As with most areas of home goods, the vacuum cleaner market has gone in several different directions.
As with most areas of home goods, the vacuum cleaner market has gone in several different directions. There are bagged or bagless, lightweight models offering more portability, some focusing on carpets or hard floors, offering robotic automation and deep cleaning to complicate what used to be a simple buying decision. Our guide will help point you in the right direction.
Your vacuum cleaner buying decisions
Most vacuum cleaner decisions are based more around where you live than the technology or features inside them. Typically people will buy one to suit their circumstances.
- Flats or small homes can be cleaned by a compact cylinder vacuum that don’t take up much storage space.
- People with pets or allergies like models that have great hair and dust cleaning ability and filters to clear the air.
- For those without much time to clean, robot vacuums will do much of the work for you.
- People with busy, active families in larger homes might want a full-power upright or cleaner to keep the home tidy.
With that in mind, there is still plenty of choices to be made, and this guide will help you decide based on what you need and the cost.
Vacuum Types
Type | Pros | Cons | Example |
Handheld | Great for getting in the nooks and crannies or cleaning the car. | Lower power and limited capacity, and there’s always more dust to find. | Vax H85-GA-B10 Gator Cordless Handheld Vacuum Cleaner Prices from £25 |
Robot vacuum | Great time saver and for people with mobility problems. | Small dustbins. Budget models aren’t that smart and even the expensive ones aren’t that powerful. | Eufy RoboVac 15C T2120 Cordless Robot Vacuum Prices from £199 |
Compact cylinder | Easy to store and to clean around busy or cluttered homes. | Can be fiddly to use with the many attachments and nozzles on offer. | Dyson Big Ball Animal 2 Bagless Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner Prices from £59 |
Upright | The traditional solution and usually the most powerful models with the largest brushes for efficient cleaning. | Can be heavy in use and need space to store them. | Vax U85-AS-Pme Air Stretch Max Pet Upright Vacuum Cleaner Prices from £99 |
Those are the basic types, and there several additional options to consider:
Cordless or powered
Cordless vacuum cleaners are more practical to get around the house without changing plug sockets, but use time can vary from 20 minutes to an hour, with long recharge times.
Bagless or bagged
Most models are bagless with easy-empty bins to keep the dust away. But some people prefer bags.
Carpet and floor cleaners
Getting rid of the dust isn’t enough in some homes, with regularly cleaning needed to keep floors looking good. Cleaners are good for high traffic areas of the home, but add expense and mess to keeping the home clean.
Robotic or manual
Robotic vacuums are very popular now that prices have fallen to reasonable levels, but they can’t clean everywhere around a home, so many people use a robotic vacuum for the main areas, and a manual for stairs, curtains, and smaller areas.
Consider all of these options when it comes to buying a new vacuum cleaner, and you should make the right choice within the right budget for your home.
