The Best Home Vacuum Cleaner
The best vacuum cleaner for the home is a versatile, easy-to-use tool. The best model will be light, quiet and efficient.
This suction model is a great value at a low cost and comes with a powerful anti-hair wrap floorhead as well as an odor-neutralizing puck. It comes with a large bin that is easy to empty.
1. Power
A powerful vacuum cleaner can effectively manage household debris, making it easy to keep mess under control. No matter if you have a pile of pet hair or a blocked kitchen drain, it should be able to suck up the mess with little effort. It should also be able to capture fine dust and inhibit bacterial growth, for clean, healthy air quality. Choosing the right model for your needs is contingent on factors like floor type, household size and budget. The most commonly used types include uprights, portable handheld vacuums and lightweight sticks, as well as convenient robots.
The Black+Decker Flex Vac is a hand-held vacuum that is lightweight and has an impressively strong performance. It is perfect for households that have multiple pets or houses that are large. It also has an easy-to empty debris receptacle to prevent messy clean ups. The vacuum can also be used as a mop in order to allow users to complete two tasks at the same time.
If you live in a home with a lot of furniture it's a good idea to look into a more durable full-size corded upright or canister vacuum. These models are equipped with more powerful motors, a motorized floorhead and can handle carpets that are embedded and tough dirt. They're also available with different power modes for varied suction strength and a longer battery life. It's an excellent idea to choose a vacuum with an HEPA filter if someone in your home suffers from allergies.
2. Flexibility
The best vacuum cleaners can perform a variety of chores in your home that range from quick dusting to cleaning carpets. They're typically lightweight, making them easy to maneuver, and will also come with a variety of attachments to meet your requirements.
If you have pets, think about a vacuum designed to handle pet hair. These vacuums typically come with an exclusive power brush that siphons pet hair away from the main floorhead and directs it into the dust cup so that it doesn't block or become stuck around the vacuum's brush roll.
Some of the top vacuums come with smart features, that can be integrated with your home systems or adjust for different floor types and dirt levels. This is particularly important for people who have allergies, since these features help prevent fine debris from recirculating in the air.
Vacuums can be a bit expensive, but the most effective ones go on sale several times per year during major events such as Black Friday and Amazon's Prime Day. You can also find great bargains in the spring, when sales are planned by retailers to coincide with customers' annual spring cleaning.
The life expectancy of a vacuum varies according to the model and how you make use of it. Most of our top-rated vacuums last an average of eight years. If you want yours to last longer than the competitors, select a model with an extended guarantee.
3. User-Friendliness
A vacuum cleaner should be easy to operate and maneuver, even during a lengthy cleaning session. A lightweight, compact vacuum cleaner that has easy-to-use controls attachments, a large, non-emptying bin are all essential. A variety of features make it easier of use, such as motorized power nozzles that can tackle carpets and rugs more effectively with a tall and wide floor head that is able to reach under furniture and a rotating nozzle to ensure better corner cleaning, a self-cleaning roller system and LED lights that light the way ahead.
For instance our top pick in this category is the Shark Stratos cordless vacuum, was easy to maneuver and used the most power from the battery during our testing. It also has automatic adjusting suction, an elegant LCD display with an indicator for the battery and the ability to switch between Eco, Auto and boost modes.
In our tests, the Stratos was able to soak up coffee grounds, kibbles, and flour easily. It also handled low-pile flooring well by removing sand, rice and other debris with only a few strokes. It also has a front-facing brushroll which is soft to hold fine particles and prevent pet fur from spitting out and a rear roll that is hard and digs into carpeting.
Similar to 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, yet it's light enough to carry up and down stairs, and across the home without breaking a sweat. It's also easier to maintain than other upright models too and comes with a removable HEPA filter and a disposable dust bag that can be changed when it's full.
4. Versatility
The Levoit is a very versatile model, capable of handling the majority of cleaning tasks. It might not have all the features of higher-priced models, but its essential features make it an ideal choice for daily use. These include an 8-foot hose that can reach over floors and a large dust cup that's easy to empty.
The brush roll is designed to collect and remove hair without wrapping it around the bristles, making it an ideal option for families with pets that shed hair or even people who shed a lot. Its performance during standardized tests proved that it was able to handle a variety debris, including low-pile carpet and hard floors. It also took out sand, rice, and Cheerios.
The Miele Flex Vac is a versatile cordless vacuum that has a powerful motor. It was particularly effective in sucking up pet hair and also removed larger particles like cereal, though it was unable to tackle more caked-on debris, such as car dirt. It comes with a variety of attachments like a motorized power-nozzle that will quickly get rid of dirt and pet hair from upholstery.
5. Battery Life
A quality vacuum cleaner for home use is one that lasts at least one hour before it needs to be recharged. If you have a cordless model, this is important since it allows you to tackle cleaning sessions without stopping and restart the process.
Shark Stratos cordless vacuum is our top choice. It comes with an extended battery life and a powerful debris picker. The three cleaning modes it has - Eco, Auto and Boost - assist in regulating the power level so you can continue cleaning longer without draining your battery too quickly. The vacuum has an elegant LCD screen that shows the status of your battery, how much time is left, and whether there is a blockage.
This model is ideal for homes with pets because the brushroll with no-tangle works well to remove pet hair. It also excels in tackling dirt and dust. However, it struggles to remove small particles such as flour from floors that are hard and cannot remove coffee grounds from carpeting.
Tineco Floor One S7 Pro can also handle wet spills. This is a bagged model that has features such as an iLoop sensor that detects dirt, stains and spills. It also features self-cleaning, which dry out the brush roll. It also offers more effective edge cleaning that can reach corners and baseboards. The battery can last for 40 minutes - longer than any other model that we tried.
6. Ease of Cleaning
The most effective vacuums make cleaning up mess a breeze. The Levoit LVAC-200 is a light, compact vacuum cleaner that's also powerful. It was able to take in everything from ground coffee to kibble and hair of dogs in our standardized tests. Its dual brushrolls catch pet hair as well as other large particles without spilling them out or wrapping them around the cleaner's head. This helps it avoid getting blocked. The motorized tool can also remove pet hair embedded in upholstery, even in difficult-to-access places.
Another notable is the Shark Stratos Cordless, which effortlessly handled pet hair and other large debris in our tests. automatic vacuum has a soft front brushroll that captures fine dust and debris, and the floorhead that has hard bristles is able to penetrate deeper into carpeting to catch larger mess. The dust cup is large and easy to empty.
If your house is heavily carpeted, consider a full-size canister or upright vacuum with a beater bar for deeper cleaning sessions. Select a wet-dry vacuum which can take care of floors and messes resulting from water or food. Examples include the Miele Cat & Dog or the Henry Hoover. automatic vacuum are capable of handling a wide range of household debris from small pieces of food to huge messes, and may be more sophisticated than the handhelds listed on this list.