The Best Home Vacuum Cleaner
The best home vacuum cleaner is a tool that is easy to use and maneuver. The ideal model will be quiet, light and efficient.
This model has great suction at a reasonable price. It also comes with an anti-hair wrap floorhead which is efficient and a odor neutralizing puck. It comes with a bin that is easy to empty.
1. Power
A powerful vacuum cleaner will efficiently take care of household debris and make it easier to keep the mess under control. Whether you have a pile of pet hair or a clogged kitchen drain, it must be able to clear the mess with little effort. It should also be able to capture fine dust and stop bacterial growth, for clean, healthy air quality. Choosing auto vacuum cleaner for your needs depends on factors such as the type of flooring, the size of your household and budget. The most popular types are uprights, portable handheld vacuums, lightweight sticks and convenient robots.
The Black+Decker Flex Vac is a hand-held vacuum that is lightweight and has an impressively strong performance. It is ideal for households that have multiple pets or houses that are large. It also comes with a simple-to-empty debris container that helps avoid messy cleanups. The vacuum can also be used as a mop, allowing users to do two jobs at the same time.
Think about a large upright or canister-corded vacuum for households with a lot of furniture. These models usually have larger motors as well as a motorized floorhead to tackle stubborn dirt and embedded carpeting. These vacuums are also available in various power modes to provide different suction strengths and a longer life battery. It's recommended to search for a vacuum with a HEPA filter if someone in your home suffers from allergies.
2. Flexibility
The best vacuum cleaners are able to perform a variety of household chores from quick dusting to cleaning carpets. They're typically lightweight which makes them effortless to maneuver. They will also come with a variety of attachments that will meet your requirements.
Consider a vacuum designed to handle hair from pets if you have pets. They typically have a dedicated power brush that siphons pet hair from the main floorhead and directs it into the dust container so it doesn't clog or get caught in the brush roll.
The best vacuums have smart features, that can be integrated with your home systems or adjust for different types of flooring and dirt levels. This is especially important for people with allergies, as these features stop dust particles from recirculating into the air.
Vacuums are pricey, but the best ones are on sale several times per year during major events, such as Black Friday and Amazon's Prime Day. You can also find some great discounts in spring when retailers schedule sales to coincide with the annual spring cleaning.
The lifespan of a vacuum varies, depending on its model and the type of use you put it through. However, the majority of our top-rated picks last for an average of eight years. If you want to outlast your competitors, select a model with a longer-term guarantee.
3. Simple to use
A vacuum cleaner needs to be easy to use and maneuver even during a long cleaning session. This includes a lightweight, compact body, convenient controls and attachments and a large bin that does not require frequent emptying. This ease of use is possible thanks to many features, such as motorized power heads that clean carpets and rugs as well as a tall and large floor head that can be used to reach under furniture, rotating nozzles to clean corners and LED lights that illuminate the path.
Shark Stratos, for example, is our top pick and was the most easy to move around. It also had the smallest amount of battery power during our tests. It also features automatic suction adjustment as well as a sleek LCD screen with a battery indicator and the ability to switch between Auto Eco and Boost modes.
In our tests, the Stratos was able to soak up kibbles, coffee grounds and flour with ease. It also did a great job with flooring with low pile by removing sand, rice and other particles in only a few passes. It also comes with a soft front brushroll to capture fine particles and prevent pet hair from spitting out and a rigid rear brushroll that digs into carpeting.
Likewise, the budget-friendly Kenmore Elite sucks up wet spills and messes from hard floors, thanks to the power of its dual brushroll design, yet it's still lightweight enough to be able to carry it up and down stairs as well as across a house without breaking a sweat. It's also less maintenance-intensive than most upright models, with the HEPA filter that is easily removable and dust bags that can be replaced once it's full.
4. Versatility
The Levoit is a model that's versatile that can handle the majority of cleaning tasks. It lacks many of the advantages offered by more expensive models, but it does have several key features that ensure it is suitable for daily use. For instance, it comes with multiple cleaning modes that alter suction power and battery run time (including Eco), an 8-foot hose that can reach above floors, and a huge, easy-to-empty dust cup.
The brush roll is made to capture and suck up hair without wrapping bristles around it making it a good option for households with hairy pets or people who shed many tears. The results of tests conducted on it also showed that it can handle a variety of debris, including hard floors and low-pile carpet and even remove sand, rice, and Cheerios from carpeting.
The Miele Flex Vac is a versatile cordless vacuum that also has impressive power. It was particularly effective at collecting pet hair. It also removed larger particles like cereal, although it did struggle with more caked-on debris like car dirt. It also has a wide range of attachments, including an electric power nozzle that can make short work of dirt and pet hair on upholstery.
5. Battery Life
A good vacuum cleaner for your home should last at least an hour before it has to be recharged. For a cordless model that's important because it allows you to take on cleaning tasks without stopping and restart the process.
Shark Stratos cordless vacuum is our top pick. It has a long battery life and a powerful debris picker. The three cleaning modes Eco, Auto and boost, let you control the power so that you can clean for longer without draining the battery too quickly. The vacuum has an elegant LCD screen that shows the status of your battery, how much time is remaining, and if there is a blockage.
This model is a great choice for households with pets who shed hair, as its brushroll is non-tangle and is very effective in collecting pet hair. It also is very effective in tackling dirt and dust. However, it is unable to remove small particles such as flour from hard flooring and is unable to remove coffee grounds from carpeting.
Tineco Floor One S7 Pro can also take care of wet spills. It is a bagged model that has features like an iLoop sensor that detects dirt, stains and spills. It also features self-cleaning which dries out the brush roll. It also provides superior edge cleaning that allows you to get to corners and baseboards. The battery can last for 40 minutes - more than any other model that we tried.
6. Cleaning is easy
The most effective vacuums make cleaning up spills effortless. The Levoit LVAC-200 is a light, compact vacuum cleaner, but powerful. It sucked up everything from kibble to ground coffee and hair from dogs in our standard tests. The dual brushroll design captures pet hair and other large debris without spilling it out or wrapping it around the cleaner head, which helps it stay clear of clogging. The motorized tool is able to eliminate pet hair that has been embedded, even from hard-to-reach areas.
Another notable is the Shark Stratos Cordless, which easily dealt with pet hair as well as other debris in our standardized tests. The main floorhead features a soft front brushroll that captures small particles and dust, while the second floorhead with hard bristles is able to penetrate deeper into carpeting to catch larger mess. The dust cup is large and easy to empty.
If you have carpeting in your home, you might need to consider a large upright or canister vacuum with beater to get a deeper clean. Select a vacuum cleaner that is wet dry which can take care of floors and messes caused by water or food. Examples include the Miele Cat and Dog or the Henry Hoover. These machines can handle a variety of household debris from small crumbs to larger messes, and could have more advanced features than the handhelds on this list.