Best vacuum for pet hair: top Shark, Hoover and Dyson models for cleaning up after animals

Claiming to offer more suction power than any other upright vacuum cleaner brand, Shark comes with a great reputation amongst Mumsnet users and consumers for its high-quality performance and anti-hair wrap technology – features that make cleaning your home almost enjoyable. Shark’s Anti-Hair Wrap Technology tackles both long and short human and pet hair with ease includes a unique bristle guard that actively works to remove hair from the brush roll as you clean. The anti-allergen complete seal captures and traps dust, hair and allergens, helping to keep your home clean and hygienic.

For easy cleaning of the stairs or upholstery without needing to lug around a heavy unit, the Shark Upright Vacuum Cleaner can quickly transform into a portable, handheld vacuum unit using the Powered Lift-Away. Easily adjusting to all floor types, the Shark comes with two brush rolls on one head that can easily tackle everything from hard floors to shag pile carpets and anything in between. The built-in lights kick in when required so you can even spot hidden dust and lost toys that lay long forgotten under the sofa.

Relatively purse-friendly and a doddle to use, the Hoover H-Free 500 performs well on all floor surfaces including carpets and hard floors and comes with a variety of attachments to make cleaning stairs simple and straightforward. A cordless model, you can expect between 25 and 40 minutes of cleaning time before it needs to be recharged.

Compact in size and weighing just 2.2kg, the Hoover is lightweight and portable enough to use around the entire home, whilst the brush head can lie entirely flat and turn up to 180 degrees, helping you easily navigate around your furniture (and pets) as you clean. Thanks to its pet turbo brush which penetrates deep into carpets and cushions, the Hoover makes quick work of stubborn pet hair.  For more embedded areas, the turbo boost function can give up to eight minutes of more powerful suction.

Miele has a fantastic reputation among Mumsnetters for its high-quality products that are built to truly stand the test of time. The Miele Complete C3 Cat and Dog Pro cylinder vacuum is no exception. It can smoothly and simply tackle all types of floor surface to trap dust, dirt and animal hair. If you’re concerned about hygiene, you’ll love the charcoal Active AirClean filtration system, which works with the Miele HyClean 3D dust bag to absorb odours and allergens around your home.

The powerful motor of this vacuum cleaner produces strong suction even on the lowest setting, whereas the high power mode works well for a deep clean of carpets or refreshing of upholstery. With a long cable and all-around bumper strip to protect your walls and furniture as you clean, its easily accessible attachments include an upholstery nozzle, crevice nozzle and natural bristle dusting brush. The turbo brush is the obvious choice for quickly picking up pet hair, using a rotating brush bar to remove hair and lint from your floors and surfaces without clumping or clogging.

Tested by Mumsnet: Read our full review of the Vax Blade 4 Pet & Car Vacuum Cleaner

If you’re looking for a vacuum cleaner that can effortlessly pick up pet hair without an eye-watering price tag, the Vax Blade 4 Pet & Car Vacuum is a great buy.

It’s perfect for both quick clean ups and full, deep cleaning of your home and car. It’s also very easy to store, takes up little space, and comes with fabulous attachments to tackle every spot.

We tested it in a busy family setting, home to a toddler, a preschooler, and a maltese and found the motorised pet tool very effective at shifting white dog hair from grey carpets. And it performed really when tackling dust, dirt and detritus on carpets, hard floors and car boots.

It's powerful, easy to use and effective although it loses half a star as it does start to feel a little heavy to hold after 10 minutes of use

Tested by Mumsnet: Read our full review of the Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro

We tested this powerful cordless vacuum cleaner with two Patterdale Terriers at home and found it really effective at clearing furry clumps and lifting stray hairs across all surfaces. The handheld pet tool is great for on-the-spot hair removal from sofas and stairs and the anti hair wrap feature removes long and short pet hair from the brush as you clean which means you don’t have to constantly pick tangled strands from the unit. 

It works well on hard floors and carpets, and everything feels properly cleaned and fresh thanks to its handy odour eliminator. This is a good buy if eliminating odours is as important to you as shifting hair from your home.

Time and time again, Mumsnet users sing the praises of full-size Shark vacuums, and for smaller cleaning jobs you can’t go wrong with this dinky handheld alternative.

Ideal for tackling pet hair on furniture, pet bedding or for cleaning the car, the Shark HandVac comes with three handy accessories, including a Motorised Pet Tool that will remove even firmly embedded pet hair from upholstery. It has a surprisingly large dust cup capacity and is quick and easy to empty with just one touch. However, blink and you’ll miss its run time. The Shark HandVac lasts just 10 minutes before it will need to be recharged – so there’s no time to dawdle!

Whilst the price tag is certainly substantial, pet owners will love the Dyson V15 Detect. It's an impressive, high-tech vacuum cleaner that can even clean dirt not visible to the naked eye thanks to its ingenious laser functionality. If you want proof of its performance, it’ll even show you how well it’s cleaning, displaying somewhat shocking statistics about the amount of dust and allergens you have sucked up as you work around your home.

A vacuum with a weak suction when you’re trying to pick up the peskiest of pet hairs is nobody’s idea of fun, and it can make the time you have to spend cleaning even longer. Thankfully, you won’t have that problem with the V15, as it’s Dyson’s most powerful vacuum yet. It has three different power levels to accommodate a variety of different floor types, however, the V15 Detect Absolute will automatically adjust its power to suit the floor surface. We love that there are eight different attachment tools to choose from, including the hair screw tool which can whip up pet hair with ease. You can also easily convert this cordless vacuum into a handheld model, ideal for a quick clean of the stairs or to tackle those high ceiling nooks and crannies.

Almost all of us will be familiar with the friendly face of a Henry vacuum cleaner, a brand well known for its industrial and commercial cleaners. The Henry Pet Pro has all the familiar features of the Henry we know and love but is tailored specifically for homes with pets.

With a selection of powerful airbrushes, the Henry Pet Pro can remove stubborn dust, dirt and pet hair from carpets and hard floors, whilst the specialist MicroTex filtration system is scientifically proven to reduce pet-related allergens around your home. It has a substantial capacity of eight litres, and whilst it does require a bag, emptying Henry is quick and mess-free as a result.

If you’ve got dogs, then chances are your car will need cleaning regularly, with the seats and boot getting consistently covered in shedded pet hair, dried mud and dirt as your pets jump in and out of the back. The handheld Gtech MK2 K9 Multi Vacuum Cleaner has been reinforced with aluminium components and comes with a range of attachments to help it efficiently deal with the added strain of pet hair. It even has a lightly scented filter, helping combat some of the unwanted odours created by pets in a confined space.

From its power brush head to dusting brush, the Gtech can easily lift dirt, dust and embedded pet hair from floors and surfaces, and can even be used with an extension tube to clean higher up or underneath seats without putting unnecessary pressure on your back. You can expect around 20 minutes of use with each four-hour charge, and can clearly see the results of your efforts with the clear 0.8-litre drum.

Short on time and looking for some help keeping your home clean and hygienic? Mumsnet users cannot speak more highly of these innovative robot vacuums, which can independently navigate around your home to produce an efficient and effective clean across all surfaces, from carpets to hard floors. Offering accurate edge cleaning and an 100-minute runtime, the Eufy RoboVac 15C makes light work of crumbs, dirt and pet hair. It can be controlled via an easy-to-use remote, or for the more tech-savvy amongst us, using the app or Alexa smart home devices.

The RoboVac uses two spinning brushes to clean corners and has innovative sensors to prevent it from bashing into walls or toppling down your stairs. Whilst it doesn't have a specific pet mode, there are three suction settings – Standard, Boost IQ and Max – the latter of which tackles long and short pet hair with ease.