We love our pets and want them to have the freedom to be who they are. Of course, this means that they leave hair in all their favorite places and drag all sorts of debris in with them after playing outside. The problem with letting animals be animals is that we end up having to clean up after them. Your beloved furry friend doesn’t quite feel the same way about hygiene as you do. This means that they not only leave a great deal of mess around your home, but you can also be left with odors that are not all that pleasant.
Even with regular cleaning, there will be certain areas that will need more attention than others. There are areas of the home that your pet will frequent more often and if they travel with you in the car - well, we all know what a mess they can leave and often a smell that you'd rather not have. Hauling out the vacuum cleaner just to clean those few areas of the home can become quite a chore, especially if it's your car or tight corners.
Electric and Battery Powered Handheld Pet Vacuums
1. Bissell Pet Hair Eraser
This is the cheapest cordless handheld pet vacuum of the lot. While it’s cheaper than the (already reasonably priced) Bissell Bolt, it actually has some more impressive features.
Unlike its more expensive brother, the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser has a motorized roller brush which means you’ll require less effort when removing pet hair from your carpets and furniture. It also has an upholstery brush that you don’t get with the Bissell Bolt. So why is this one cheaper then?
There’s only one area where the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser doesn’t match up to the bolt – this is in the battery. The battery and charger make up quite a large part of the price of cordless machines. This model doesn’t fair as well as the Lithium-ion battery on the more expensive Bissell model. With this one, you’ll get a rated working time of 15 minutes.
Despite the slight compromise of a shorter working time, the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser is well worth its very low price. It has the same 1-year warranty as the more expensive model and is certainly worth buying.
2. Shark Rocket
I’m sure many of you know that Shark vacuum cleaners are among the best that there is. So, when they set out to design a handheld vacuum that’s the best for pet hair and all the fine dust and other mess that they carry with them, they’re going to deliver. The Shark Rocket Hand Vac is not the cheapest but is far from being the most expensive that you’ll get. Among corded handheld vacuums, this model falls into a very reasonable price range. With the brand’s reputation for quality and some great features, this model is extremely good value for money.
It’s an absolute pleasure to use, weighing only 3.7 LBS with an excellent handle, you can whip it out and get the job done in no time. The TruePet motorized brush gives you the cleaning power of a large pet hair vacuum in a super convenient handheld machine. It has a 15 FT power cord that gives you a great range within to work. It’s bagless and the filters are washable, so there are no maintenance costs. What’s more, the dust cup is designed for easy, dust-free emptying.
Along with the TruePet motorized brush, you also get a wide dusting tool and crevice tool as part of the standard accessories. The powerful 400W motor maintains its suction constantly and you’ll never experience a loss of suction. With a 1-year warranty and the service backup of an established brand, the Shark Rocket is a fantastic handheld pet hair vacuum at a price that will fit into almost anyone’s budget.
3. BLACK+DECKER HLVA325JP07 Lithium Pet Hand Vacuum
We all love our pets, but not the mess resulting from their playfulness. Our furry ones have a way of uncontrollably shedding lots of hair on furniture and delicate upholstery.
Stubborn hair caught within carpets and furniture also has no answer to the vacuum cleaner’s anti-tangle rubber bristles. The wall-mounted charging base also makes it possible for you to mount on the wall for functional purposes, but you have to make sure if the option is provided with your model. Otherwise a countertop charger would be the other option.
Mixing power with care, this feature provides a dual-speed mode, thus enabling you to make the appropriate choice between delicate materials and sterner stuff requiring a power boost. A charge time of about 5-6 hours would provide you with a run time of 10 – 15 mins.
Loss of power due to a rundown battery is also taken care of with this battery sense feature that keeps you aware of the battery levels. Filter cleaning is simplified as the filter alert lets you know when to clean it for proper maintenance. This hand vac has a pull-out extendable crevice tool for hard to reach areas, along with a Push-In brush for dusting and cleaning upholstery.
4. Dyson V6 Top Dog Handheld Vacuum
Before you gasp at the price and move along, take a look at why the Dyson V6 Top Dog handheld pet vacuum is so highly rated. Firstly it’s a cordless vacuum which always pushes up the price a bit. Even then, you may be wondering why you’d want to pay so much more for this pet hair vacuum when there are much cheaper options available. The Dyson brand is one of the most respected brands and there are many who are prepared to pay more for this. It’s not just the name that makes this a superior machine, its value really stands out when you look at the engineering that has gone into this machine.
The Dyson digital motor is designed to deliver powerful suction that will outperform almost any other vacuum and give you the most from your battery. Spinning at an almost unbelievable 110,000 RPM, this little beast has the suction to remove not just pet hair, but also the fine stubborn dirt that creeps deep into your upholstery and carpets. When you combine this suction power with the mini motorized tool that’s designed to remove pet hair, you get unrivaled cleaning abilities. With all this power from a battery vacuum, you may think that you’ll be sacrificing working time because the battery can’t keep up with the machine’s ability. This is quite the opposite, the Dyson V6 Top Dog has a strong battery that gives you up to 20-minutes working time – better than almost any other cordless handheld vacuum. The trigger switch means that the motor shuts off instantly when you release it, further increasing your battery time. It has a max power mode that will boost the suction for six minutes, giving you extremely powerful suction without losing unnecessary battery time.
Dyson’s two tier cyclone system is one of their key features. This suction system removes most of the fine dust and allergens from the air before it reaches the filters. The result is pure, allergen-free air without clogging up the filters – less hassle and maintenance. It has an easy release dust cup, similar to that on the Shark Rocket – this gives you easy emptying of the dust cup without releasing all the dust into the air. The impressive range of accessories includes the motorized tool; combination dusting and upholstery tool; a hard bristle brush for stubborn dirt and a crevice tool. The Dyson promise of high-quality, super good looks and an impressive array of extras and features, make the Dyson V6 Top Dog handheld pet vacuum just about the best that money can buy. Like the name suggests, this is the top dog of pet vacuums and it comes with a 2-year warranty.
5. Bissell Bolt Hand Vac+Fur-Get-it-Brush
Okay, so not everyone has the type of money to spend on a handheld vacuum that you’ll be spending on the Dyson V6 Top Dog. If you enjoy the convenience of a cordless machine and want an affordable, quality item that is capable of handling the needs of a pet owner, Bissell is a good brand to look at. They don’t offer all the sophistication of the more expensive brands but give you great quality and a reasonable spec level at a price that makes them affordable enough for anyone.
The Bissell Bolt Pet handheld vacuum comes with a pet hair removal brush. It’s not a motorized brush, so you’ll be moving it back and forth a bit to get rid of all that hair – but it will get the job done. Along with the pet hair nozzle, you also get a crevice tool. The 16V lithium-ion battery gives you a pretty impressive 25 minute working time. At first, you may think that is far better than the 20 minutes specified time for the (much more expensive) Dyson V6 Top Dog. Though, if you look at it more closely, it can’t really be compared. The more expensive Dyson model is way more powerful and has a motorized pet brush, this means that it’s going to take a fair deal longer for the Bissell Bolt to achieve the same results. You’ll get less done in the same amount of time using the Bissell machine. though this is a small compromise to make if you consider how much cheaper this one is.
It has a large 0.6L dust cup so you won’t need empty it too often. The filters also have an easy clean turn fitting mechanism. For a basic handheld pet hair vacuum, you can’t go wrong with Bissell Bolt. It’s affordable, convenient and comes with a 1-year warranty.
We Have Done the Work For You
A handheld vacuum is ideal for quickly cleaning those areas that need a bit more attention than the rest of your home. Being small and easy to handle, takes the effort out of cleaning concentrated areas in a hurry. The problem with handheld vacuums is that they are not always very powerful and few have the brushes and other attachments needed to get rid of pet hair and the stubborn dirt that our animals leave behind them.
So, as a pet owner, you want a small portable vacuum that you can pull out whenever needed and clean up after them without it taking up all your time. You also want something that's going do a thorough job, otherwise, it's just a waste of time. We hear you and get what you're looking for. That's why we've compiled this list of the best handheld pet hair vacuum cleaners. There's no need to spend hours searching for a quality handheld vacuum that's going to offer the best cleaning ability for pet owners, we've done all that for you. With a wide range of features and a variety of price categories, you can be sure to find the best handheld pet hair vacuum to suit you.