Every pet owner eventually succumbs to the fact that their life fast becomes an endless cycle of attempted deshedding, washing bedding and vacuuming the car seats, whether you have the smallest feline, or a giant Great Dane.
And if like me you’re tired of chasing your tail in the never-ending pet hair battle, fear not, because I’ve spent the summer - aka the height of shedding season - testing out cordless pet vacuums to find the one that’s going to leave your humble abode spotless year round - whether your pet is moulting or not.
With the help of my two rescue Staffy crosses, Phoebe and Frank, I’ve sought out the best clean machines for moulting mutts and moggies, putting cordless vacuums from Dyson, Shark and Vax through their paces in the house and car to find the best all-rounder.
To help you find a vacuum that’s perfect for your household, I’ve tried out the Dyson V8, Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless, and Vax Onepwr Blade 4 and rated them on a range of features from their battery life, suction power, suitability for the house and car, storage, weight and more. I gave each vacuum a rating of one, two or three for each feature, one being the best, and then added up the scores to find the overall winner.
The VAX ONEPWR Blade 4 cordless vacuum was the greatest all-rounder vacuum for the home and car, striking a balance between performance, technology and affordability.
The VAX ONEPWR Blade 4 pet at car cordless vacuum came out as the best all-rounder, seemingly having taken the best features of the Shark and Dyson and packaged them in this nifty device that balances performance with affordability.
To test out each of the vacuums, I ran it through the house in its stick format, before turning it into a handheld for the car to see how comfortable each one was to use, as well as a range of other features such as the additional tools they come with, the charging times and how easy they are to empty - and one required a YouTube tutorial as my dad and I stood looking very confused around the bin.
Here’s what I found when I pitted three of the biggest names in household cleaning against one another to find the ultimate pet vacuum cleaner.
Design and storage
Taking a look at the vacuums side by side, which one looks the best is simply a matter of personal preference, but for me, the Dyson stood out as the most striking. It’s sleek, minimalistic and was the easiest to put together, and the orange handle is very attractive. In second place was the Shark with its purple design, while the Vax came in third place here for being a little chunkier than the rest.
When it comes to storage though, the Shark was the most superior, as it has a clever folding design that makes it really compact, meaning you can tuck it in the corner of any room and it goes mostly unnoticed. While it doesn’t stand unaided fully erect, this is the only vacuum that doesn’t require a wall mount and therefore gives more flexibility on where it can be kept. Both the Dyson and Vax need to be kept wherever you decide to install your wall mount, which is a bit more of a faff and requires a dedicated space for the devices. That said, I preferred Dyson’s wall mount over Vax, so I ranked these accordingly.
Battery and charging
The Vax has the longest advertised battery life at up to 45 minutes run time, while both the Dyson and Shark only allow for 40 minutes of cleaning time. The batteries often don’t last this long on any of them, particularly if you’re using the highest settings, so that extra five minutes is handy to have.
When it came to charging the batteries, Dyson was a little disappointing as it takes a whopping five hours to fully charge the battery for a comparatively small amount of cleaning time. The Dyson’s battery also doesn’t come off the device to charge, so you either have to install it in the dock and plug it in - meaning your mount will need to be near a plug socket, too - or you can just detach the handheld part of the vacuum and put that on charge, though it’s a little unsightly on the kitchen counter.
Meanwhile, both the Vax and Shark batteries come off the devices and go on their own little charging station, fully charging in three hours - though I still find this to be a long time. Shark’s charging abilities does have a slight edge because you can charge the battery either on or off the vacuum cleaner, which gives it a little more versatility as it can be placed up a corner of the room folded down to charge, too.
Power
The most powerful of the three vacuums was the Dyson - I was stunned at how much pet hair and dust came out of our carpets after using it. That said, the Vax is a close second and the Shark not far behind, all three being miles better than our previous cheap cordless from Aldi, proving that it does pay to invest in one of the more expensive models.
Weight
The lightest of the three vacuum cleaners was the Dyson at 1.58kg followed by the Vax at 3.1kg, making them great lightweight options, while the Shark was actually the heaviest at 3.4kg. Sometimes the Vax can feel a little weightier due to the powerful suction as it can be difficult to push across the carpet, and at half its weight, the Dyson is a great pick for those who may be older or have a condition that means they’re less able to navigate a heavier device.
House vs Car
Because of its light weight and high suction power, the Dyson is great for cleaning around the house in its upright form. However, where it falls short is that it’s ‘on switch’ is a trigger which can be awkward to use as it needs to be constantly engaged when vacuuming. It’s also really easy to knock the trigger when doing things like trying to empty it - which is a challenge I’ll come to shortly. As for cleaning the car, the Dyson was my least favourite as you have to hold the bulk of the device, squeeze the trigger and use the entire handheld part to clean the car with.
On the other hand, the Vax came in second for the house, again due to its powerful nature, but also due to some additional features like its LED lights which allow you to see any spots you’ve missed. This was definitely the best for cleaning the car, though, as you can attach the bendy hose and attachments like the motorised pet head to navigate around the car, in footwells and up high, too, without needing to move the main device itself.
While all three devices came with pet-specific tools, the Vax just seemed to have more thoughtful attachments, for example it was the only one with a bendy hose - and that could have made all the difference to the results, in the end. It also had a little caddy that attaches to the stick where you can store the crevice tool - something that I had thought was lacking from the Dyson and Shark.
The Shark came second for cleaning the car, and third for cleaning the house. Similarly to the Dyson you do have to move the whole device around the car to clean it, and since it’s the heaviest, too, that can prove tiring. The only reason it ranked so low for cleaning the house is because the Dyson is more powerful and the Vax has some very thoughtful features - that said, the Shark is still a very capable machine and is simple and effective to use.
Emptying the vacuums
The Shark was the easiest vacuum cleaner to empty, as there is a little sliding button that opens up the tub to dispose of the contents. Inside the tub is spacious and it’s easy to get a hand in there to get any stuck bits, unlike the Vax, where the inside is quite compact and difficult to pull any stubborn clumps out.
But it was the Dyson that was the most awkward to dispose of the waste with. There’s a red lever on the top of the device with a picture of a bin, and while the other vacuums were entirely self explanatory to empty, after Dad and I stood puzzled around the bin for a good five minutes, we decided to look it up on YouTube and found a tutorial. Even then the handle you have to pull up felt like it would snap before it would open, but we eventually managed to do it - not without knocking the on trigger about 16 times in the process, though.
Price
When it comes to price, at their most expensive with no deals and discounts, the Dyson is the dearest at £329.99, followed by the £299.99 Vax and Shark the cheapest at £279.99. However, the Vax is currently down to £199.99, while the Dyson is £229.99, meaning that the Vax - at the time of writing - is the overall least expensive, getting you more vacuum for your money.
Overall
After rating all three vacuums on each of the above features, the Vax came out on top with the lowest score of 20, followed by the Dyson which scored 22, and the Shark with 24. Each of the vacuums deserve credit as there isn’t a bad one between them, and ultimately what will be the best vacuum in one home may not be suitable for another. The Shark ranked well for things like ease of emptying, charging and storage, while the Dyson was best for power, battery and design, but it was Vax which found itself as the best all-rounder, praised for its battery, car cleaning abilities, thoughtful features and lowest price.