Asked on Aug 18, 2014

Vacuum cleaner strong enough for pet hair

Tamara Copple
by Tamara Copple
I have a craft business and two short-hair cats. I am looking for a new vacuum that can handle both with ease, plus has attachments for corners, stairs and upholstery. Recommendations?
  9 answers
  • Shari Shari on Aug 18, 2014
    Based on the pretty good reviews it got, I just bought a bagless, Bissell upright vacuum designed for people with pets for my daughter but I have been "test driving" it for the past several days. Good grief! This thing seriously puts the $600 vacuum I have to shame! I was absolutely shocked how much stuff this vacuum has pulled out of my carpet. Now on the one hand, I'm a bit disgusted having to empty the canister (and it's kind of small so it has to be emptied frequently) but there is also something weirdly satisfying about seeing the amount of pet hair and dirt that it is pulling out of my carpet. It does have a few attachments that it comes with, including an awesome pet hair tool that you can vacuum the furniture with and a crevice tool, but I think more attachments are available on the Bissell website. The canister also conveniently lifts off for doing stairs (which neither my daughter or I have). The head pivots (like the Dyson ball) so that makes getting around furniture legs very easy but I find it a little weird trying to vacuum large open areas when the head isn't fixed. It is definitely something I would have to get used to. It also has a switch to turn off the beater bar so you can vacuum bare floors. I obviously can't speak on longevity yet since we've only had it for less than 2 weeks but I'm impressed enough that I am seriously considering buying one for myself. Here's the Amazon and Target link for it. (It is currently selling for the same price on both sites but I ordered from Target so I could return it easier by taking it right back to the store if we didn't like it.) http://www.amazon.com/BISSELL-PowerGlide-Lift-Off-Technology-2763/dp/B00DUG0A7E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406648053&sr=8-1&keywords=bissell+powerglide http://www.target.com/p/bissell-powerglide-advanced-pet-vacuum-with-lift-off-technology-purple-2763t/-/A-14665355 Oh, one other thing. Prior to making the decision to buy this Bissell, I almost bought a Shark because I liked several of their vacuums (and there is either an impressive 3 or 5 year warranty on them--I forget which now). However, I got to wondering how warranty issues were handled so I had a live chat with a customer service rep on the Shark website. He told me if their products fail and need repair during the warranty period, they do not have any local authorized service centers. The customer has to ship the vacuum back to Shark for repair and the customer is responsible for shipping charges BOTH ways. At the price of shipping these days, that could easily be $20.00 or more each way for something large in size and weight like a vacuum! Thanks, but no thanks Shark! On the other hand, there is an authorized Bissell repair center just 5 miles from my home. If you want to see if there is one near you, you can go to the Bissell website and enter your zip code: http://www.bissell.com/service-centers/
  • Tammy Davis Tammy Davis on Aug 19, 2014
    Thanks for this Shari. I have been buying Sharks because I do love the vacuums but don't like that I would have to send the vacuum in on my dime to repair so I usually end up just buying another one. Even though I am not the originator for the post. I'm definitely going to be checking out the bissell one and maybe one for my daughter as well.
    • Shari Shari on Aug 19, 2014
      @Tammy Davis Just buying another one instead of making a warranty claim is exactly what they hope you will do! When people go to buy an appliance, I don't think most think about what they will do if/when they need service. Boy, I sure do because I don't have money to *burn* and for some reason, I seem to end up with a lot of products that fail faster than I think they should. (They don't make things like they used to, I guess.) I have a Hoover carpet cleaner with a 6 year warranty. The same vacuum store close to my home that is the Bissell authorized service center is also a Hoover service center. I'm into my 4th year on the Hoover and they have sent me 2 completely new cleaners because one thing or another has rendered the machines inoperable. The first time it was replaced, I lived elsewhere so I had to ship it back but Hoover sent me a shipping label and I had kept the original box so packing was easy and it didn't cost me a thing--which is the way it should be when something is under warranty! The second time (new house-new city), I took it to the service center. They handled everything and about a week or 10 days later I had a new carpet cleaner delivered right to my door. When we buy an appliance (or electronics), part of what we pay for is a warranty, and in the case of the Hoover carpet cleaner, the 6 year warranty is the #1 reason I bought that Hoover model. I absolutely refuse to support companies that make it difficult for the customer to make a warranty claim. I always thought you had to spend a lot to get a good vacuum (hence, my $600 specialty vacuum from a vacuum store) but I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much for one for my daughter because she can be hard on her stuff. This Bissell PowerGlide model proves me wrong. For the money, it is very, very impressive. It truly vacuums circles around my more expensive vacuum.
  • Tamara Copple Tamara Copple on Aug 19, 2014
    ditto for me. I have seen models advertised as strong enough for pets go for up to $600 and can't bring myself to spend that much. Thank you!
  • Patricia Patricia on Aug 19, 2014
    The Dyson Animal is the best cat-hair-picker-uper I've ever owned. In fact, there's no comparison with the Hoovers I've had in the past. It was expensive, but 2 other members of my family (who also have multiple cats) have had them ever since they came out and say they're running great. My 3 kitties are a long-hair Ragdoll and 2 Maine Coon mixes and they shed ultra-fine hair *everywhere*.
  • Mlcapaci Mlcapaci on Aug 19, 2014
    Kenmore canister!!! I have put more money into vacuum cleaners than I would care to admit. I have had Eureka, Hoover, Oreck, Shark, Bissell, Rainbow, and then some that I can't remember the brand names of.. I am on my 2nd Kenmore canister and this one is about 15 years old. It is still going strong and doing a great job!!
  • Melissa Gutilla Melissa Gutilla on Aug 19, 2014
    I love my Dyson Animal works great. 3 dogs here.
  • Michelle Michelle on Aug 20, 2014
    I have a dyson animal works wonder , I have 2 dogs that shed and a long hair cat. It is the most awesome vacuum, had it for 6 years
  • Tamara Copple Tamara Copple on Aug 24, 2014
    Thank you all for the recommendations! I went with Shari's original suggestion of the Bissell upright pet vacuum. It arrived Friday. Now, I regularly vacuum my carpets but I spent two. hours. going over my in the living room and was STILL pulling stuff out of the carpet when I had to quit to make supper. The debris tank does need to be emptied frequently but even so that is worth it to see how much is coming up. Now I can see why my cat-allergic friend can't be anywhere near my house even though you can't smell the cats and I clean the place to reduce hair and dander. Maybe with a good deep clean and Benadryl it will be tolerable for her next time. Thank you @Shari!
    • Shari Shari on Aug 24, 2014
      @Tamara Copple You are so welcome! I'm happy you are happy with it...and as impressed with it as I was. :) I'm also glad to know I was not the only one who was shocked how much stuff this vacuum sucked out of the carpet. I truly thought my carpets were cleaner than that! Since the canister does have to be emptied so frequently, I started carrying a small plastic garbage bag with me from room to room as I vacuumed so I didn't have to keep running to the trash can to empty it. I found that inserting the canister all the way down into the bag and pressing the lid release button right through the plastic bag seemed to keep the dirt and pet hair more contained during the emptying process. Now...hopefully this vacuum will continue to perform this well for many years but if only lasts through the 5 year warranty period, at least we haven't spent an arm and a leg on it.
  • Karen Hogan Karen Hogan on Aug 25, 2014
    my son suggested using long handled squeegee.