck up hair without wrapping the bristles around it making it a good option for homes with hairy pets or humans that shed many tears. Its performance in tests demonstrated that it can take on a variety of debris, including low-pile carpet and hard floors. It also removed sand, rice and Cheerios.
In addition to its versatility, the Miele Flex Vac has an impressive amount of power for a cordless vacuum cleaner. It was particularly effective at sucking pet hair and also removing larger particles such as cereal. However, it was unable to deal with more caked-on debris like car dust. It also has a wide range of attachments, including a motorized power nozzle that makes quick work of dirt and pet hair on upholstery.
5. Battery Life
A quality home vacuum is one that can run for at least an hour without needing to recharged. For a cordless model, this is important since it allows you to tackle cleaning sessions without stopping to restart the process.
Shark Stratos cordless vacuum is our top choice. robot vacuum cleaner comes with an extended battery life as well as a powerful debris pickup. The three cleaning modes Eco Auto, Boost and Eco let you control the power to allow you to clean for longer without draining your battery too quickly. The vacuum has an elegant LCD display that shows whether there's a blockage and how much time you have left, and the status of your battery.
This model is perfect for households with furry pets because the brushroll with no-tangle is effective in removing pet hair. It also excels in tackling dust and dirt. However, it struggles to remove fine particles like flour from hard flooring and cannot get coffee grounds from carpeting.
If you want to tackle wet spills, the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro is a great choice. It's a bagged model that has features such as an iLoop sensor that detects dirt, stains and spills. It also features self-cleaning which dries out the brush roll. It also provides more effective edge cleaning that can reach corners and baseboards. The battery can last for 40 minutes, which is more than any other model we tried.
6. Ease of Cleaning
The best vacuum cleaners make it easy to clean up messes. The Levoit LVAC-200 is a light, compact vacuum cleaner that's powerful. In our standard tests, it took in everything from kibble and ground coffee to dog hair. Its dual brushroll design collects pet hair as well as other debris without spilling it out or wrapping it around the cleaner's head which helps keep it free of blocking. The motorized tool can be used to eliminate pet hair that has been embedded even from areas that are difficult to reach.
Another notable is the Shark Stratos Cordless, which easily handled pet hair and other large debris in our standard tests. The main floorhead features a soft front brushroll that captures fine dust and debris and the floorhead that has rigid bristles reaches deeper into carpeting for tougher messes. The dust cup is plenty, and is easy to empty.
If you have a lot of carpeting in your home, you may need to consider a large upright or canister vacuum that has a beater for deeper cleaning. You can also choose a versatile wet-dry vacuum that can tackle the floors as well as messes caused by water or food, such as the Miele C3 Cat and Dog or the Henry Hoover. These vacuums can take care of all kinds of household debris including small crumbs and bigger messes. They also have more advanced features than the handhelds in this list.