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Cordless vacuum cleaners, upright vacuum cleaners, cylinder vacuum cleaners, robotic vacuum cleaners, bagged vacuum cleaners and bagless vacuum cleaners-vacuum cleaners come in various shapes and sizes, and you may be at a loss when you are eager to find the best option.
What is suitable for a large house with a lot of carpets may not be suitable for a small apartment with mainly hard floors. We will take you through the key vacuum cleaner purchase decisions to help you narrow your choices and find the right product.
Just want to see our top picks? Based on the results of our independent laboratory testing, browse all the top recommended models in our Best Buy vacuum cleaner review.
There are three main types of vacuum cleaners:
Some vacuum cleaners are mainly used to clean the floor, while others are equipped with smaller cleaning tools for work such as crevices, stairs and even cars.
To help you find the right vacuum cleaner, please click to start answering a few quick questions about your house and budget, and we will recommend the type of vacuum cleaner that suits you.
Our quick quiz will help you determine whether a cylinder, cordless or upright vacuum cleaner is best for your home.
For households with a lot of carpets, an upright vacuum cleaner is a good choice. They usually have a rotating brush strip, which makes them easier to push and helps remove dust from the carpet.
They are also often more suitable for families with pets, because the brush strips help to brush away the scattered hair and fluff. Most are bagless, but there are some bagged models around.
Upright vacuum cleaners may be more expensive than cylinders, but we found a good choice for less than £200. Browse our review of upright vacuum cleaners to compare models and find the best option for you.
Cylinder vacuum cleaners are usually equipped with a variety of tools and accessories. These tools and accessories will be handy if you need to clean many different floor surfaces. Compared with upright vacuum cleaners, they are easier to use on stairs, awkward spaces or narrow corners.
There are also two options, bagged and bagless.
A cylinder vacuum cleaner may be a good budget option-we found some good options for around £100. Browse our cylinder vacuum cleaner reviews to compare models and find the vacuum cleaner that suits you best.
Cordless vacuum cleaners tend to be lighter and easier to operate than similar products with cords. If you find traditional vacuum cleaners cumbersome, or need a vacuum cleaner that can be twisted and turned in a small or awkward space, they are great.
Most are bagless, but there are also some bags to choose from.
The best cordless vacuum cleaners are as good as the corded models, although it is difficult to find a good budget option. Check out our cordless vacuum cleaner reviews to see which models we recommend.
You can pay anything between £25 and £700 for the vacuum cleaner. In the past, we found that some Best Buy corded vacuum cleaners cost as low as 50 pounds, but usually you need to spend 100-200 pounds to get a decent vacuum cleaner.
Cordless vacuum cleaners tend to be more expensive, especially if you want decent battery life, and you will see good models close to £200. Paying more is not a guarantee, we have found good and bad vacuum cleaners at every price.
Both types have advantages and disadvantages, but a lot depends on the size and layout of your home.
Upright vacuum cleaners are suitable for covering large areas, especially carpets. You can vacuum in a more upright position and easily weave round furniture. They are also generally better for removing hair and fluff from carpets.
But they can be more difficult to use under stairs, small spaces, and low furniture, and are generally noisier than cylindrical models. Normally, you cannot clean the plug socket (8.6 meters on average) as you would with a cylinder.
Cylinder vacuum cleaners tend to be more compact and more suitable for entering small or awkward spaces from under low furniture. They are also far away from plugs and sockets (average 10.1 meters). Long, flexible hoses and a small body usually make cleaning stairs easier. They are also usually quieter.
However, they tend to be more difficult to push through thick carpets, especially without turbine brush attachments, and long hoses and tubes can be difficult to store. When you drag them, they are also more likely to hit walls and furniture.
On average, cylinder vacuum cleaners tend to get higher scores in our tests and have better value options. But no matter which type you prefer, we have found Best Buy for each type, so please check our list of Best Buy vacuum cleaners to see which models we recommend.
With bagless models, you don't have to bear the ongoing cost of changing bags, but they may not be suitable for allergy sufferers.
Advantages: No need to buy a replacement dust bag, which can be expensive.
Disadvantages: The dust volume tends to be small, so you need to empty them more frequently. It is easy to overflow, because the highest level is usually lower than it looks. It may be messy when emptying, because dust and fluff will be stuffed inside, and dust will escape into the air when emptying.
Advantages: tends to have a larger capacity than the bagless model. Dust and dirt are safely packed in bags and then thrown away-minimizing exposure. Brand bags usually have additional filters to prevent allergens from escaping, and some bags are automatically sealed. Cheaper alternative bags can also be used (although these bags usually do not provide the same filtration advantages, so you may need to clean the vacuum filter more frequently).
Disadvantages: You need to remember to purchase a replacement package, which will be an ongoing cost.
Our tests have shown that both bagged and bagless models lose suction when they are full, or leak allergens into the room.
Manufacturers of bagless vacuum cleaners often claim that bagged models lose suction when the bag is full, while bagless vacuum cleaners do not. Some people also claim that their bagless system has a hygienic emptying function.
However, we have found that both bagged and bagless vacuum cleaners lose their suction power as the bag or container becomes full. We also tested bagless vacuum cleaners with hygienic emptying function and found that they still release more dust into the room than the bagged model when emptying.
If you don't want to pay for the bag, you can take steps to prevent dust from flying back to your home after cleaning. Empty the bagless vacuum cleaner outside. It is best to put it in a bag. If you have severe allergies, please wear gloves and a mask. If you don't want to bother, please choose the bag model.
It is also important to choose a vacuum cleaner that does not leak dust and allergens back into the room during cleaning. This can happen if the internal system is poorly sealed or the dust filter is ineffective. We tested this in the laboratory and found that both bagged and bagless models hold allergen locks well when cleaning, so please check our vacuum cleaner reviews for those with five-star allergen retention scores model.
Cordless vacuum cleaners are fast and convenient to use, but they are expensive, and the cleaning ability of many vacuum cleaners is difficult to match with corded vacuum cleaners.
Cordless vacuum cleaners are becoming more and more popular. They tend to be light, bagless, stick models, have a small dust capacity, a large number of accessories, and can optionally be converted to handheld devices. However, there are large-capacity and bagged versions, such as the cordless Henry vacuum cleaner.
Our test is exhaustive. Each cordless vacuum cleaner travels 411 meters in our laboratory-which is longer than the length of the Olympic track.
On average, if you want deep cleaning with great value for money or have a larger house, a wired vacuum cleaner is still a better choice. But the best cordless vacuum cleaners are as good as their corded counterparts, and many people are attracted by their lightness and mobility.
However, you need to choose carefully. We have found more than 20 kinds of cordless vacuum cleaners-these models have very poor cleaning ability and we recommend that you avoid them. Check out our cordless vacuum cleaner reviews before buying to make sure you are buying a vacuum cleaner that can really clean your home.
The vacuum cleaner is equipped with an amazing array of extra features and accessories, but which ones do you really need?
Most vacuum cleaners come standard with a basic combined floor nozzle. This applies to all floor types and can be adjusted when switching from carpet to hard floor, or on more advanced models, self-adjusting as you move on different surfaces.
Floor tools with rotating brush strips or electric turbine brushes can easily pick up pet hair and remove dust from carpets.
We test each tool on its designed surface to make sure it does a good job where it should be clean. Check out our vacuum cleaner reviews to learn about models that perform well in all areas, or find a vacuum cleaner that fits your main floor type.
Most vacuum cleaners include a basic kit, including crevice tools, upholstery tools and dusting brushes, or a combination tool that can accomplish many of these tasks. Here are some other tools to be aware of:
If you have many different floor surfaces, or carpets of different thicknesses in your home, then you need a vacuum cleaner with variable suction so that you can easily push it across different types of floors without sticking. The best models have an adjustable dial that allows you to change the suction power to the desired level. Cheaper models may rely on vents that you can open or close on the floor head or straw.
Some vacuum cleaners have a lever on the head of the floor, you can flick it to adjust the suction power, or switch from carpet to hard floor. Higher prices often have shortcuts or self-adjusting tools for these controls on the handle, so you can change the controls without bending over.
These prevent fine dust particles and allergens from escaping back into the room during cleaning. Some can be cleaned, some are self-cleaning, and some need to be replaced regularly. This is very important because it will affect the performance of the vacuum cleaner, so it is necessary to check how easy it is to do this.
We tested the effectiveness of the filter of each vacuum cleaner in preventing dust from escaping back into the room. We have found that some vacuum cleaners release almost as much dust as the amount of dust collected, while others retain more than 99% of small dust particles, so be sure to check our vacuum cleaner reviews for the vacuum cleaner models you can rely on.
In order to get the best vacuum cleaner for you, it is worth considering the following factors:
From 2017 to 2019, the motors of all vacuum cleaners manufactured or imported in the EU must not exceed 900W and must comply with minimum performance, noise and durability restrictions. After Dyson successfully appealed, these rules were repealed. The European Union is working on a revised version, the scope of which may be expanded to include cordless vacuum cleaners.
All vacuum cleaners must be labeled with an energy label, stating their energy efficiency, and showing data about their cleaning performance and dust emissions.
Some people worry that vacuum cleaners with lower power will not clean, but our independent tests have shown that vacuum cleaners do not require powerful cleaning capabilities. For our recommended models, please refer to our Best Buy vacuum cleaners.
Robot vacuum cleaners cannot be compared to true cleaning capabilities, but can be a useful supplementary option, especially in smaller homes with hard floors.
The robot vacuum cleaner is a small automatic vacuum cleaner that can clean your home without help. Their prices range from £150 to £1,500, and many can be controlled via apps on the phone.
Unless you live in a small house with mostly hard floors, a robot vacuum cleaner is unlikely to replace your main vacuum cleaner. Even the best robots can hardly match standard vacuum cleaners, especially on carpets, and they cannot handle tricky areas such as stairs, corners, and crevices. However, they can be a convenient way to keep your floor free of daily dust and hair between deep cleaning.
We have tested models from all major brands, including Dyson, iRobot and Samsung. We have found several excellent options, some models you would want to avoid-including a model that can only suck up 4% of the front dust. Check out our robot vacuum cleaner reviews to find out which models we recommend.
If you are in the store, you can use the following quick checks to determine whether the vacuum cleaner you are considering is suitable for you.
You will not be able to tell how the vacuum cleaner will clean your home, or whether it will lose suction when it is full. We found some very bad models, they just skip the dust, are choked by pet hair and leak allergens back into the room.
We test every vacuum cleaner on a range of floor surfaces, including carpets, hard floors and floors. We also evaluated their ability to absorb different types of waste, from fine dust to larger debris, lint and hair.
Learn how we test vacuum cleaners to discover our efforts to find the best model, and use our independent vacuum cleaner reviews to buy a model that works.
If service life is your key consideration, please check our guide to find out which brand of vacuum cleaner to buy before you start considering a specific model.
We have assembled all our historical test insights and data collected from owners to provide you with a unique guide on vacuum cleaner brands that will continue to be used after you take them home, and which ones are more likely to break early.
It can be tempting to think of your vacuum cleaner as a universal solution to all the mess and spills that family life can bring to you-but there are many materials that can damage the performance of your vacuum cleaner or even destroy it.
Sticky materials such as liquids, glues or flashes, soil and plant fragments, glass, coins, paper clips or small stones and other sharp and small objects may clog the vacuum cleaner's motor, filter and dust box.
Certain forms of dust should also be left to dustpans and brushes. The particles of ash, sawdust and gypsum dust are so small that even the best filter systems can become clogged and unusable.
The best way to help your vacuum cleaner continue to use is to ensure that you only suck out the usual household dust, debris and hair, and to clean the filter frequently.
Be sure to browse the user manual of the vacuum cleaner and read the instructions on how to best clean or replace the filter, as different models have different requirements.
Is it difficult to smoke? Our handy guide on how to repair a vacuum cleaner that has lost its suction can provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to classify it.
Or, if you are ready to buy, please go directly to our vacuum cleaner review.