A Trusted Friend in a Complicated World
Dog and cat parents know how useful a quality vacuum is for loose fur. These are the the best vacuums for pets to keep your home clean.
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We love having pets in our homes, but the pet stains and hair that accompany them? Not so much. Pet hair removal is an especially daunting task. Whether you have dogs or cats, their fur clings tightly to fabrics and gets stuck in hard-to-reach places, giving even the most dependable vacuum a challenge if it isn’t the best vacuum for pets.
But don’t fret—there are units designed specifically for picking up pesky pet hair. We researched the best pet vacuums and put them to the test in our own hairy households, gauging whether their suction, maneuverability and special features could stand up to real-life pets. These are the standout models that lived up to our expectations.
It’s bad enough that our tester’s, Nancy Snyder, pit bull mix, Ernie, sheds a lot, but his fur actually weaves deep into carpet and upholstery as if it were part of the fabric. Most vacuums and pet hair removers simply don’t discern between the two—until the Dyson Outsize Plus. There are pet hair vacuums and then there are pet hair vacuums.
While the initial unboxing of this cordless vacuum and all its parts had Snyder overwhelmed, she quickly discovered that it came packaged with everything she needed (and better yet, didn’t even realize she needed) to completely de-fur her home. The Digital Motorbar XL head deep cleaned her carpets and hard surfaces while clearing wrapped pet hair from the brush as it went.
“I used it all over my hardwood floors and area rugs while quietly thanking Dyson for switching to an even larger canister bin than their previous models,” says Snyder in her Dyson Outsize Plus review. After clearing the floors of fur, the Laser Slim Fluffy Cleaner Head illuminated microscopic dust and debris with a—you guessed it—green laser beam, so no trace went undetected.
This best vacuum for pets features four additional attachments for convenient, effective cleaning of just about every surface of your home and car. “My favorite attachment was the Hair Screw Tool, which strongly gripped the furriest of surfaces, such as my dog’s bed or dog car hammock, to completely rid it of stubborn fur,” says Snyder.
While she doesn’t have carpet, Snyder’s parents do, and they dog sit for her often. “I tested the hair-suctioning power of the Digital Motorbar XL on a strip of carpet and was amazed and embarrassed (and ultimately wondering if I would need to find new dog sitters) after seeing how much pet hair was pulled into the bin,” she says.
The vacuum liquid crystal display (LCD) screen allows you to choose between three power modes or auto, which automatically adjusts suctioning power based on floor type. It also displays the remaining run time (a feature Snyder loves), which is extra long thanks to the additional battery pack. While the Dyson Outsize Plus is heavier than other cordless, stick vacuums, Snyder feels it’s a fair trade-off in exchange for a powerful, effective vacuum that picks up more hair and needs emptying less often.
Cordless: Yes | Filter type: Cloth | Included tools: Crevice tool, vacuum bag | Works on: All floors
The Eureka PowerSpeed Turbo Spotlight is the budget-friendly vacuum every pet owner needs. Caroline Lubinsky, senior shopping editor, has a lab/pit mix, Kobe, who sheds like his life depends on it. If she doesn’t vacuum multiple times per week, the off-white living room rug turns into a dishwater gray speckled with Kobe hairs.
“However, I’m happy to report his fur was no match for this budget vacuum,” says Lubinsky. “I was impressed by the PowerSpeed’s ability to pick up embedded pet hair (I didn’t even need to use a carpet rake to agitate!). Once his bevy of dog hair collects in the 2.6-liter dustpan, I simply press a button over our trash can and the canister empties.”
Besides the handy light-emitting diode (LED) headlights, this best upright vacuum comes with a crevice tool, a turbo pet brush and an upholstery tool. Lubinsky was able to clean everything from couch cushions to Kobe’s bed in one swoop. “Oh, and did I mention it’s light?” she continues. “At just 10 pounds, it’s easy to take from room to room or even up a staircase. You’ll be able to eradicate your home’s pet hair easily and on a budget. What could be better than that?”
Cordless: No | Filter type: Foam, washable | Included tools: Upholstery Brush / Tool, Crevice Tool, Extension Wand, Pet Tool, Cleaning Solution | Works on: Thin carpets and low pile rugs, upholstery, thick carpet and shag rugs
Not only does the Bissell Cleanview Swivel Pet Rewind tackle pet hair embedded in carpets, scattered across hardwood and woven into furniture upholstery, it also features a simple fix for a universal problem with vacuums—having to wrap the power cord.
No matter how many times Reina Galhea, deputy shopping editor, uses it (and she’s been using it about once a week for a year and a half now), she never gets tired of pressing the rewind button and watching the cord suck back into the vacuum base. “The 30 seconds it saves me is almost as gratifying as how powerful of a cleaning tool this vacuum is,” she says.
Thanks to its three extra attachments (in addition to the standard tube and angled hose ends), she cleans all kinds of different fabrics and surfaces with ease—floors, furniture, blankets, you name it. “The TurboEraser, a spinning hose attachment that functions like a handheld vacuum, is my go-to for cleaning the couch and the cat tree,” says Galhea. “And as for the ‘swivel’ part of the name? This vacuum maneuvers around corners with a simple turn of my wrist, meaning I don’t have to rearrange the furniture just to get the carpets clean.”
Cordless: No | Filter type: Febreze® Pet Odor Eliminator Filter | Included tools: Pet Hair Eraser Tool, Flexible Pet Crevice Tool, Pet Turbo Eraser Tool | Works on: Pile carpet, stairs, area rugs, bare floors, sealed hard floors, pet beds
Tester Megan Wood considers herself a clean freak. “I’d confidently eat anything that dropped on the ground,” she says. “After all, my floors were super clean, right? Right? Wrong. I tried the Tineco iFloor 3 vacuum mop, and the dirty water tank told a completely different story.”
Unlike your regular mop, which pushes dirty water around your floor, this vacuum has two tanks: one for clean water and one for dirty water. The suction pulls up dirt, dog hair, dust and debris while the damp, spongy roller washes the floors. Wood can usually suck up a pile of dog food and mop a muddy footprint away with just one gentle pass.
“I swear this mop changed my entire cleaning life,” says Wood. “I’ve vacuum-mopped my floor about 100 times, and the water tank still comes out as black as a cup of coffee. I used to think I could get my floors to a perfectly clean state, but now I know I have to just keep on charging the iFloor 3.”
Wood has now been using this best vacuum-mop for almost two years and has since welcomed a second dog and a baby into her home. The iFloor 3 has held up to the extra dog hair, spit up and miscellaneous spills without missing a spot or needing any replacement parts.
Cordless: Yes | Filter type: HEPA | Included tools: 2 brush rollers, 2 HEPA filters, 2 bottles of cleaning solution, charging base, cleaning tool | Works on: Hard floors, including linoleum, vinyl, marble, laminate, tile, and hardwood
Dawn Yanek, senior editor, is always vacuuming and mopping her tile and hardwood floors. And honestly, who has time to do both of those things every day? “Not me, which is why I was thrilled that the Bissell Crosswave X7 wet-dry vacuum lived up to its hype,” she says.
The CrossWave X7 boasts three settings—Hard Floors, Area Rugs and Turbo Pet—and comes with two containers of cleaning solution. A button starts the vacuum, and a trigger activates the mop, which has an LED light to illuminate the spot you’re working on.
“I particularly loved how easy it was to switch back and forth between these features, just in case I missed some crushed Cheerios next to the now-dried pet (or kid?) stain,” says Yanek. “I also have a lot of long hair that tends to get everywhere, and I was worried that it would get tangled in the plush roller brush. But nope—the suction funneled it right into the tank without a problem. Plus, this genius vacuum mop somehow made my old area rugs look brand-new in 60 seconds flat.”
Just be aware that if you’re using this on a large space, you’ll have to frequently refill the tank with water and solution, and also empty the second tank full of dirty water and grime. That said, it’s a small price to pay to get rid of all that grossness, which you won’t believe was actually on your floors before the X7 worked its magic. “Once you do realize it, trust me—you’ll be using this brilliant little machine all. the. time,” says Yanek.
After a few years of testing, Yanek is happy to report this trusty little vacuum mop is still hands-down the best cleaning product she owns. “I love that it allows me to multitask easily, not just switching between vacuuming and mopping with the press of a button, but also between hardwood, tile and carpeted floors with another,” she says.
The only issue that has popped up is that it occasionally gets a little glitchy and shuts off shortly after she turns it on. According to Bissell’s website, this may be the result of excess hair getting tangled in the brush, though fixing the issue doesn’t always seem to be quite so cut and dry. That said, she has managed to get it working again every time, and she thinks the key here is running the self-cleaning cycle a little more regularly.
Cordless: Yes | Filter type: Washable | Included tools: Brush tool | Works on: Tile, sealed wood floors, laminate, linoleum, rubber floor mats, pressed wood floors, area rugs
With two elementary school-age kids and one medium-sized rescue dog in the house, Anne Fritz, deputy editor, is sweeping and vacuuming on a daily basis. “I have a robot vacuum that I run regularly in my bedroom, but I find it cumbersome to lug up and down the stairs so it can access all areas of my house,” she says. “Besides, I typically find a few errant Legos or hair ties on the bottom floor of my house—not ideal for a robot vac to suck up.”
The Black+Decker stick vac is lightweight and cordless. At 10.8 pounds, it’s easy to move around and maneuver with no cord in the way. Galhea loves the LED floorhead light that literally shines a light on dog hair, crumbs and other dirt that she otherwise might not have seen. When fully charged, it runs for 55 minutes—ample time to vacuum just about every area you need to.
“My initial thoughts upon testing: The vacuum does an excellent job on the hardwood floors, even sucking up debris from the crevices,” says Fritz. “I found it to be about 80% effective when it came to picking up dog hairs from carpet and upholstery (but, to be fair, I’ve yet to find a vacuum that picks up 100% of pet hair). To really get it out, I use the ChomChom roller.”
After a few years of consistently using this vacuum, Fritz is happy to report it has held up really well, though she can’t speak as highly about the Lego situation.
Cordless: Yes | Filter type: Washable | Included tools: Crevice tool, charging mount | Works on: Hard floors, area rugs, carpet
The Bissell MultiClean is a must-have for pet parents, according to our tester, Kelly Kuehn. “Upon initial testing, I was baffled by how much of my dog’s hair this lightweight vacuum sucked up within the first five minutes of use—it nabbed so much hair and dirt and thoroughly cleaned my carpet,” she says.
Now, a year later, Kuehn can’t believe she didn’t make this game-changing vacuum a cleaning staple in her home sooner. The vacuum is still going strong, sucking up a plethora of hidden dog hairs and dirt each day. “My favorite part continues to be the TurboEraser attachment, which rids the furniture of my pup’s stubborn (and, I swear, endless) hair with ease,” she says. “I actually look forward to vacuuming now since it does such a good job. Can’t wait to see how it holds up in year two.”
Cordless: No | Filter type: Sealed HEPA | Included tools: Tangle-Free Brush Roll™, 2-in-1 Dusting Brush + Crevice Tool, Pet Turbo Eraser Tool Works on: Laminate, hard floors, carpet, rugs
If you cringe at having to vacuum your floors, let a robot vacuum do it for you. “With the Shark IQ robot vacuum, I don’t have to think about vacuuming for up to 45 days,” says our tester, Marisa Hillman. “That’s because once the vacuum mapped my home, I scheduled whole-home cleanings (or specific rooms when things needed to be cleaned ASAP) using the SharkClean app.” This smart vacuum also works with voice control via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. When the robot gets full, it takes itself back to its self-emptying base. Once it empties itself, it resumes cleaning wherever it left off.
“I have been using this system every day for almost three years, and considering that I have four children and a lab that sheds like crazy, this vacuum is almost always running!” says Hillman. There’s no denying that this robot has incredibly powerful suction, and Hillman love how easily it goes from hardwood to carpet and back again. Plus, its self-cleaning brush roll prevents both human and pet hair from becoming wrapped around it, so you never have to break out the scissors.
Cordless: No | Filter type: HEPA | Included tools: 2-in-1 Dusting Brush + Crevice Tool and Pet Turbo Eraser Tool | Works on: Hard floors, carpet
The delightful part about having a ginger tabby is that his orange fur shows up on both dark and light surfaces, meaning Galhea’s vacuum is permanently glued to her hand. “And while I love my Bissell CleanView Swivel Rewind for bigger pet messes, it’s a pain to plug in from room to room when I’m spot-cleaning. Enter: the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser,” she says.
The newest version of the Pet Hair Eraser comes with three suction attachments: a motorized brush, an upholstery tool and a crevice nozzle. Though the upholstery attachment didn’t seem to improve the vacuum’s function during Galhea’s testing, the motorized brush was a wonder for removing fur from her couch, velvet office chair and cat bed (all of the fur baby’s highly trafficked areas).
“I gave the crevice tool the ultimate test—the cat tree. I’m pleased to report it sucked up all the hair, claw fragments, stray litter and shredded rope from the tree itself, where Big Red gives himself a daily manicure. (It’s the only piece of furniture this cat is allowed to scratch),” says Galhea.
Though it doesn’t compare to the suction power of an upright vacuum, the Pet Hair Eraser is ideal for those trickier areas that a larger vacuum couldn’t reach. Even after a year, Galhea finds herself reaching for the Pet Hair Eraser on a daily basis to spot-clean around the house.
“I’ve found that it works better for one-off messes (like vacuuming up the remnants of a carpet stain I treated with Angry Orange) than for continuous cleaning because of the long charge time,” she continues, “but it’s such a handy tool for keeping things tidy when I don’t want to break out the upright vacuum. And for a pet parent, it’s invaluable.”
Cordless: Yes | Filter type: Triple-level filtration | Included tools: Upholstery tool | Works on: Hard floors, carpet, upholstery
When looking for the best vacuum for pets, the two most important features are suction power and filtration.
According to Josh Mutlow, Dyson design manager, “It’s vital that your machine has strong suction power across all floor types to ensure high performance, as carpets require much more suction power to deliver a proper clean than hard floors.” And when it comes to a good filtration system, Mutlow says, “Most people who own vacuums don’t know there’s a filter in their vacuum, let alone how well it performs, so having a high-quality filtration system when you have a pet is very important.”
Pet hair also means dander, which can cause allergies, as Mutlow points out. He recommends a vacuum that features advanced, whole-machine filtration that only expels clean air.
After suction and filtration, pay attention to technology and features. Mutlow suggests looking for attachments and cleaner heads that contain brush bars, providing agitation on surfaces for optimal hair pickup. Attachments that include anti-tangle technology are also key. Not only do they help pick up hair, dirt and debris that are ground into the floor, they also help capture dander, pollen and other microscopic bacteria that might have made their way in from outside.
There are tons of vacuums on the market that claim to be designed for pet owners. However, they’re not all created equal. In order to compile our list of the best vacuums for pets, we tested the top models in our own homes on real pet (and kid) messes. We considered features such as suction, maneuverability, cord length, weight and special features, such as lights. We also took expert recommendations into consideration and sifted through thousands of reviews to see what other users had to say. The end result? We narrowed down that initial list of 15 to the top 10 vacuums in a wide range of price points that excel at sucking up stubborn pet hair.
Pet dander, the source of allergens, tends to come along with the pet hair scattered around your home. Not all vacuums are designed to also take care of the dander, so if that’s important to you, look for a model that specifically indicates it does. The Shark IQ robot vacuum, for example, has a high-efficiency filter that traps dust, dander and allergens.
This depends on the type of pet you have and how much they tend to shed. Some pet parents might need to do a quick cleanup every day while others can let two or three days pass without breaking out the best vacuum for pets. The key is to pay attention to your pet’s shedding and act accordingly.
Yes, but results vary depending on the model and your home setup. Many newer robot vacuums are surprisingly effective at keeping pet hair under control between deeper cleanings, especially on hard floors. Look for models with strong suction, a self-cleaning brush roll, and a large dustbin, since pet hair can fill smaller ones quickly. However, even the best robot vacuums can struggle with thick carpets, long hair that tangles, or heavy-shedding breeds. So, most pet owners still benefit from pairing a robot vacuum with a full-size upright or stick vacuum for weekly deep cleans.
Both designs have trade-offs when dealing with pet hair and dander. Bagless vacuums are convenient—you can see when the dirt cup is full. But emptying the cup may release fine dander back into the air unless you do it outdoors or have a sealed disposal process. Bagged vacuums often contain finer dust and allergens more effectively, since the bag acts as a filter. That can be a plus for households with allergies to pet dander. On the flip side, you’ll need to keep extra bags on hand and replace them on time. If allergies are a major concern, a quality bagged vacuum or a high-efficiency sealed bagless model with HEPA filtration might be best.
Not entirely. While a good vacuum helps remove the bulk of pet hair, dander, and some of the debris that can trap odors, it won’t address the root causes of odor like pet accidents, deeply embedded stains, or moist fur clinging to surfaces. To manage odors effectively you’ll want to combine vacuuming with regular washing of pet bedding and upholstery, spot‐cleaning carpets and rugs, and proper grooming of your pets to reduce shedding and minimize smells. Also ensure your vacuum’s filters are clean and functioning—dirty or clogged filters can reduce air extraction and let smells linger.
Removing pet hair is a daily chore, which is why our team of editors (and pet owners) are not just product testers; they’re avid product users. The tried-and-true vacuums that made this list have been rigorously tested for months (and, in some cases, years) to see how they have held up over time. From dogs to cats and fur of all lengths, our team at Reader’s Digest has worked to pluck every type of hair from every surface of our home to help you find the best vacuum suited for your needs.
We also consulted Josh Mutlow, Dyson’s design manager, to hone in on what pet owners really need to look for when selecting the unit for their household.
