If you have pets that shed, you're probably vacuuming more often than most people, which makes the convenience of a cordless vacuum especially appealing. Being able to grab it off a dock and quickly clean up hair without untangling a power cord makes it much easier to stay on top of daily shedding. The best options are lightweight, have an effective filtration system, come with an array of attachments well-suited to handling pet hair, and feature floorhead designs that are capable of lifting pet hair from hard-to-clean surfaces like carpeting.
We've tested over 110 vacuum cleaners, and below are our recommendations for the best cordless stick vacuums for pet hair. These recommendations are based not only on their pet hair cleaning performance on different surfaces but also on their air filtration and price. Here's a quick rundown of what to consider using our lab testing and scoring:
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Pet Hair Pickup: A score of 7.5+ for our Pet Hair Pickup test reflects good or better single-pass pet hair clearing performance.
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Floorhead Design: Floorheads with bristled rollers are good for removing pet hair from carpets, but soft or combo rollers can improve pet hair pickup on hard surfaces.
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Additional Attachments: Air-driven mini turbo brushes are great all-purpose tools for dealing with pet hair, motorized mini brushes provide even better pickup but are rare and typically bulky, and straight-suction upholstery nozzles will do in a pinch.
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Particle Filtration Performance: A score of 8.0+ for our Particle Filtration test indicates effective allergen control for pet dander.
Check out our buyer's guide at the bottom of the article for more details. For more buying recommendations, look at our list of the best cordless vacuums, the best vacuums for pet hair, and the best vacuums for long hair.