Get the Fur Out of Your Couch for Good With These Vacuums for Pet Hair

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If you don’t stay on top of it, pet hair can quickly take over your home, working itself into carpeting and furniture and forming dust bunnies that linger in every corner. But not every vacuum is designed for all the mess your animals leave behind—you need a powerful vacuum that can efficiently pick up fine hair and pet dander to leave your home looking clean and smelling fresh.

While upright and canister vacuums are the most powerful options for deep cleaning, cordless stick vacuums, handheld vacuums, and robot vacuums can all be beneficial for daily pet hair management. Models that have tangle-free brush rolls and easy-to-empty dustbins are best for reduced maintenance, and a HEPA filter is a must-have for clearing out dander that can bother your allergies.

We researched and tried out plenty of models across the price spectrum that truly pick up pet hair. Read on for the best vacuums for pet hair the market has to offer.

For more great cleaning tools, check out the best vacuums for all types of floors, the best cordless vacuums, and the best vacuums for hardwood floors.

The Best Vacuums for Pet Hair

• Best Overall: Bissell Cleanview Bagless Upright Pet Hair Vacuum

• Best High-End: Dyson Animal 3 Extra Upright Pet Hair Vacuum

• Best Mid-Range: Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Turbo Lift-Off Upright Vacuum

• Best Canister: Miele Classic C1 Bagged Canister Vacuum

• Best for Long-Haired Pets: Shark ZU102 Rotator Pet Upright Vacuum

What to Consider

There are a few important factors that make a vacuum well-suited for dog and cat fur—namely, how much hair its bin holds and how it empties, how well it filters fine particles, and the types of attachments included.

Bin Capacity

Large dustbins, which hold 1 liter or more of debris, are common in pet hair vacuums because hair and fur can take up a lot of space. Here’s a rundown of the bin capacity each type of vacuum typically offers.

Canister Vacuums

These generally have the largest capacity—sometimes 4 liters or more—which is ideal if you have a pet that sheds heavily all year long.

Upright Vacuums

Upright vacuums are a close second, often with a capacity between 1 and 2 liters, making them a good option for folks with a pet that sheds mildly, or only during part of the year.

Cordless Vacuums

Because cordless vacuums are designed as supplementary cleaning tools, they have much smaller dustbins—less than a half-liter—which is only enough for spot-cleaning and picking up dust bunnies between deep cleaning sessions.

Robot Vacuums

If you decide to go with a robot vacuum, we recommend a model with a self-emptying bin. While most robot vacuums have small on-board dustbins that fill up quickly, self-emptying models have a larger dust collection area in the base that can generally hold more than 1 liter of debris.

Filtration

For allergy sufferers, it’s essential to have a vacuum with an excellent filtration system, so look for models with a HEPA filter, or “high efficiency particulate air” filter. These filters trap 99.97 percent of particles that are 0.3 microns or larger in size. Pet dander can be as small as 2.5 microns in diameter, so a HEPA filter effectively capture these particles, as well as pollen, dust, and other allergens your pets may have tracked into your home.

A fully sealed filtration system, sometimes called an anti-allergen seal, is another common feature on pet vacuums. This means the components of the vacuum are tightly sealed so fine particles can’t escape back into your home once they’ve been sucked up.

The Best Vacuum Attachments for Cleaning Up Pet Hair

Powerful suction is important, but the included tools and attachments are often what pet owners use to successfully pull stubborn hair out of upholstery and carpeting. The following attachments are useful for tackling pet hair, and come with many of the models we recommend below.

Crevice Tools

A standard attachment that comes with nearly all vacuums, these are long, slim tools that fit into tight areas, such as behind the toilet or between couch cushions. They’re useful for cleaning up clumps of hair that may have gathered in corners of your home where the vacuum’s floorhead may not fit.

Upholstery Tools

Non-motorized upholstery brushes have bristles and/or a strip of microfiber to clean off furniture. As you pull the tool across fabric, the bristles lift pet hair and dust to be sucked up through the vacuum hose.

Motorized Pet Tools

For pet hair that’s worked deep into upholstery, whether on your furniture or in your car, a motorized pet tool provides the most lifting power. These tools have small, spinning brush rolls, usually equipped with bristles, that agitate hair to pull it from the fabric, and they tend to work much more efficiently than non-motorized tools.

Dusting Brushes

If you have pet hair or dander on your window screens or baseboards, a dusting brush is equipped with long, soft bristles that pick up dust and fine particles without scratching surfaces.

Other Helpful Features

In addition to an arsenal of attachments to pull up pet hair, there are a few features that make cleaning up after your dog or cat even easier.

• LED headlights: Upright and cordless vacuums may have a row of LED headlights on the floorhead, which makes it easier to see hair on hard floors or in dark corners. Select vacuums have side bristles on the sides of the floorheads, too, which capture dust and hair from along the edges of walls.

• Anti-tangle brush rolls: For homes with long-haired pets, anti-tangle brush rolls are a must—these have a comb that removes hair from the bristles as it rolls, preventing long strands from getting wrapped around the brush roll as it spins. (This also works great for human hair.)

• No-touch emptying systems: Almost all of our recommendations include a no-touch emptying system, which saves you from having to pull clumps of dirty hair out of your vacuum’s dustbin. These designs have a lever or latch on the outside of the dustbin, and you simply hold it over the trash can to release the contents.

• Extendable hoses: If you have a staircase or a large car to clean, an upright or canister vacuum with an extendable hose allows you to better reach these areas and the small crevices they contain. These hoses can often stretch up to 10 feet or more and work in tandem with the vacuum’s attachments, such as crevice tools, to agitate and remove hair even in areas you can’t see well.

How We Selected

To determine the best vacuums for pet hair, we first dug into our own results from trying out vacuums to determine the best vacuums for pet hair. I’ve personally tested several of the models included on this list, and they excelled at picking up hair from my two golden retrievers.

Our selection covers a range of styles, from uprights to robots to canisters, that span multiple price points, and in each category, we chose the model that offers the best balance of suction power, versatility, pet-focused features and tools, and value. We prioritized vacuums from reliable brands, including Bissell, Dyson, and Miele, and we looked for specific features that are beneficial for pet owners, including good filtration, non-tangle brush rolls, and large bins.

Cleanview Bagless Upright Pet Hair Vacuum

We tried out Bissell's Cleanview vacuum, a powerful upright model priced at just under $100. We like that it’s lightweight for an upright vacuum, making it easy to push across the floor, and it has good suction on both hard floors and carpeting, easily picking up large pieces of debris, as well as fine particles and pet hair.

This vacuum for pet hair has a swivel head to easily maneuver around furniture and a substantial brush roll packed with bristles, and it even has special side bristles that get close along the edges of your walls. It comes with attachments to remove pet hair from stairs and hard-to-reach corners on hardwood and carpeted floors. It’s also easy to empty, with a button on front that releases dirt straight into the garbage.

Ball Animal 3 Extra Upright Vacuum Cleaner

Dyson is known for its powerful vacuums, and if you want a machine that easily pulls pet hair out of your thickest rugs, you won’t be disappointed with this Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra model.

Along with powerful suction, it features whole-machine filtration that captures dust and pet dander, keeping it from being expelled back into the air, and the floorhead has a built-in comb that detangles hair from the brush roll as it spins, preventing long strands from getting wrapped around it.

This upright vacuum is easy to maneuver thanks to the brand’s signature ball design, and it comes with a pet grooming tool that lets you brush your pet while sucking up loose hair and dander. The attachment is designed for pets with medium to long hair, and it resembles a standard wire pet brush, except there’s a hole in the middle that funnels hair into the vacuum’s hose. However, the vacuum does need to be running while you brush your pet, which may frighten some animals.

Classic C1 Bagged Canister Vacuum Cleaner

Many Miele users swear by this brand—and for good reason. The company makes a fleet of high quality, powerful canister vacuums in a rainbow of colors, and this one is designed specifically for cleaning pet hair.

The vacuum head adjusts to five heights to tackle everything from high-pile rugs and dhurries to hardwood floors and tile, and there are six speed settings. You can dial up the suction power when you know there’s pet hair and dirt deep in carpeting or turn down the speed (and therefore the noise level) when you’re working on hard floors or a quick touch-up.

This vacuum comes with a charcoal filter that traps pet odor and tiny particles, and the brand also sells HEPA filters that can be swapped in during allergy season or when your dog is shedding a lot. Its attachments include a powerful motorized brush that removes pet hair from furniture, plus a dusting brush and tools for cleaning upholstery and crevices.

ZU102 Rotator Pet Upright Vacuum

The Shark Rotator is a worthwhile upgrade if you have pets with long hair. Its specially designed head captures both long and short hair from all types of surfaces, while preventing the strands from getting wrapped around the brush roll. There’s also an odor-neutralizing cartridge in the vacuum’s floorhead that leaves behind a fresh scent as you clean.

This upright vacuum has a large 2.9-liter dustbin that can hold more hair, as well as a HEPA filter and anti-allergen seal to trap pet dander. If you need to clean stairs or another hard-to-reach area, the vacuum’s hose stretches up to 12 feet, and it comes with a crevice tool and pet upholstery tool to clean other surfaces.

Pet Hair Eraser Turbo Lift-Off Upright Vacuum

The latest version of the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Turbo includes several features that are great for pet owners. Unlike the previous version of the vacuum, the Lift-Off model is equipped with a HEPA filter to keep allergens out of your home, and the canister also lifts off the base, making it easier to clean stairs, around baseboards, and along blinds.

The powerful upright vacuum also has a tangle-free brush roll, along with a motorized attachment designed to remove pet hair off upholstery. The main head has LED lights on the front and sides, and there’s a crevice tool with an LED light for easy cleaning in dark corners, plus a two-in-one dusting brush.

The vacuum also features a touch-and-release button on the outside of the dustbin so you won’t get pet dander and dust all over your hands.

Anti-Allergen Pet Power Cordless Stick Vacuum

This cordless vacuum from Shark can quickly pick up pet hair thanks to its flexible silicone brush roll, which is designed to prevent hair from getting tangled around it. The cordless design runs for up to 50 minutes on its lowest suction setting, and the dustbin has an anti-allergen seal and a HEPA filter to trap fine particles as you clean.

The Shark cordless vacuum has a low-profile design that can clean under furniture, and LED headlights show you where there’s dirt or hair on the floor. It does come with a few attachments, including a crevice tool and dusting brush. There’s also an upholstery tool for cleaning fabric, but it’s not motorized.

Furbuster Handheld Vacuum for Pets

For cleaning pet hair off furniture, stairs, or car upholstery, the Black + Decker Furbuster is lightweight and easy to carry around your home. The handheld model comes with a motorized pet tool that makes quick work of hair on virtually any surface, and the strands don’t get wrapped around its spinning brush roll, either.

The vacuum also has an extra-long crevice tool that’s ideal for cleaning fur out of your car, and unlike most handheld vacuums, the Furbuster has two power settings for different levels of suction. (The battery dies faster on the high setting, though.)

A battery indicator lets you know how much power is left, and the machine has two washable filters that can be reused, saving you from having to purchase new filters for it. However, they’re not HEPA filters, so the vacuum isn’t the best choice for deep-cleaning or particularly dusty cleaning jobs—you’ll want to break out your full-sized vacuum to handle those messes.

Clean X8 Pro Robot Pet Hair Vacuum

Robot vacuums are useful for picking up pet hair on a daily basis, preventing dust bunnies from forming between deep cleans with your full-size vacuum. Many robot vacuums require frequent maintenance as hair gets wrapped around their brush rolls easily, but the new Eufy X8 Pro has a detangling comb that helps ensure even long hair is sucked into the dustbin. It also automatically boosts suction when it moves onto a rug, which is beneficial since pet hair tends to accumulate more on carpeting.

This smart robot vacuum uses lasers to navigate around your home, making detailed maps and avoiding obstacles, and you can easily set up areas to avoid, label specific rooms, and schedule automatic cleanings.

Because it’s self-emptying, this robot vacuum doesn’t need to be emptied after every cycle. In fact, the base can hold up to 45 days worth of debris. The only downside is that its filtration system isn’t the best for fine particles, but we don’t think it’s a dealbreaker since it’s a supplementary cleaning tool.

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