Good vacuum for pet hair

[sunnyshari]

I was wondering if anyone here could recommend a good vacuum for picking up pet hair. I have 2 cats and a dog. It is mostly the dog fur that is everywhere. It can be cordless or with a cord. $400 or less would be good. I've always had a cheap vacuum but I would like one that actually works. Thanks!

 

[LSUmiss]

I was wondering if anyone here could recommend a good vacuum for picking up pet hair. I have 2 cats and a dog. It is mostly the dog fur that is everywhere. It can be cordless or with a cord. $400 or less would be good. I've always had a cheap vacuum but I would like one that actually works. Thanks!

It’s more than $400, but I have a dyson animal (forgot the number). Had it a few years now. It’s the only vacuum that I have found really works well for pet hair. I’ve been through so many over the years & this is the only one. Right now I have a 93 lb golden (and a dach-but he’s not the problem lol). Now I have all hard floors downstairs & carpet upstairs. But, at my peak, I had 5 cats & 3 dogs in the house & mostly carpet & it was the only vacuum that did the trick.

 

[Turksmom]

I have 2 Dyson Animal vacs. One upright (13-14 years old) and a canister that's about 10 years old. Both still work perfectly on carpet, hard floors and upholstery.. Only con is that they are heavy!

 

[sunnyshari]

It’s more than $400, but I have a dyson animal (forgot the number). Had it a few years now. It’s the only vacuum that I have found really works well for pet hair. I’ve been through so many over the years & this is the only one. Right now I have a 93 lb golden (and a dach-but he’s not the problem lol). Now I have all hard floors downstairs & carpet upstairs. But, at my peak, I had 5 cats & 3 dogs in the house & mostly carpet & it was the only vacuum that did the trick.

It looks like the price is right around $400 if it's the Animal 2. Great reviews! Thanks!

 

[sunnyshari]

I have 2 Dyson Animal vacs. One upright (13-14 years old) and a canister that's about 10 years old. Both still work perfectly on carpet, hard floors and upholstery.. Only con is that they are heavy!

Thanks! I was looking at the reviews for they Dyson Animal 2 and it looks great!

 

[caroline5177]

We have a Dyson Animal...just bought a second one from Target before Christmas during the sales. Our first one still works great (I think it's 10 - 12 years old) but was beginning to get that smell when using. We currently have one cat and one dog, plus two teenagers. Over the years we've had cats and dogs so our vacuums definitely get a workout. I also use it out on our screened porch.

 

[Cubbiecakes]

Another vote for the Dyson!

 

[Dreams&wishes]

I have a Dyson Animal and I wouldn't buy it again. Too expensive for what it is, and I always have to pass on things a thousand times before it picks it up and the fact that it rolls continuously onto itself.... Argh not for me!

 

[loves to dive]

We have the Dyson cordless, it works pretty well on our son's greyhound's hairs. It is battery only, which is kind of a bummer for me. It's our third one, the first one we killed to the point the battery wouldn't hold a charge. It was easier for my honey to just buy a new unit instead of trying to replace the battery, which is doable but he didn't want to. We have whatever the newest one is. The battery will last about 30 to 40 min. on a charge, which will just about do our entire first floor of our house. The third one we bought actually lives in our RV. The RV came with it's own nifty central vac but lugging that big ole hose around was a pain, so honey wired a charging station into a closet and that's where it lives. It works well on that darn south Georgia, north Florida sand.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I have a Bissell. It’s one of the pet hair ones. Works fantastically and half the price of a Dyson.

 

[J'aime Paris]

I've had a Dyson Animal for over 10 years. Love it!

ETA: 2 dogs, one of which is a lab
1 cat

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I’ve always had a house full of animals and the best solution I found for battling pet hair was to buy a robot vacuum. Specifically, a Neato D80 that I chose based on reviews that rated it best for pet hair at the time. I was down to five cats and one dog by the time I got it and it did (still does) a great job of keeping the floors clean. Bonus, I don’t have to lift a finger. It runs for about 45-60 minutes a day and has practically eliminated the need to do any vacuuming with the upright. I can’t remember the last time I pulled that thing out, TBH. I do have a Dustbuster that I use in circumstances where I would normally use the suction attachment of the regular vacuum, like for stairs.

 

[belleatdisney]

Shark (complete seal)


We had 2 golden retrievers, one with long thick hair. Vacs would last about a year. We bought a shark and it has lasted about 6 years.

 

[DLgal]

Skip Dyson. Didn't do a thing for our lab's hair on carpet.

Shark Navigator or Rotator is the way to go. My navigator is 8 years old and still going strong.

 

[descovy]

Running a Roomba daily has helped keep up on pet hair for me. I have the Roomba 960 and can get it for less than $300

 

[kiddo76]

Running a Roomba daily has helped keep up on pet hair for me. I have the Roomba 960 and can get it for less than $300

I love my Roomba! When of my best household purchases ever. We have a black lab and my house has never felt cleaner. It works very well transitioning between carpet, hardwood, and tile.

 

[firefly_ris]

I've had a Dyson Animal DC19 since 2011 that I bought refurbished on Overstock. Both my dogs are gone now but I had a St. Bernard/Collie mix and a pit/hound mix (two totally different coat types) and it always worked great. I also fostered a variety of different dogs and cats over the years all with different sorts of coats and it hasn't let me down yet. The only thing I don't like about it is since it's bagless I have to clean it frequently. But I like the washable filter. I recommend refurb if you don't want to pay full price. Mine's an older model so I can't speak for newer ones, if they've kept quality or declined.

The other vacuum that I liked was a Shark Infinity NV31 (it was red... again this was 2011, just before I bought the Animal) and I thought it worked great. The only problem was I had an issue with the belt coming off about every other vacuuming, and I had to take apart the whole brush area to put it back on. That got tiresome after a year and I parted with it. But if it didn't have that issue it would have been pretty perfect.

I'm someone who vacuums every other day, combo of hard floors and carpet, and aside from the belt defect with the Shark I think both held up.

 

[Katie Dawn]

Another vote for the Shark!
(No dogs, but a medium hair car and I am always surprised when I see how much cat hair is in the canister afterwards that I didn't even know was on our floors.)

 

[sunnyshari]

Thank you for all of the replies. Off to do more research on the models you all have listed!

 

[Mirielle]

May I suggest a lawn rake? Seriously, one of my friends has bought every expensive vacuum available and none have worked for her. She uses a metal rake to get up excess hair, then runs one of her many vacuums. Her dog is an Australian Shepherd and they really shed!