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How to remove pet hair: 9 products you can use for a fur-free home
If you've got a pet, you're probably familiar with the endless challenge of cleaning up pet hair. But thanks to our hands-on tests, we can highlight Best Buy and Great Value products that banish fluff with ease.
Our independent reviews cover products that make valuable additions to any cleaning arsenal — handheld vacs for tackling nooks and crannies, cleaning sprays for patches of dirt and air purifiers to freshen up your living space.
We've also included some links to popular models, based on the numbers of visits to our reviews over the past year. Popularity doesn't guarantee quality, though, so you'll have to check our full reviews to see how each model scores.
Remember - no brand can buy their way into our testing. We pay for every product we test, meaning there are no freebies to influence what we write.
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1. Stick vacuum cleaners
When shopping for a vacuum cleaner to combat pet hair, you'll want a model that’s easy to use and offers strong performance on a variety of surfaces. Look out for vacs that come bundled with pet hair cleaning accessories and anti-tangle rollers.
Some vacs are marketed as being designed to deal with pet hair, but it's worth exploring generic models as well. Our rigorous lab tests prove, in some cases, generic vacuum cleaners outperform 'pet hair specialists' for overall cleaning performance. All the models we review get a star rating for 'pet hair', so look out for vacs that achieve four or five stars.
As part of our hands-on reviews, we assess a vacuum cleaner’s effectiveness on laminate, floorboards and carpet – common hiding spots for annoying clumps of pet hair.
In our carpet test, a machine spreads dust over a carpet and grinds it in. We then strap each vacuum cleaner into our purpose-made rig, which pulls and pushes the vacuum back and forth as it sucks up the dust.
One of the best vacuum cleaners we’ve tested effortlessly picks up pet hair and maintains strong suction as the dust container fills up. It's not all good news, though - we've also uncovered a Don't Buy that struggles to pick up hair, leaving your carpets dotted with furry patches.
Popular stick vacuum cleaners on the Which? website include:
- Shark HZ3000UKT – a corded handstick cleaner with a detachable handheld cleaner.
- Shark Stratos Pet Pro AZ3000UKT – an upright vacuum cleaner that comes with a crevice tool, pet brush, multi-surface tool and odour cartridge.
- Lift-Away Upright Vacuum Cleaner with TruePet NV602UKT – can be used in a detachable handheld mode for cleaning stairs and tall surfaces.
Don't buy a new vacuum cleaner without consulting our vacuum cleaner reviews. You can also explore our guide to the best vacuums for pet hair.
When assessing a vacuum cleaner's pet hair pick-up powers, we comb real cat and dog fur into an area of carpet. Then, we time how long each vacuum cleaner takes to pick it up. Poor-scoring models can take more than three minutes, while the best clear it in less than 30 seconds.
2. Handheld vacuum cleaners
Opting for a lightweight, handheld vacuum cleaner will help you manage harder-to-reach areas. By consulting our reviews, you can quickly tackle small messes without the hassle of pulling out a full-sized model.
Pet hair loves to nestle in corners and crevices – check under the sofa, between stair bannisters, around your curtains and search your pet's favourite snoozing spot. Rugs can trap pet hair underneath too, and strands might also wrap around cables and light fixtures.
We've tested the most popular handheld vacuum cleaners, including Black and Decker, Vax and Shark. But remember – if regular cleaning is a priority, a handheld vacuum should be considered a supplementary tool, rather than the main solution.
During testing, our highest-scoring handheld vac managed to clear pet fur in a single pass. However, we also encountered alternatives with too many flaws to recommend.
Read through our in-depth guide to the best handheld vacuum cleaners.
Each handheld vacuum is put through the same cleaning tasks by our experts. On carpets, we attempt to pick up small debris, fine dust and pet hair. In the car, vacuums are assessed on how well they clean small debris and pet hair from a car seat.
3. Carpet cleaners
A Which?-recommended carpet cleaner will give your floors a new lease of life, which is great news if your pet has left them looking a little past their best.
Pet odours, allergens and mud can become embedded in your carpet over time, but high-scoring carpet cleaners penetrate deep into the fabric while drying relatively quickly.
As part of our independent lab tests, we've compared models from big-name brands including Vax, Bissell and Rug Doctor. The strongest performer is an effective Which? Best Buy that quickly removes muddy prints.
When buying a carpet cleaner, check which bundled accessories you get in the box. We also suggest comparing the clean water tank capacity and dirty water tank capacity – bigger tanks can save you time on frequent emptying and refilling.
For our expert product recommendations, visit our page on the best carpet cleaners.
After cleaning and drying three soiled carpets, we use a spectrometer to measure how much dirt the machine removes and how much brighter the carpets become.
Plus, we ask a panel of three experts to assess how noisy the carpet cleaner is and whether the noise is particularly intrusive or irritating.
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4. Air purifiers
Pet dander, which consists of microscopic flakes of skin shed by your pets, is a common allergen. By investing in an effective air purifier, you can remove pet dander from the air and improve the overall air quality in your home — benefiting both you and your guests.
If you're a hay fever sufferer, note that pollen can also attach itself to your pet's fur and be carried indoors. A high-scoring air purifier can also filter out pollen, providing some relief. You can find out more in our piece Can you use an air purifier for hay fever?
To find the best air purifiers for your budget, we've tested options from Dyson, Levoit, Philips and more. Our top pick is excellent at removing particles of all sizes from the air, but our rigorous tests also uncovered a flawed Which? Don't Buy.
Find an effective, quiet and energy-efficient air purifier with our guide: Best air purifiers.
We measure the CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) of each machine, which evaluates particle removal over time. This allows us to compare how efficiently different air purifiers can clear the air of particles of various sizes.
Our experts also simulate the ageing of an air purifier's filters by exposing them to the smoke of 100 cigarettes, then repeating the particle removal tests.
5. Robot vacuum cleaners
Vacuuming isn’t always the most exciting task on the to-do list, which is why a reliable robot vacuum cleaner could be a savvy investment. Robot vacs don't come cheap though, with some models costing over £1,000.
Animal fur can accumulate frustratingly quickly, particularly if you have excitable pets that love to run around inside. The right robot vacuum cleaner can quickly pick up the mess your pets leave behind, tackle difficult areas under furniture and in corners, and leave you time for other chores.
To find out which models can be trusted to clean up a hair-ridden floor, we've tested robot vacuum cleaners from popular brands including Dyson, the iRobot Roomba, Eufy and Shark. One model in particular impressed our experts – it was fantastic on hard floors and picked up nearly all the dust that was placed down.
Find out which models are genuinely worth your money with our guide to the best robot vacuum cleaners.
To test dust suction, we get each tested model to vacuum a replica of fine household dust on carpet and hard floor. Our experts then lay down a set amount of dust and weigh how much is vacuumed into the dust container to assess the suction of each model.
Our test area is also arranged with a lamp base, trailing wire, rug and side table to rate how well each robot vacuum deals with obstacles in the home.
6. Steam cleaners
A capable steam cleaner kills harmful bacteria and can eliminate dust mites that cause asthma and allergies. Pet owners will appreciate being able to remove paw prints, refresh sticky floors by food bowls and neutralise lingering smells.
Which? steam cleaner reviews are based on our own independent tests and, along the way, we've uncovered Best Buy, Great Value and Eco Buy models. Our highest-scoring steam cleaner performs well on both hard floors and carpets – so you should be able to clean up if your pet graciously decides to leave their mark.
Popular steam cleaners on the Which? website include:
- Polti Vaporetto SV460 Double – it can be used in handheld mode for cleaning smaller spots around your kitchen or living room.
- Black & Decker FSM13E1 – a lightweight steam cleaner purely for use on hard floors.
- Dupray Neat – this is a wheeled steam cleaner with a larger-capacity water tank compared to an upright or handheld model.
Find out which steam cleaners are worthy of a Which? Best Buy title with our steam cleaner reviews. Alternatively, see our page on the best steam cleaners.
We test steam cleaners on tiles and grout (stained with soap, shower gel and shampoo), glass (coated with an oily film) and crevices (filled with tough everyday food soils). Our experts also measure how long it takes before you need to refill it with water.
Although a steam cleaner is no replacement for a true carpet cleaner, we still test cylinder steam cleaners' ability to clean stains on carpets, as you told us you use them to do this at home.
More useful products for pet owners
- All-purpose cleaning sprays – thanks to our hands-on testing, we can recommend cleaners to help you tackle multiple chores with one spray. We've tried products from well-known cleaning spray brands such as Flash and Method, plus supermarket brands.
- Carpet stain removers – if your pet has an unfortunate accident, you should act fast with an effective stain remover. We found two standout Best Buys that got rid of stains in a flash, one of which is a Great Value buy that clean carpets quickly for less.
- Pet hair removal tools – a roller-style or brush-style pet hair remover will help you tackle fur that has made itself at home on your stairs or sofa. One option is the Furviking, which is comprised of a shaped piece of rubber secured between plastic strips.
Maintaining your vacuum cleaner in a pet-friendly home
If you're a pet owner trying to stay on top of cleaning, focus on high-traffic areas such as hallways, stairs, doorways and pet sleeping spots. These areas are more likely to have hair embedded in the carpet.
Remember to maintain your vacuum cleaner, particularly if you use it regularly. If you've noticed your vac has lost suction, it's usually down to a handful of common problems.
Check your floor head for hairs, fluff and debris – doing so can have your machine working like new again. Try using a pair of scissors to cut away tangled hair carefully and note some models have a groove in the brush bar you can use as a guide. Avoid damaging the bristles.
Pay attention to your vac's filters too, as a clogged filter will also impact suction. Most models have two filters – the motor filter (near the back) and an allergen filter (typically closer to the dust container or bag).
See also: How to fix a vacuum cleaner that's lost suction
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