What Is The Best Vacuum For Pet Hair: Dyson vs. Bissell vs. Shark

Updated: Apr 18, 2024

Welcome to our competition to see which is the best vacuum cleaner for pet hair and pet owners in general. We put these vacuums through about 16 tests on things that are important for pet owners like pet hair pickup, deep cleaning, and filtration, and gave them scores based on the results we have a lot to do.

Video made by Vacuum Wars

	Shark TruePet	Bissell Pet Hair Eraser	Shark Apex Zero M	Dyson Multifloor 2	Kenmore Elite 31150	Sebo Felix 1	Dyson V10 Absolute
Suction	95	76	95	114	88	69	84
Airflow Head	58	45	61	59	83	70	50
Airflow Hose	99	67	90	80	120	99	53
Corded	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no
Hard floor	40	20	60	20	40	40	60
Carpet Pickup	40	40	60	40	40	40	40
Carpet Deep Clean Test	100%	100%	98%	100%	90%	92%	100%
Deep Clean, score	60	60	60	60	40	40	60
Thick Carpet, score	20	40	40	0	40	40	40
Filtration Test	Sealed + HEPA	Sealed	Sealed + HEPA	Leaks	Sealed + HEPA	Sealed	Sealed + HEPA
Weight	11	4	8	8	0	8	28
Ease of use, score	60	20	60	40	40	40	40
Maneuverability, score	40	40	40	40	20	40	60
Accessories included	Motorized brush, Multi-pet tool, Turbo brush, Crevice tool, Upholstery tool, Pre and post-motor filter, Main head with brushroll, Wand, Hose with handle	Combination Dusting Brush, Upholstery Tool, LED Lighted Crevice Tool, Pet TurboEraser Tool	Lifetime belts, Lifetime HEPA filter, and foam filter, Upholstery tool, Crevice tool, Pet power brush	Stair tool, Motorized brush, Combination accessory tool, Extension wand, Flexible hose	Combo Brush, Dusting Tool, Extension Wand, Crevice Tool, Pet Tool	Filter Bag, S-Class Hospital Grade Exhaust Filter, Motor Filter, Suction hose, ET-1 power nozzle, Crevice tool and dusting brush	Three floorheads all with motorised brush bars, Three detail tools, extension tube, Wall-mounted charging dock
Final Score	#2	#7	#1	#6	#4	#5	#3

There is the Kenmore Elite included because of its high rating on Consumer Reports.

The Sebo Felix 1 is the most expensive vacuum in this competition and is a darling of many vacuum enthusiasts.

The Shark Rotator True Pet NV752 shows on many lists as the best vacuum for pets. The Shark Apex Duoclean Zero M because it's currently the only Shark Dual clean with Zero M technology which also prevents pet hairbrush from hair tangling.

The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser 1650a is claimed to be engineered for homes with pets and is equipped with a special brush that resists pet hair tangles of all.

And there are two Dysons: the Dyson Multi-Floor 2 and Dyson V10 Absolute cordless vacuum which is among the best cordless cleaners of 2019 and cleans good enough with having a long battery life to compete at this level (not to mention the Dyson V11 of course).

After measuring suction as well as airflow at the hose and at the cleaner head, the Kenmore Elite became the first with a three-way tie with both Sharks and the Dyson Multifloor 2 being in third place.

Pick up test & hair handling

With pick-up tests, there was fine debris like sand and large/extra-large debris like cereal. Also, pet hair. So the Shark Apex got the first place because of its dual clean brushes that are amazing on bare flooring and carpets and the second place was for the Dyson V10 which also has a soft-roller head that is ideal for bare flooring.

The Shark Apex is the best at picking up debris

The Dyson Multifloor was not good with pet hair or other debris on hardwood floor and neither the Bissell that was decent only with pet hair on hard floor.

Carpet cleaning: deep clean vs. thick carpet cleaning

Deep carpet cleaning includes sand embedded into a carpet. It is the most accurate test that shows a cleaner's ability to vacuum carpets.

The Dyson V10 cordless vacuum was the only vacuum that scored 100% of sand (The Dyson V11 and newest Tineco PURE ONE S12 were champs as well).

The Shark True Pet, Bissell, and Dyson Multifloor picked up 100% of sand during this test too. The Apex got 98% and the Sebo Felix 1 - 92% leaving the Kenmore behind with 90% results.

On a thick carpet, it was difficult to push the Dyson Multifloor. The Shark True Pet also stalled out a few times on thick carpets but it has a switch that reduces the suction for thick carpets which helped it to run perfectly once it was switched.

So based on those two carpet cleaning tests the first place got the Bissell, Shark Apex Zero M, and Dyson V10 Absolute. The Dyson Multifloor got the fewest scores.

Filtration

The Kenmore, Shark Apex, Dyson V10, and Shark True Pet all have sealed systems with HEPA filters. They passed the test with a perfect score. The Sibo and Bissell have sealed systems but no HEPA.

The Kenmore, Shark Apex, Dyson V10, and Shark True Pet are the best at filtration and the Dyson Multifloor is the worst because of the design that leaks some dust.

The Shark True Pet and Dyson V10 came with many useful tools for pet owners including a motorized brush that works very well on upholstery or stairs. The Apex has one of these motorized tools available as an optional upgrade. Some of them come with a similar tool only with suction power, not a motorized option.

Easy to use

With the weight, ease to use, and maneuverability tests, the Kenmore got the worst score because it's big and heavy, and also not really maneuverable at all. The Bissell also lost some points here for being hard to use.

The Shark picked up some points for having the lift-away mode for suction-based tasks and the powered lift-away mode for lightweight vacuuming and getting under hard-to-reach places. The Dyson V10 is one of the best here for being powerful, long-lasting, lightweight, and cordless.

The anti-tangle technology of the Shark Apex and Bissell does work great and didn't get any pet hair wrapped around the brushroll so they got 30 points each since it is a very helpful feature for pet owners.

Some of the things were included too such as crevice pick-up test results, cord length, and the current list price where they all got points inversely proportional to their costs.