Best Vacuums for Pet Hair, Tested & Reviewed

Removing pet hair is one of the toughest challenges vacuum cleaners face. That's because, in part, static electricity makes dog and cat hair cling tightly to fabrics like carpeting, upholstery, draperies and more.

It's the static bond that makes it seem like no amount of brushing with a lint roller, sticky tape or passes with a pet hair removal gadget will be enough to remove all traces of pet hair. But a vacuum designed specifically for picking up pet hair can make easy work of the task, thanks to useful features like rubber trim and raised "fingers" that help break static bonds and lift fur from every surface in your home.


In the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care & Cleaning Lab, we test all kinds of vacuums, including the best stick vacuums, handheld vacuums, canister vacuums, robot vacuums and more. We put our vacuums through rigorous testing that follows industry-standard test methods from the ASTM, the organization that develops the protocols vacuum cleaner manufacturers and other testing labs also use. 

We apply standardized types and amounts of soil on a range of flooring types, from hardwood to deep pile carpet to vinyl, to find the best vacuums to get the job done. Our custom-built vacuum testing machine also allows us to objectively measure how much embedded dirt each vacuum pulls from carpet, all using the same standardized method. For pet hair testing, we spread down standardized rayon fibers to simulate the fur pets shed.

1. BISSELL 24613 Pet Hair Eraser Turbo Plus Lightweight Vacuum



Keep reading for more information on how we evaluate the best vacuums for pet hair in our Lab, plus more of our best tips and tricks for pet hair removal. If your tile or wood floors need a little more love and attention, check out our guides to the best vacuum mops and the best vacuums for hardwood floors. For even more on carpets, check out our guides to the best carpet cleaners and how to clean your carpet the right way.

BISSELL 24613 Pet Hair Eraser Turbo Plus Lightweight Vacuum

Like many other models from the brand, Bissell's Pet Hair Eraser Turbo Plus did not disappoint our testers — in fact, it's one of the best Bissell vacuums we've ever tested in the Lab. It earned good scores for its ease of use and powerful suction, but our favorite feature is the mess-free dust cup's easy-to-empty, hands-free design, with a hair spooling system inside the canister that contains a tangle-free brush roll that prevents pet hair from clogging the bristles. 

"This vacuum's combination of features and tools was ideal for picking up the hair of both small and large pets," said one impressed tester. When comparing this model to other upright vacuums we tested in our Lab, we rated it favorably for its weight, but some online reviewers say they found the Pet Hair Eraser Turbo too heavy and had trouble lifting it, especially on stairs.

Attribute Value
Weight 13.75 lbs.
Corded or Cordless Corded
Cord Length 30 Feet
Run Time N A
Bag or Bagless Bagless
Dust Cup Capacity 0.75 L
Filter Washable foam and non-washable pleared
Included Accessories LED Crevice Tool, Pet Tirbo Eraser Tool and 2-in-1 Pet Dusting Brush

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PROS & CONS

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Sealed to trap allergens Some reviewers found it too heavy
Hands-free dust cup emptying
7 ft. hose to clean hard to reach spots
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Pros:
⨁ Sealed to trap allergens
⨁ Hands-free dust cup emptying
⨁ 7 ft. hose to clean hard to reach spots Cons


Cons:
❎ Some reviewers found it too heavy



Pet hair is an annoyance for most pet owners, but if you or someone in your family happens to be allergic to pet hair, it can also be a serious health issue. But this upright Kenmore has all the extras to keep pet hair where it belongs: inside the vacuum. Certified by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation (AAFA), this vacuum has a HEPA filter and passed AAFA tests for low emissions, both while vacuuming and changing the bag.

Although it lacks some of the features that other vacuum cleaners offer, like auto height adjustments for different floor types and a retractable cord, we're impressed by its large capacity dust cup, ample hose storage, variety of tools and that it can be manually height adjusted for easier pushing across all carpet styles.

While we haven’t yet tested this specific model in our Lab, Kenmore vacuums have done well in our previous performance tests; we also trust the rigid standards of the AAFA, and are impressed with their certification criteria. Reviewers say this vacuum maintains its performance even as the bag fills with dirt, and it’s loaded with features we love, like a powerful motor and an air-powered hand tool with a rotating brush to more easily remove stubborn pet hair from upholstery, bedding and stairs. Still, at just under 20 pounds, it may not be the easiest to lift up.

Feature Specification
Weight 19 lbs.
Corded or Cordless Corded
Cord Length 30 feet
Run Time N/A
Bag or Bagless Bag
Dust Cup Capacity 1.5 L
Filter HEPA
Included Accessories Dusting brush, crevice tool, bare floor tool
V15 Detect Stick Vacuum


3. BEST CORDLESS VACUUM FOR PET HAIR Dyson V15 Detect Stick Vacuum


Dyson's V15 Detect, a recent Good Housekeeping Cleaning Award winner, packs a lot of innovation into a lightweight design, with a laser that illuminates dust and other debris not visible in regular lighting, a fluffy brush that's great for picking up hair and dust from hard flooring and an LCD screen that shows you how big or small each particle your vacuum picks up is. Our testers found maintenance easy, thanks to a hair screw tool specifically made to ball up long and short pet hair and deposit it into the dust bin without tangling around the brush. The dust bin is smaller than those on most full-size upright vacuums and therefore requires more frequent emptying.

We found manually switching between cleaning modes easy, but the auto-mode automatically adjusts the suction power depending on the floor type it senses, instantly providing stronger suction when you need it most (like when removing debris from carpet fibers). Both the filter and fluffy brush are washable, plus you can store all accessories right on the wand. It has a powerful suction, so much so that it sometimes proved troublesome for testers vacuuming around lightweight rugs that were sucked up easily by the V15 Detect.

All of its innovative features and overwhelmingly positive consumer reviews online are impressive, and we especially like the battery runtime countdown on the LCD screen that tells you exactly how long (to the second!) you have before you’ll need to charge the device’s battery.

Weight 6.8 lbs.
Corded or Cordless Cordless
Run Time Up to 60 minutes
Bag or Bagless Bagless
Dust Cup Capacity 0.76 L
Filter HEPA
Included Accessories Hair screw tool, combination tool, stubborn dirt brush, crevice tool, mini soft dusting brush and digital motorbar
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On SalePet-Friendly Pop-N-Go Bagged Canister
4
BEST VACUUM FOR PET HAIR AND HARDWOOD FLOORS
Kenmore Pet-Friendly Pop-N-Go Bagged Canister
Now 13% Off
$306 AT AMAZON
$315 AT WALMART
CREDIT: KENMORE
PROS
Pro
Comes with a motorized attachment for pet hair
Pro
Bagged so less dust escapes during emptying
CONS
Con
Heavier than other similar models

4. BE

For those that prefer a bagged vacuum that keeps pet hair and dander sealed after cleaning, there's the Pet-Friendly Pop-N-Go canister vacuum from Kenmore, a 2022 Good Housekeeping Best Cleaning & Organizing Award winner. To clean hardwood floors, you can use your foot to press the button that opens up the bare floor brush storage and attach it hands-free, though one tester found that the compartment doesn't open all the way each time, so you may have to nudge it a bit to get the brush out. We found its Pet PowerMate tool to be great for cleaning hair from upholstered furniture and carpets, and it can be stored along with all other tools right on the vacuum.

In our Lab tests, it proved to have powerful suction, picking up dry oats from our test carpets and hard flooring easily. One of our consumer testers used this vacuum right after another model, and found that it picked up debris that the first vacuum missed. “The suction was phenomenal,” our tester said. We also found it easy to maneuver and transition from carpet to hard floors, thanks to its large wheels.

Keep in mind that this vacuum clocks in at over 20 pounds, so it'll take two hands to carry up or down stairs, though it is possible to clean stairs without having to pick it up thanks to its 10.5-foot telescoping wand, long hose and retractable cord. These features are also helpful for cleaning large areas without having to switch outlets too often.

Weight 24 lbs.
Corded or Cordless Corded
Cord Length 26 feet
Run Time N/A
Bag or Bagless Bag
Duct Cup Capacity N/A
Filter HEPA
Included Accessories Crevice tool, bare floor tool, upholstery brush and pet PowerMate
On SaleFurbuster Cordless Handheld Vacuum for Pets
5
BEST CORDLESS HANDHELD VACUUM FOR PET HAIR
BLACK+DECKER Furbuster Cordless Handheld Vacuum for Pets
Now 15% Off
$85 AT AMAZON
$109 AT WALMART
$85 AT HOME DEPOT
CREDIT: BLACK + DECKER
PROS
Pro
Powered pet head has rubber bristles to lift pet hair off furniture and stairs
Pro
Affordable
CONS
Con
Doesn’t come with many attachments that others have

4. BE

This cordless handheld vacuum from Black + Decker is a great affordable vacuum for pet hair that's especially great for cleaning up the car. It has a motorized pet brush tool that uses rubber bristles to lift pet hair off upholstery, car seats and carpets efficiently.

The only other tool included is an extendable crevice tool that makes cleaning hard to reach areas especially easy. Like many of the best handheld vacuums, it has a long runtime of up to 32 minutes, but requires four hours for charging and does not have a removable battery so you'll have to plug in the whole device (and when the battery eventually stops working, you'll have to purchase a brand new hand vacuum). Its filter is washable and the dust cup empties with the push of a button, allowing for easy maintenance.

This vacuum’s powerful suction and large battery indicator were a tester’s favorite features on this model, who said, "while a small device will never be as powerful as a full-size model, this little vacuum's suction was impressive." With an average 4.4-star rating on Amazon from over 7,700 reviewers, this handheld vacuum is fan-approved too.

Weight 4.2 lbs.
Run time Up to 32 minutes
Bag or Bagless Bagless
Dust Cup Capacity 0.75 L
Corded or Cordless Cordless
Filter Washable filter and pre-filter
Run Time N/A
Included Accessories Crevice tool and motorized pet brush
Pet Hair Eraser Corded Handheld Vacuum
6
BEST CORDED HANDHELD VACUUM FOR PET HAIR
Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Corded Handheld Vacuum
$35 AT AMAZON
$44 AT WALMART
CREDIT: BISSELL
PROS
Pro
Compact
Pro
Lightweight
Pro
Rubber nozzle to help lift stuck-on hair
CONS
Con
Not for narrow, hard-to-reach spots

6. BE

This small-but-mighty Bissell is perfect for quick pet-hair fixes. We like that it's designed with a rubber nozzle to help lift stuck-on hair and that it's easy to maneuver around chair arms and stair treads, though its shape makes it a little awkward to hold and it's not the best option for tight, hard-to-reach spots.

Our testers rated this hand vac highly because it took just four swipes to pick up every bit of hair in our pet hair pick-up tests — in fact, in our latest round of handheld vacuum tests, it earned the highest overall performance score out of 19 models tested.

Its 16-foot power cord is long enough to navigate small messes and it comes with an attachment for hard floors to nab pet hair or dry messes like kitty litter on tile and more. It's a little heavier than a lot of other handheld vacuums we've tested, but worth the extra weight for the larger than usual dust cup capacity it affords users.

Weight 5 lbs.
Corded or Cordless Corded
Cord Length 16 feet
Run Time N/A
Bag or Bagless Bagless
Dust Cup Capacity 0.78 L
Filter Multi-layer filtration
Included Accessories Specialized rubber nozzle and suction nozzle

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RoboVac 15C MAX
7
BEST ROBOT VACUUM FOR PET HAIR
eufy RoboVac 15C MAX
Now 28% Off
$180 AT AMAZON
CREDIT: EUFY
PROS
Pro
Removes pet hair from thick carpet with ease
Pro
Slim design gets under low furniture
CONS
Con
Filters not washable

7. BE

From our extensive testing of robot vacuums, we've found that most models are not ideal for picking up pet hair, especially from carpet. But this budget-friendly robot vacuum from eufy bucked the trend, easily removing pet hair from carpet and hardwood floors. It was also one of the quietest robot vacuums we tested and ran for almost two hours on a single charge.

Like most other robots on the market, it automatically returns to its charging base when the battery runs low, but lacks the ability to resume cleaning after it finishes charging like some more expensive models do. With its slim profile of just under three inches, it can glide beneath beds, low furniture and hard-to-reach places to nab stray pet hair. Its BoostIQ Technology also automatically increases suction power when it detects extra cleaning is needed and advanced sensors keep it from tumbling off ledges and stairs or running into furniture.

For a budget-friendly price, it packs quite a few of the best robot vacuum features, like spot- and edge-cleaning, but does lack some other key capabilities that some consumers might miss, like a floor mapping feature or the ability to mark off no-go zones in your home. The device's filter cannot be washed, but a replacement filter is included with the robot vacuum and can be purchased separately at an affordable price on Amazon. Its two side brushes and roller brush action helped secure its spot as the third-best performing robot vacuum amongst 15 models we recently tested.

Weight 6 lbs.
Corded or Cordless Cordless (Base is corded)
Run Time Up to 100 minutes
Bag or Bagless Bagless
Dust Cup Capacity 0.6 L
Filter Non-washable
Included Accessories Cleaning tool and side brushes
Boost CX1 Cat & Dog 
8
BEST CANISTER VACUUM FOR PET HAIR
Miele Boost CX1 Cat & Dog
$679 AT AMAZON
CREDIT: MIELE
PROS
Pro
Included turbo brush floorhead for pet hair pickup on carpet
Pro
Four suction power settings
CONS
Con
Pricey

8. BE

Miele’s newest canister vacuum model comes with a turbo brush floorhead specially designed for picking up dirt and hair from low to medium pile carpets. Our experts are always impressed by the design and performance of Miele vacuums in our tests, and this canister vacuum was no exception, picking up dry oats from carpets, hardwood flooring and tiles without leaving anything behind. Thanks to its small size, it can be easily stored in small spaces and its 32-foot operating radius is great for cleaning large areas. There's even a spot on the canister body to park the hose so it stays upright during storage.

This Boost CX1 model also includes a universal floor head for pet hair pick up on bare floors. This Miele canister vacuum is one of the most expensive of our picks, but because it offers four suction power options that make it gentle enough for cleaning curtains and strong enough for cleaning carpets, our experts find that the cost is justified as you'll be able to tackle messes from floor to ceiling with just one device.

One of our consumer testers said, "It worked well on all surfaces, but really impressed with the power it had with the area rug." It impressed our expert testers, too, earning it a 2022 GH Best Cleaning & Organizing Award.

Product Specs
Weight 18 lbs.
Corded or Cordless Corded
Cord Length 21 feet
Run Time N/A
Bag or Bagless Bagless
Dust Cup Capacity 1 L
Filter HEPA
Included Accessories Upholstery nozzle, crevice nozzle, two floor nozzles and dusting brush

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expert cleaning up dry oats from hard wood floor for in lab testing of the best vacuums for pet hair
In addition to performance testing, each vacuum must also undergo ease of use evaluations that include assessing the weight, battery runtime, maneuverability and ease of emptying and using the controls of the devices. Models that are tested in consideration for our annual Good Housekeeping Best Cleaning & Organizing Awards are also sent to consumer testers who rate and provide feedback on the vacuum’s maneuverability, ease of use and more. Our picks are the vacuums that performed best on in-Lab pet hair tests, plus ones with features perfectly suited to tackle stubborn fur.

What to look for when shopping for the best pet hair vacuums

To help any vacuum do a better job at removing pet hair, our cleaning pros recommend giving fur-covered carpets and couches a spritz of an anti-static spray, like Static Guard, before vacuuming to help strands come up easier. Then, there are a few features to look for in a vacuum for pet hair:

✔️ Bag vs. bagless: Dust cups or bags are essential considerations for the inevitable and frequent dumping that happens as you vacuum up after your pet. Bagged vacuums are best for keeping pet hair, dust and debris out of the air when emptying the vacuum, ideal for homes with allergy sufferers. Bagless vacuums are often sealed to prevent debris escaping and going back into the air of your home as you clean, but have to be emptied directly into the trash bin where dust can escape and find its way into the air or back on the floor. Bagless models are great for homes that don't want to re-up on bags periodically. Make sure that the dust cup is sizable and easy to empty, or that the bag is easily disposed of for the easiest post-cleaning cleanup.

✔️ Filter type: Filters not only help the dust from recirculating back into the air but can actually help neutralize pet smells in your home. Look for models with multi-layer filtration that can trap more debris than a single layer filter can. Models with pre-filters and whole machine filtration also offer multiple levels of filtration at different parts of the vacuum to further prevent dust and debris from re-entering your home's air. And if allergies are a concern, HEPA filters are the most effective, since they trap 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria and any airborne particles with a minimum size of 0.3 microns (nanoparticles).

✔️ Type of flooring: Many vacuum cleaners come with attachments that are specifically designed for cleaning different types of flooring. Models with brushes that can be turned off or soft brushes are the best option for hardwood flooring as they are less likely to cause scratches than brushes with harder bristles. For thick carpets, rotating brush rolls with stiff bristles help get into the individual fibers of the carpet to get as much dirt and debris out.

✔️ Corded vs. cordless: With a corded vacuum, you’ll never have to worry about running out of battery power, however, cordless vacuums are easy to take from room to room or use in a car. Deciding if you need a corded or a cordless model should be chosen depending on your usage: Do you plan to tote it around the house and outside, or perhaps you're more likely to use it for long stretches of time? If you're leaning toward a cordless model, look for ones that include a second battery for longer run time

✔️ Size and weight: Portability is also an important factor when shopping for a vacuum cleaner. If you’re frequently vacuuming small amounts of pet hair, you may want a handheld or stick vacuum that’s compact and lightweight to quickly suction up tiny amounts of pet hair. However, if you find yourself vacuuming large areas often to pick up pet hair you’ll want a corded canister or upright vacuum that never runs out of power. Keep in mind that heavier vacuums will be harder to carry up and down stairs if you have multiple levels to clean in your home.

✔️ Pet tools & features: Pet hair-nabbing features are crucial, like rubber trim and raised “fingers” on floor nozzles or attachments that help zap static and break the bonds so fur comes up more easily. Tangle-free brush rolls also put an end to clipping long strands of hair (from pets or humans!) that get twisted around the brush.

9 Is a vacuum with a HEPA filter worth it?

Yes, vacuums with HEPA filters are especially great for homes with allergy sufferers as they trap 99.97% of microscopic airborne allergens. In fact, research conducted by NASA showed that HEPA filters remove almost all nanoparticles from a space cabin. Vacuums with “HEPA-like” filters are less expensive but often are only able to trap airborne particles as small as 0.5 microns, which makes a big difference when it comes to reducing airborne viruses and bacteria in your home. Sealed vacuums that don’t allow any particles to escape from side vents or any other part of the vacuum are helpful for allergies, as are bagged vacuums that minimize the release of dust when emptying the dust cup.
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