The Best Home Vacuum Cleaner
The best vacuum cleaner for the home is a versatile, easy-to-use tool. The right model will also be light, quiet and efficient.
This model provides excellent suction for a very low cost. It also has an anti-hair wrap floorhead that's efficient as well as an in-built odor neutralizing puck. It has a large bin that is easy to empty.
- Power
A powerful vacuum cleaner will efficiently handle household debris, making it easy to control messes. It should be able clean up any mess, whether it is a pile of hair of a dog or a kitchen drain that is clogged. It is also required to capture fine dust, and prevent the growth of bacteria, for a clean, healthy air. The best model is determined by your budget, dimensions of your home and floor. The most common types include uprights, handheld vacuums that can be carried around light sticks, and practical robots.
The Black+Decker Flex Vac handheld vacuum is a lightweight device that has impressive strength. It sucks up pet hair and larger particles with ease which makes it perfect for households with multiple pets or larger homes. It also has an easy-to empty debris receptacle to prevent the mess of cleaning up. The vacuum can also be used as a mop, allowing users to perform two jobs at the same time.
If you live in a home with a lot of furniture it's a good idea consider a more durable full-size corded upright or canister vacuum. These models are equipped with stronger motors with a motorized floorhead, and can tackle embedded carpeting and tough dirt. These vacuums are also available in various powers to offer a variety of suction capacities and a longer life battery. If anyone in your household suffers from allergies, it's recommended for you to choose the vacuum with a HEPA filter system.
- Flexibility
The best vacuum cleaners can perform a variety of household chores from quick dusting to cleaning carpets. They are usually lightweight and easy to maneuver. They should also include several attachments to meet your needs.
You should consider a vacuum that is designed to remove hair from pets if you own pets. They typically have a dedicated power brush that siphons pet hair away from the main floorhead and directs it into the dust cup so it doesn't clog or become stuck around the vacuum's brush roll.
The top-rated vacuums also have intelligent features that can integrate with your home's systems or adjust to different types of floors and levels of dirt. This is especially important for people with allergies, since these features keep dust particles from recirculating into the air.
Vacuums can be expensive however, they're on sale during major occasions such as Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. There are also sales during the spring season, when retailers offer sales to coincide with the annual spring cleaning of customers.
The life expectancy of a vacuum varies according to the model and the way you make use of it. However, our top-rated models last an average of eight years. If you're looking to outlast the competition, choose one with a longer-term guarantee.
- Ease of Use
A vacuum cleaner needs to be easy to use and maneuver, even during a lengthy cleaning session. This means a light and compact body, easy controls and attachments, and a large bin that does not require frequent emptying. A variety of features contribute to this ease of use, such as motorized power nozzles that tackle carpets and rugs more effectively with a tall and wide floor head that reaches under furniture and a rotating nozzle for better corner cleaning, a self-cleaning roller system and LED lights that illuminate the path ahead.
For instance, our top pick in this category is the Shark Stratos cordless vacuum, was a breeze to move and required the most power from the battery during our testing. It also has automatic adjusting suction and a sleek LCD display that has a battery indicator and the ability to switch between Eco, Auto and boost modes.
The Stratos also took in ground coffee, kibble and flour easily in our tests. It did a great job at removing carpets with low pile by removing rice and sand in just a few passes. It also has a soft front-facing brushroll to collect fine particles and prevent pet hair from spitting back out, and a stiff rear brushroll that digs into carpeting.
The budget-friendly Kenmore Elite also has a dual brushroll design that picks up wet spills and messes from hard surfaces. It's light enough to be carried up and down stairs, and around the house, without breaking a sweat. It's also less maintenance-intensive than most upright models, with an HEPA filter that is easily removable, as well as dust bags that can be changed when it's full.
- Versatility
The Levoit is a very versatile model, able of handling the majority of cleaning tasks. It may not have all the features found in more expensive models, but its primary features ensure that it is a good choice for everyday use. This includes an 8-foot hose that can reach above floors, and an enormous dust cup that is easy to empty.
Its brush roll is designed to capture and suck up hair without wrapping it around bristles, making it an ideal choice for families with pets that shed hair or even humans who shed lots of hair. Its performance in standardized tests also proved that it is able to take on a variety of debris, including hard floors and low-pile carpet and even take out sand, rice and Cheerios from carpeting.
In addition to its versatility, it also has a wide range of uses. Miele Flex Vac has an impressive amount of power for the cordless vacuum cleaner. It was particularly effective in sucking hair from pets as well as larger particles, like cereal. However, it was unable to deal with more clogged-up debris like car dust. It comes with a variety of attachments, including an electric power-nozzle that will quickly get rid of pet hair and dirt from upholstery.
- Battery Life
A quality home vacuum should last at least one hour without having to recharged. For a cordless model this is important since it allows you to get your cleaning done without having to stop and begin again.
Shark Stratos cordless vacuum is our top pick. It comes with a long battery life and a powerful debris picker. The three cleaning modes it has - Eco, Auto and Boost help to manage the power level, so you can keep cleaning longer without taking too much of your battery. The cheap robot vacuum cleaner comes with a sleek LCD display that displays if there's a clog and how much time you have left and the status of your battery.
This model is ideal for households with furry pets as the no-tangle brushroll can effectively remove pet hair. It's also effective in dealing with dirt and dust but it struggled to remove fine particles such as flour from hard floors, and could not remove coffee grounds from carpeting.
If you're looking to deal with wet spills then the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro is a fantastic choice. It's a bagged model with features such as an iLoop sensor that detects spills, dirt, and stains. It also features self-cleaning which dries out the brush roll. It also provides better edge cleaning to reach corners and baseboards. The battery can last for 40 minutes - longer than any other model that we tested.
- Ease of Cleaning
The most effective vacuums make cleaning up mess easy. The Levoit LVAC-200, for example, is lightweight and compact but impressively powerful. It sucked up everything from ground coffee to kibble and hair of dogs in our standardized tests. The dual brushroll design captures pet hair and other large debris without spitting it back out or wrapping it around the cleaner's head which helps keep it clear of clogging. The motorized tool can be used to get rid of pet hair embedded even from difficult-to-access areas.
Another notable is the Shark Stratos Cordless, which easily dealt with pet hair as well as other debris in our standardized tests. Its main floorhead has a soft front brushroll that collects fine dust and debris, while the second floorhead with hard bristles is able to penetrate deeper into carpeting for more difficult mess. The dust cup is large and easy to empty.
If your home is carpeted heavily, think about a full-size canister or upright vacuum that has beater bar for longer cleaning sessions. Choose a wet-dry vacuum, which can tackle the floors as well as messes caused by food or water such as the Miele C3 Cat &