The Best Home Vacuum Cleaner
The best home vacuum cleaner is a tool that is simple to maneuver and use. The best model will be lightweight, quiet and efficient.
This model offers excellent suction at a reasonable price, with an effective anti-hair wrap floorhead, as well as an odor neutralizing puck. It has a large bin that is easy to empty.
1. Power
A powerful vacuum cleaner will effectively manage household debris, making it easier to keep mess under control. If you're dealing with a heap of pet hair or a clogged kitchen drain, it must be able to clear the mess with a minimum of effort. It will also be able to capture fine dust, and prevent the growth of bacteria to ensure healthy, clean air. Choosing the right model for your needs will depend on factors such as floor type, household size and budget. The most commonly used types include uprights, handheld vacuums that can be carried around light sticks, and practical robots.
The Black+Decker Flex Vac is a lightweight handheld vacuum cleaner that offers an impressively powerful performance. It is ideal for households with multiple pets or large houses. It also comes with an easy to empty trash bin to 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 model for homes with a lot of furniture. These models are equipped with stronger motors as well as a motorized floorhead that can take on carpeting embedded and stubborn dirt. They are also available in a variety of models with different power settings to offer a variety of suction power and a longer battery life. If you or anyone in your household suffers from allergies it's a good idea for you to select a vacuum that has an HEPA filter system.
2. Flexibility
The best vacuum cleaners can handle a variety of chores around the home, from dusting to deep-cleaning carpets. They're typically light, making them effortless to maneuver. They should also offer a range of attachments to meet your needs.
You should consider a vacuum that is designed to remove pet hair if you have pets. These vacuums typically come with an exclusive power brush that draws pet hair off the main floorhead and directs it into the dust container so that it doesn't block or get caught in the brush roll.
Some of the top vacuums are equipped with smart features that integrate with your home systems or adjust to different floor types and dirt levels. This is crucial for people who have allergies, as these features to stop fine particles from circulating in the air.
Vacuums can be expensive, but the best ones are on sale a few times a year during major events, such as Black Friday and Amazon's Prime Day. You can also find deals during the spring season, when retailers offer sales to coincide with customers' annual spring cleaning.
The life expectancy of a vacuum can vary according to the model and how you make use of it. Most of our top-rated vacuums last on average eight years. If you want to be sure that your device will last longer than competitors, choose one with an extended warranty.
3. Easy of Use
A vacuum cleaner needs to be simple to use and maneuver even during a lengthy cleaning session. A compact, lightweight vacuum cleaner that has easy-to-use controls, attachments, and a large, non-emptying bin are all crucial. A variety of features make it easier of use, such as motorized power nozzles to tackle carpets and rugs more effectively, a wide and tall floor head that reaches under furniture and has a rotating nozzle that allows for better corner cleaning, a self-cleaning roller system and LED lights that light the path ahead.
For instance our top choice in this category, the Shark Stratos cordless vacuum, was easy to move and required the least amount of battery power during our testing. It also features automatic adjusting suction, an elegant LCD display with an indicator of battery power and the ability to switch between Auto, Eco and boost modes.
In our tests, the Stratos sucked up coffee grounds, kibbles and flour effortlessly. It also did a great job with flooring with low pile, removing rice, sand, and other particles with only a few strokes. It also comes with a soft front brushroll to collect fine particles and prevent pet hair from spitting back out and a rigid rear brushroll that digs into carpeting.
The budget-friendly Kenmore Elite also has a dual brushroll design that picks up messes and wet spills from hard surfaces. It is lightweight enough to be carried up and down stairs, and even across the house without breaking the sweat. It's also more easy to maintain than upright models, with an HEPA filter that is easily removed and dust bags that can be changed when it's is full.
4. Versatility
The Levoit is a very versatile model, able of handling the majority of cleaning tasks. It isn't equipped with the advantages offered by more expensive models, but it does have many key features that ensure it performs well for everyday use. For instance, it comes with multiple cleaning modes that alter suction power and battery run time (including Eco) as well as an 8-foot hose to reach above floors, and a massive, easy-to-empty dust cup.
Its brush roll is made to capture and suck up hair without wrapping it around the bristles which makes it a great option for households with hairy pets or even humans who shed lots of hair. The results of tests conducted on it showed that it could manage a variety of debris including carpets with low piles and hard floors. It even took out sand, rice, and Cheerios.
The Miele Flex Vac is a multi-purpose cordless vacuum that boasts impressive power. It was particularly effective at sucking up pet hair and also removing larger particles like cereal. However, it struggled with more clogged-up debris such as dust from cars. It comes with a variety of attachments like an electric power-nozzle that can swiftly remove pet hair and dirt from upholstery.
5. Battery Life
A good home vacuum cleaner should run for at least one hour without needing to recharged. This is important for cordless models, as it allows you to clean without having to stop.
Shark Stratos cordless vacuum is our top pick. It has an extended battery life as well as a powerful debris picker. Its three cleaning modes - Eco, Auto and Boost assist in regulating the power level so you can clean longer without draining your battery too quickly. The vacuum comes with an elegant LCD display that shows whether there's a blockage, how much time you have left and the battery's status.
This model is a great option for households with pets that shed hair, since its brushroll is non-tangle and does an excellent job of getting rid of pet hair. It also excels in tackling dust and dirt. However, it is unable to pick up fine particles like flour from flooring that is hard and cannot get coffee grounds from carpeting.
If you're looking to deal with wet spills as well then the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro is a great option. This model is a bagged vacuum but has features like an iLoop smart sensor that detects dirt and stains; self-cleaning that dries the brush roll; more effective edge cleaning that gets into corners and along baseboards; and a battery lasting 40 minutes, which is more than any other model we've tried.
6. Ease of Cleaning
The best vacuums make cleaning up spills effortless. The Levoit LVAC-200 for instance, is lightweight and compact but incredibly powerful. It was able to take in everything from food particles to coffee grinds and dog hair in our standardized tests. Its dual brushroll design collects pet hair and other large debris, without spitting it out or wrapping it around the cleaner's head to keep it free of blocking. And its motorized tool sucks pet hair that has been embedded in upholstery, even in hard-to-reach places.
The Shark Stratos Cordless is another standout, as it handled pet hair and large particles easily in our standard tests. Its main floorhead has a soft front brushroll that collects fine dust and debris, and the floorhead that has hard bristles is able to penetrate deeper into carpeting for more difficult dirt. The dust cup is large and easy to empty.
If your house is carpeted, you should consider an upright or full-size vacuum that has beater bar for longer cleaning sessions. Or, opt for a versatile wet-dry vacuum that can tackle floors and messes created by water or food, like the Miele C3 Cat & Dog or the Henry Hoover. These vacuums are capable of handling the wide array of household debris, from tiny crumbs to large messes and could be more sophisticated than handhelds on this list.