The best vacuum cleaners for picking up pet hair

It doesn't always come cheap, but the formula for picking up pet hair is simple: Power and performance. That’s what you get with the Dyson Detect Absolute V15, arguably the best cordless stick vacuum in any category. It will cost you — this is Dyson, after all — but you'll be amazed with the results. 

It delivers 230 airwatts of suction and 60 minutes battery at full charge. The best feature for collecting cat and dog hair is its Laser Fluffy floor-head — essentially a laser pointer that shows up the hairs and dirt that the human eye doesn’t usually see. That alone makes the Dyson Detect Absolute V15 among the most effective vacuums for a hair-free carpet.

That goes for hard floors, too. It uses Dynamic Load Sensor technology, which automatically recognises the surface and adjusts the suction power accordingly. There's an LCD timer that keeps you up to date with blockages and battery. It even tells you how much dirt you’ve sucked up, if you need to know.

No list of hard-working vacuums is complete without an appearance from Henry. In this case, the Henry Pet. This pleasantly coloured green variation has all the durability and heavy-duty power of a regular Henry vacuum, but with added bonus features that are designed especially for pet owners. 

The floor head is equipped with a special HairoBrush, powered by the airflow to get pet hair from carpets with relative ease — however big the room is. It also has a turbo pet hair EcoBrush for getting tough on hairs in the carpet.

It has a MicroFresh filter that locks in pet odours. That goes for dust and dirt too. A self-seal tab prevents anything from escaping when you change the bag. That makes this ideal for both pet owners and anyone with allergies.

It also has a much larger capacity than you get with most bagless vacs. So, if you’ve got a big home — or a very big pet ­— Henry is the man for the job. 

OK, so the Vax SmartWash Pet-Design isn't strictly a vacuum cleaner — it's a carpet washer — but sometimes a vacuum just isn't enough to clean up after those adorable (but extremely messy) fur babies.

It uses Motion Sense Technology, which means simply roll the SmartWash forward to wash the carpet, then pull it back to dry. With its Dry Only Mode, carpets are dry within one hour.

It also has an integrated wand which is used for targeted pre-treatment, plus pet tools – a Spin Scrub hand tool for tackling stains on furniture or tricky spots and a 2-in-1 antimicrobial tool. Meanwhile, Vax Pet Stain and Odour Solution works to kill odours and get tough on particularly stubborn stains.

Reviewers have reported some water leakage when it stands still for too long — though that dries, of course — and the cleaning process can get a little soapy. But that's all part of the cleaning process.

The Shark Stratos is a legitimate rival to Dyson stick vacuums, and even outperforms Dyson with its Flexology neck — a bending neck that allows you to get right under furniture and into other hard-to-reach spots. There's even a light to help you see the hair and dirt, while Clean Sense IQ automatically detects dirt and boosts the power where needed.

It has other features for pet owners, including a motorised pet tool attachment and Anti-Wrap Plus technology. That means it untangles and removes hairs from the roll while you clean, saving you the mucky business of picking the hairs off afterwards. Perfect if you have long-haired pets.

The DuoClean floor head has two motorised rolls — one for carpet, one for hardwood floors — which allows you to easily glide between surfaces. And there's a replaceable cartridge in the head that helps kill pet odours.

If you want serious power to shift those stubborn pet hairs, there's no substitute for a good old-fashioned upright corded vacuum cleaner. That's exactly what the Dyson Ball Animal is — but one that's equipped with Dyson's advanced radial root cyclone technology.

That combines with tools for getting pet hair out of the carpet and furniture — hence the "Animal" in the name. You get stair and combination tools, too. It's a real all-rounder.

The ball is designed for ergonomic handling around the home, though bear in mind it's significantly heavier than your average stick vacuum. It does have stick vacuum like versatility though, thanks to an instant release wand that you can detach to target hard-to-reach areas. And while corded vacuums are more restricting, it has a reach of 14 metres.

Handheld vacuums don't usually have the oomph for effective pet hair cleaning, but the Shark WandVac 2.0 is reassuringly powerful. It's also lightweight and made for targeting small messes whenever the moment calls for it. Which, as messy pet owners know, can be often.

It comes with two tools – a crevice tool and (of course) a multi-surface pet tool. This gives the Shark HandVac extra leverage for working embedded pet hairs out of sofas and other upholstery. The crevice tool also helps you collect hair from otherwise tricky-to-reach nooks and crannies.

The downside is its battery life of just 15 minutes, which is below other handhelds. But it comes with a charging dock, so it's always ready to go.

Henry's so good at this stuff that we've included him a second time, this time in the form of the Henry Quick Pet stick/handheld vacuum.

As well as being brilliantly handy and convenient to whizz around the house, allowing to tackle messes quickly and easily, it's designed to counteract pet odours. It comes with ten "scent pods", which release a scent as you clean (the three available fragrances are (vanilla, rose, or passionfruit).

The vacuum also traps dust and dirt using specially designed filter pods. This makes emptying its impressively large bin (1 litre) totally mess-free.

Other features include a motorised pet tool for when you need some extra help shifting pet hairs. It also converts to a handheld easily enough, which is useful for targeting tricky spots or cleaning the car. The only major downside of this model is that the scent and filter pods incur ongoing costs.

If your dog travels in your car, there's no way around it: You need a vacuum that's built for the task of picking up hair and getting into every nook and cranny. Look no further than the Tefal X-Force Flex, a bendable cordless vac that comes with a special animal turbo brush for the car.

It's essentially a stick vacuum that converts down to handheld and flexes into any angle you need, allowing to get under and around the seats. The animal turbo brush is the key to its performance with agitating hair, but the main brush head is great for pets too and reduces hair tangling.

The vacuum itself is a clever little thing — it detects the type of floor you’re cleaning and automatically optimises the power level. Or you can adjust the power manually, with four levels to choose from. The 45-minute battery life isn't brilliant, but it keeps you up to date via an LCD screen so you know when to recharge. The handheld version easily pops into the car boot, too.