What is the best vacuum for cleaning dog hair?
Holidays4Dogs thinks our owners and carers alike might find this review of shark vacuums useful. The shark vacuum certainly makes light work of dog hair! If you have pets and you’re thinking of buying a vacuum – read on!
I have a thing about vacuums – mainly because I need to use one daily. Sometimes, twice daily if I am truthful. Over the years, living with several hairy dogs in the house, meant there was a good chance of becoming a hoover bore.
If I’m not writing for Holidays4Dogs, or walking Floss the collie,
I can usually be found cleaning up after Floss. Hoovering comes with the territory of dog owning. Especially if, like me, you’re a bit of a clean freak. (I have even been known to vacuum my patio with a normal hoover. Blush).
So, a vacuum has to be up to the job for a start, but it also has to be other things. More recently, due to a move to a very small bungalow, it had to be small enough to store away in a small space. However, it also had to be powerful enough to pick up dog hair.
Some daily accumulations of dog hair in our abode, could facilitate the knitting of a whole new dog.
Prior to this super duper ‘Shark Powered Lift-Away True Pet Vacuum’ – doesn’t that sound snazzy!?, I had a rather cheap cylinder vacuum. I had thought this inferior machine would be just fine for one small collie. There was a bonus too – it easily fitted into my kitchen cupboard.
Sadly, after only eight months it threw in the towel and point-blank refused to suck up anything. Unless, that is, the debris was physically picked up and posted by hand, into the tube. This very much defeated the object of a vacuum cleaner.
Before this, (I told you I was a hoover bore!) I had another well-known brand – Dyson. I owned that vacuum for twelve long years without any repairs being needed. It sucked up dog hair like a trooper to the end of its days. Eventually, it sort of blew up. Fizzling into hoover heaven with a last hearty splutter. It had a jolly good innings.
So, for a few days I was hoover-less. I sunk into a mild dour mood while I scraped black and white fur off the pale oatmeal carpet with a slicker brush. This couldn’t go on.
A few days later I vowed we would welcome a new vacuum into our home. I immediately got onto the internet to source a suitable new recruit.
My starting point was Argos, only because I like the convenience of being able to return anything personally to a local store if needs be.
I first perused the choice of cylinder vacuums because I wanted something that would dismantle into several parts for ease of storage. The choice was limited and, besides, I have always previously favoured upright vacuum cleaners.
Perhaps because of some wistful memories of my Auntie Kathleen’s ‘Kirby’, (do you remember those?), I had a morbid fascination for the huge-great-metal-monster of a machine with a bag that inflated, as it roared into ferocious action.
It’s up there with the equally perturbing ceramic nodding Buddha. And, the dolly with the crocheted dress and dishevelled up-do that clung to a roll of Izal. I digress.
Another consideration was price. While I needed something with a certain industrial touch, I wasn’t about to pay telephone numbers for the privilege. I capped my budget to around two hundred pounds, which made the other half wince. I did point out, however, many of the products on offer were worth the price of a small second-hand car. Incidentally, would you believe, there is a car on the market with a built in vacuum cleaner. Now there’s a thought…
Finally, after what seemed like hours of toggling back and forth, reading reams of reviews and technical jargon, I plumped for the ‘Shark’. I was impressed by the name alone if I’m totally honest. I was equally happy about the generous five-year guarantee and the glowing reports of its dog hair hoovering mastery.
The Shark is uniquely designed to adapt to various cleaning jobs. It has a unique detachable cylinder – leaving with you the ‘stick’ part that gets right underneath furniture.
There is a myriad of attachment tools, including the ‘pet power brush’.
Thus, the cylinder can be lifted off the main body and hand-held in order to reach stairs or, for above-head cleaning. Also, useful for car cleaning I would imagine, but I haven’t got this far yet. It also has a retro look. Awkward and square looking – suggestive, perhaps, of its no-nonsense approach to sucking up dirt.
On the first go, I was suitably impressed. Not only did it seem to collect every dog hair in the place – bar those still attached to the dog – it was quiet about it too.
This was a surprising additional benefit. All my previous hoovers, made a racket enough to set the whole neighbourhood off barking. Even Floss finds the volume of this one inoffensive and is far less perturbed by it. Once done, it fits into a small storage place quite well, since it is a little more sylph-like than other upright vacuum cleaners.
When it comes to emptying, the Shark gives up its spoils with little argument; and a lot less in the way of dust all over the floor you’ve just vacuumed. It has HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air). According to EU standards, this means it removes 99.95% of particles that have a size greater, or equal to 0.3 micrometres.
That’s the yawn bit. However, it does mean it’s not simply blowing smelly dog hair particles back out, as fast you’re sucking them up.
Oh, and finally, it has headlights on the front. Great for seeing into dim corners, or while singing your own rendition of, “I want to break free” as you glide behind the, “advanced swivel steering”.
If anyone is still awake and I’ve whetted your appetite to find out more about the history of the vacuum – try this little gem of a book ‘Fabulous Dustpan’ by Frank G. Hoover and William D. Ellis. You can purchase from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fabulous-Dustpan-Story-Hoover-Frank/dp/1258134845
The ‘Shark Powered Lift Away ™ True Pet Vacuum – NV681UK can be bought from Amazon or other leading stores and is well worth consideration if you own dogs, or cats.
If you’re wondering how to keep the actual dog clean – read our other Holidays4Dogs article here.
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