ChomChom vs Uproot: Which pet hair remover is best?
Content is created by CNN Underscored’s team of editors who work independently from the CNN newsroom. When you buy through links on our site, CNN and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Learn more
If you have pets, you know that their hair ends up everywhere. Whether you’re folding clean laundry or pulling dishes out of the cabinet, pesky pet hair has probably found its way there. Staying on top of pet hair removal is key to keeping a clean home, and for certain surfaces, a vacuum just doesn’t cut it.
That’s where pet hair removal tools like the ChomChom and Uproot Cleaner Pro come in. These specialized tools allow for quick, thorough pet hair removal without having to bust your full-sized vacuum out. They’re ideal for pet hair embedded in couches, dog beds and rugs, and some can even be used directly on your dog or cat to get rid of shedding hair.
I have two dogs in a small condo, and shedding season in our household is no joke — so I tested two of the internet’s favorite pet hair removers, the ChomChom and the Uproot Cleaner Pro, head to head. I compared pet hair removal performance, design, price and versatility to see which budget-friendly pet hair tool is worthy of a spot in your home.
ChomChom vs. Uproot Cleaner Pro at a glance
ChomChom Pet Hair Remover
The ChomChom Pet Hair Remover is easy to use, grabs a good amount of hair from couches and rugs and holds onto the hair it grabs in a rear compartment. It’s also endlessly reusable, so say goodbye to buying traditional sticky lint roll refills.
Uproot Clean Pro Pet Hair Remover
The Uproot Cleaner Pro is excellent at removing embedded hair from couches and other upholstered furniture, but the metal design can snag some materials and doesn’t work on certain rug textures.
Quick comparison
Design
Whether you prefer the ChomChom or the Uproot Cleaner Pro will depend on whether you want your pet hair remover to pick up hair on its own or not. The ChomChom features two nylon fabric strips inside of a plastic shell that roll back and forth to pull pet hair from surfaces. In between rolls, the tool deposits the loose hair in a compartment that can be opened and emptied. This is great so you can roll the device over your entire couch, then empty out the compartment once your cleaning session is complete. The brand says that the ChomChom uses a “hair-grabbing electrostatic charge” to remove hair from couches, rugs and clothing. And while this charge is great at picking up stubborn hair, I definitely noticed residual static from using this tool — it tends to leave couches and other materials staticky after use.
The Uproot, on the other hand, features metal coils on the end of the tool that grab onto pet hair and even remove pilling and lint from fabrics. The Uproot should be held at a 45-degree angle for more durable fabrics and at a 90-degree angle for more delicate fabrics since the tool is harsher when you hold it at certain angles. The Uproot doesn’t create any static electricity that might shock you the next time you sit on your couch, but it also doesn’t hold onto all of the debris it picks up from your surfaces. It mostly pulls hair and lint from the surface and gathers it into a pile, which you’ll need to pick up and throw away. This tool can also be used directly on cats and dogs to banish shedding hair at the source too, unlike the ChomChom, although a normal brush definitely works better.
Performance
Both pet hair removers performed pretty well on couches and upholstered furniture with harder, more durable fabrics. The ChomChom took a few passes to lift all the dog hair away from my fabric couch, and it did occasionally leave a few pieces of short dog hair that were embedded deep in the fabric. It doesn’t get into nooks and crannies quite as well as the Uproot, but I love that it gathers all the hair it’s collected into the rear compartment, which is super simple to empty into the trash once it’s full.
I tested the ChomChom on couches, dog beds, rugs, an upholstered headboard and clothes. Because of the bulky head, it does best on large, flat surfaces. It’s a bit difficult to maneuver on smaller objects and clothes, especially if you’re wearing the clothes you’re trying to take the hair and lint off of. One important note though, is that the ChomChom won’t damage your clothing or furniture — the fabric strip that pulls up dog hair and other debris is quite gentle. The main downside to the ChomChom is its use of static to remove pet hair from fabrics. After using it, I consistently shocked my two dogs when I tried to pet them, which made them a little sad and confused.
In comparison to the ChomChom, the Uproot Cleaner Pro is better at grabbing onto hair that’s stuck in fabric, and it’s also good at removing pilling from some materials. This tool is slightly easier to maneuver around corners and in smaller spaces thanks to the thinner head, but I don’t recommend it for all fabrics. If you have any woven upholstered furniture or throw pillows with exposed threads or decorative stitching — steer clear of the Uproot Cleaner Pro. The metal edges on it are too abrasive on most fabrics, and if you have any existing snags in your furniture, this tool grabs onto them and can make them worse. While testing the Uproot on my couch, it grabbed onto a loose thread and pulled it out even further. I couldn’t use it on my upholstered headboard either, because it seemed too rough for the delicate material.
I tested the Uproot Cleaner Pro on a textured rug I had, and I wasn’t able to move it much — the material held the tool back from moving. Even positioned at 90 degrees (the gentlest angle) I didn’t pull any hair up from the rug. The Uproot is best for folks who will be using it on thick, durable materials like canvas and closed-weave upholstery.
Bottom line
While both the ChomChom and the Uproot Cleaner Pro removed a solid amount of pet hair from couches and other furniture during testing, both tools have downsides. The ChomChom isn’t great at removing deeply embedded hair from fabrics, and it tends to make your furniture staticky. The Uproot is slightly better at removing hair but its metal construction can damage materials too easily.
If you have to choose between one of these, I recommend the ChomChom since you won’t have to worry about snagging or ripping any fabric. However, the better third option is the Groomer’s Stone, a pet hair remover-slash-grooming tool that’s fantastic at getting hair out of fabrics.
At only $8 on Amazon, this pet hair remover is nearly half the price of its more popular competitors, and I find it to be more versatile. It easily removes hair and other debris from most flatwoven rug textures, can be used on more open-weave fabrics than the Uproot without risk of damage, and is excellent at pulling up loose hair from couches, chairs and textured rugs. In my tests, the Groomer’s Stone outperformed both the Uproot and the ChomChom in the amount of hair it pulled up from my couches. It also works more effectively on dogs as a grooming tool than the Uproot Cleaner: During shedding season, it was simple to use on my Rough Collie to remove undercoat that was falling out. We wish the Groomer’s Stone had a handle, but at such a low price, it’s hard to have many complaints.
Note: The prices above reflect the retailers' listed price at the time of publication.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
