Best vacuum cleaners for pet hair 2024 UK – the 8 must-have models for pet owners

Investing in one of the best vacuum cleaners for pet hair can make all the difference in keeping on top of your furry friends' mess and shedding, effectively picking up hair and even neutralising odours.

Many of the best vacuum cleaners do a great job at picking up dust and debris on both hard floors and carpets; however, being able to pick up deep-rooted pet hair is a challenge that only the best vacuum cleaners for pet hair can face head-on.

That's why we've put some of the very top choices from Dyson, Vax, Shark, and Miele through their paces to help you decide on the best fit for your home that both you and your pets will love. For variation, we've even reviewed some of the best cordless vacuum cleaners with attachments designed to remove pet hair from carpets and upholstery.

When it comes to the difference between a regular vacuum and a vacuum cleaner for pet hair, there is more than just power at play. The reason that many people need to stay on top of pet hair in their home is to keep things clean for those with allergies, so when choosing a pet vacuum, look out for one that's hypoallergenic and approved by Allergy UK – there's one that fits that bill on this list.

Every one of the best vacuum cleaners for pet hair in our guide has been tried by the Ideal Home team, so not only have we been able to rank based on performance, but you can also find our specific thoughts on testing with our vacuum reviews.

Quick list – best vacuum cleaners for pet hair

In a rush and only want the need-to-know details on the best vacuum for pet hair? Find our top picks after testing below or keep scrolling for our in-depth reviews.

Best vacuum cleaners for pet hair 2024 – tried and tested

Best vacuum for pet hair

As you might have guessed from its name, the Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog vacuum is the go-to purchase for those looking to banish pet hair at home. The turbo brush floor head is equipped to get rid of the excess from moulting dogs and cats, and you've also got a regular carpet floor head and another for hard floors to work with.

We love it for its straightforward cleaning power, which is the number one feature consumers are looking for to deal with the mess that pets can make. The cylinder moves smoothly on its castors and perches acceptably on a stair, though it's not the easiest to clean this section of the house with.

Features we loved during testing

It's the little things that make this vacuum great, alongside the pet-appropriate level of power and suction. The fact that you can toggle between on and off using your for also makes moving around with this vacuum a lot easier, as well as going between modes. Importantly for dealing with pet hair, the power with this vacuum is consistent, and the hose is extra long so that you can cover an entire floor without having to find another plug socket.

Our Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog Vacuum Cleaner review has the full details.

Best affordable vacuum for pet hair

The Henry Pet200 is a standout choice for anyone who needs a reliable vacuum on a budget with it available to buy for a little over £150 at the time of writing.

On the whole, it's a solid piece of kit which is easy to maintain. As it's a bagged vacuum, investing in the vacuum bags over time is a financial consideration. However, with a capacity of 9 litres, you will need to do a lot of vacuum cleaning to get through a pack of 10.

A thing to note is that this vacuum cleaner may not be suitable if you want an appliance to vacuum your home and car. It is a bulky vacuum cleaner and, again, it is corded so unless you have a driveway or a guaranteed parking space outside your home, the Henry Pet may not be the vacuum cleaner for you.

Features we loved during testing

It has a range of attachments to help combat pet hair and dirt, and in our review, we found it was really easy to switch between tools, especially as they are all stored on board.

Our Henry Pet 200 vacuum review has the full details.

Best cordless vacuum for pet hair

Dyson's V15 Detect Absolute is a pretty expensive investment as far as vacuum cleaners go; however, we must say that after testing it, it's a worthwhile purchase that ticks all of our boxes for cleaning a large and busy home. With its innovative De-tangling Digital Motorbar, it's no wonder Dyson has advertised this model to be specifically 'engineered for homes with pets.'

Despite cordless vacuums rising in popularity as the preferred choice in many homes because of their ease of use and portability, one thing that continues to lack in many models is the ability to mimic the power its corded counterparts offer. But, during testing, our expert reviewer found that the V15 Detect offers immense power and effective detangling akin to that of a corded vacuum with an impressive run time of up to 60 minutes to get you through the entire house in one cleaning session.

If you have a home with a complicated floorplan and different floor types and have to frequently switch attachments, the trigger controls will be especially helpful. However, they can grow tiresome when vacuuming one area for a prolonged period.

Features we loved during testing

The V15's Digital Motorbar was a treat to test and pleasantly surprised us with how powerful its suction was. Its automatic suction adjustments worked brilliantly and proved very helpful when cleaning different areas around the home, ensuring no spot was missed. Our reviewer really enjoyed its trigger button, which was great for easily switching the vacuum on and off. Its detangling features were extremely capable, making it a must for homes with pets.

Our Dyson V15 Detect Absolute review has the full details.

Best powerful vacuum for pet hair

The Miele Triflex HX2 Pro is one of the most pet-friendly cordless vacuum cleaners we've tried, with a powerful motor to help you banish hair and dirt from your favourite four-legged friends. While the Shark Stratos is a little more of an all-rounder (and a little more affordable), the Miele Triflex is supremely powerful.

There are two standout features here to love: the unbelievably powerful motor and the very capable floorhead, which whizzed around our testing space picking up a huge amount of hair without getting tangled.

One drawback with this vacuum is that it's pretty top-heavy, making it harder to manoeuvre than it might need to be. Cleverly, you can move the position of the dustbin around to give it more balance, but it's not great at standing up on its own. It's also trickier than it should be to empty the dustbin, which will become annoying pretty quickly if you're cleaning a large space.

Features we loved during testing

It's a flexible model, with a great reach to get to every corner of your home and 60 minutes of runtime, so that you can adequately cover all the ground that you need to. It's also got an auto-adjustment feature, which means that it'll sense the kind of ground it's covering, and amp up the power accordingly.

It is pricey but the quality of the materials is excellent, and it feels like this is a vacuum that'll help you clean up after your pets for a good few years at the very least.

Best for allergies

If you have a pet but need to be able to try to eradicate allergens for when a family member visits or something similar, then the Henry Allergy is the perfect vacuum to help you achieve that. The top line with this vacuum is that it is approved by Allergy UK, which means that you can trust this Henry to help you get rid of allergens at home. Made in the UK, this vacuum is great suction-wise and has the tools to help with corner and edge cleaning.

Features we loved during testing

It's not exactly a feature but this vacuum is a bargain, with an RRP of £199.99. You can feel the deep cleaning power with this vac, and pick up smaller debris as well as larger items.

Our reviewer did find this vacuum a little more difficult to push around than the other Henry vacuums she tested, something she put down to the intensity of the suction power.

After two weeks of testing, the large collecting bag was in no way full, which means that if you're worried about the environmental impact of bags, you may at least be soothed by the fact that you'll be reaching to replace them infrequently. And of course, the fact that you don’t have plumes of dust on emptying is essential for keeping allergies at bay.

Our Henry Allergy vacuum review has the full details.

Best vacuum for pet hair on carpets

If you're debating buying a new cordless vac, it wouldn't be a surprise if VAX was a brand near the top of your list. We think they deliver consistently great vacuums, which is why we've replaced the Blade 4 in this list with the Blade 5, which has a good number of improvements on its predecessor, with extra attachments you can buy to help with pet hair too.

Features we loved during testing

The suction power on the Blade 5 is brilliant, and the oversized floorhead means that you'll be done with swooping around your house or flat in a quick time. The battery life on the Vax Blade 5 gave us absolutely no trouble, and we completed all of the tasks we needed that day without having to return for a second charge.

Even better, with the Vax Blade 5 you get access to two batteries, which means you should get up to 90 minutes of charge, and you'll never be without your sturdy Vax vac when you need it. The Blade 5 is admittedly a little heavier than its predecessor, but it is brimming with great accessories and comes with a wall mount too, so that storage is straightforward.

Best vacuum for neutralising odours

While lots of people prefer to rely on corded vacuums to deal with pet hair, the Shark Stratos goes pretty far to prove that cordless vacuums are also up to the job.

There's no doubt that our testing process proved that this vac is worth the large price tag that it carries. Even if you don't have pets, the ease with which this vacuum does away with hair is astounding, and our Editor, Molly, found that it was unmatched when it came to suction.

However, the standout feature that pits it as one of the best vacuum cleaners for pet hair is its new Anti-Odour capsules, which help to banish any unpleasant, musty smells that you're often met with when emptying your vacuum. This is an especially helpful addition to keep your vacuum from holding onto any bad pet smells that arise from picking up their hair, overall making the experience far more enjoyable. It even comes with an anti-allergen brush attachment when using the vacuum in handheld mode.

Features we loved during testing

The capacity of this vacuum to transform into a smaller handheld model is phenomenal, and you'll be reaching for the smaller attachments all the time to quickly resolve smaller messes made by pets all over your home. The battery life is also stellar, and 60 minutes was available during testing on non-turbo mode.

You can fork out more for the two-battery Shark Stratos model if you think you need a spare pack on charge while the other is in use, but it's not a necessity if you live in a small or medium-sized home. All in all, this is admittedly a pricier vacuum, but if you can afford to fork out and you want a cordless vacuum to deal with pet hair, it will impress you time and time again.

Our Shark Stratos IZ420UKT cordless vacuum review has the full details.

Best robot vacuum for pet hair

A robot vacuum is a fantastic addition to your cleaning roster, helping to make the task of keeping your floors spotless a whole lot easier as it gets the job done without you even having to think about it – and the Roomba i7+ is an excellent option for any home, and even more so a home with four-legged friends.

Sometimes robot vacuums lack in the power aspect, doing a haphazard job of actually getting into the nooks and crannies of your home. However, this robot vacuum boasts clever mapping and room memory technologies to ensure a thorough cleaning.

Features we loved during testing

Its self-emptying feature makes it so the vacuum knows when to retreat, ensuring pet hair doesn't get clogged up in the filter. Seeing as our reviewer had a dog herself, this proved to be especially handy; thus, making it one of the biggest factors for being the ideal buy for those wanting effective pet hair pick-up and added smart capabilities.

Our iRobot Rooma 17+ review has the full details.

How we tested these vacuum cleaners for pet hair

At Ideal Home, we believe that to give our verdict on the best vacuums and to rank them, we need to have tested them ourselves, which we delve into in our how we test guide.

That's why you'll find star ratings on the vacuums in this list, which we've decided on after extensively testing them either in our own homes or at our testing facility. In order to test pet features, we test every vacuum with large amounts of hair at our test centre, recording how well the suction works on each model to deal with it.

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As well as paying close attention to how they performed at the job of vacuuming, we also make sure to evaluate practical features like how lightweight each vacuum is, the standout features of each and which appliances are good value for money.

Where we can, we've also sought to keep hold of these vacuums for long-term testing, so that we can feedback on just how they deliver after years of use, and how easy they are to store. Below you can find out more about exactly who has tested the vacuums in this round-up.

FAQs

What are the different types of pet vacuum cleaner?

Stick vacuum cleaners are generally upright plus handheld in one. Models designed to deal with pet hair frequently have a special attachment that can be used with the handheld, but the floorhead used with the stick may also have features that aid cleaning in homes with pets. As two vacuums in one, they can save space, but the top-heavy design can make them tiring to use. Often cordless, they’ll save the time taken plugging and unplugging, although these machines do need charging time.

Upright vacuum cleaners are larger than sticks, but despite this, it can be easy to move over different floor surfaces. Going up and down stairs with machine in hand does require lifting more weight, however. Special pet attachments can deal with fur on upholstery.

Robot vacuum cleaners will get on with the vacuuming for you, making them a good choice if you’re having trouble keeping up with the amount of hair a houseful of pets – or a single shedder – creates. Bin size is limited, but self-emptying versions can extend the time before you need to go to the dustbin.

Handheld vacuum cleaners are great for quick pick-ups, and with a special pet tool, can target fur as well as spills when you don’t want to get a larger machine out.

How much should I spend on a pet vacuum cleaner?

You can find a vacuum for pet hair starting from around £150, but bear in mind that you could pay more than four times as much for a top-end model, while a robot vacuum will cost even more.

The best pet vacuums in our tests cost from around £500 (which is a huge sum of money), and in this price bracket as well as those designed to deal with pet hair you’ll likely get additional features, greater suction power and more attachments.

If you're looking to bag a bargain on a vacuum for pet hair, then our cordless vacuums deal page can help to bring the price down.

Should I get a bagged or bagless vacuum cleaner?

You’re likely to have a strong personal preference for this one. Bagless vacuums, of course, save the additional expense of buying the bags and making sure you have a constant supply. However, the ease of emptying the dust bin varies between bagless models, and how much dust puffs up as you do does too. The capacity of their bins also differs and can be relatively small. Vacuum bags can fit in more and seal tightly when you change them.

Now you're better equipped with knowledge of the key features to look for when investing in the best vacuum cleaner for pet hair, you can go out there with the confidence that you'll know how to purchase the right model to suit your needs and your household, acting as a solid investment that will last you years.