Powerful handheld vacuum

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Vacuuming the house, car and beyond can feel like a right chore. It can be hot, heavy work — even getting the vacuum out can be an epic task. But no longer, thanks to handheld vacuums, which are designed to fit perfectly into your hand and life. More often than not, handheld vacuums are cordless. This makes them perfect for tackling the stairs, annoying hard-to-reach areas and the car.

Powerful handheld vacuum

We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. We updated this article in February to make sure all the prices and offers are correct. When it comes to cleaning awkward spaces, a trusty handheld vacuum is a must-have. These compact machines make light work of sofas and car interiors, while their cordless design makes them easy to grab for emergency pre-hosting touch-ups. Some even suck up liquid spills, meaning no more crying over spilt milk. Find your nearest electrical recycling point , or read our guide on how to donate or dispose of your appliances and tech for extra guidance. Our Good Housekeeping Institute experts have rigorously tested every vacuum on this list across four different floor types long- and short-piled carpet, laminate and floorboards. Scroll on to read their findings, and to learn more about how we test vacuum cleaners. Designed with pet owners in mind, this well-priced Shark gobbled up pet hair in one swift sweep thanks to its dedicated tool. The battery lasts for just over 10 minutes it takes about four hours to recharge but this was long enough for us to clean a small car. Otherwise, it's an all-round excellent performer, making it our top choice. It had great pick-up across all our tests and floor types, whether lifting dust, pet hair, or crumbs. It also scored top marks for its car cleaning abilities and our testers were impressed with the way it easily cleaned up liquids, leaving our flooring dry to the touch. It only has one power setting, too. The best at lifting crumbs and debris, turn to this vac when cleaning small spillages in the kitchen or on the sofa.

Thankfully, since the battery is removable, you can charge it while the vacuum is stored out of sight. Lightweight Check mark icon A check mark.

When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more. When you have a small mess in a hard-to-reach spot or simply can't be bothered to haul out a full-size vacuum for a quick clean-up, reaching for a lightweight handheld vacuum is definitely the move. Among the best vacuums , a good handheld vacuum cleaner can quickly and easily clean crevices, countertops, car interiors, and the various nooks and crannies of your home as well as high-up spots for reaching cobwebs and more — just a few spots where robot vacs can't go and more portable than cordless sticks vacuums. We tested 10 portable handheld vacuums to see how they cleaned up Cheerios, flour, coffee grounds, cat litter, and dog and cat hair on hardwood floors , carpeting, and in a car. We most recently tested the Shark Cyclone Pet CH and were impressed with its lightweight design and versatile use cases.

Dust bunnies and pet hair are no match for these lightweight yet powerful hand vacs. Jump to a Section. We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. And even if your regular vacuum has useful attachments for cleaning corners and upholstery, lugging it around the house is often a chore in itself. He recommends looking for handheld vacuums with 15 air watts or more for the best cleaning performance. To find the best handheld vacuums, we tested over a dozen models, evaluating them on effectiveness, ease of emptying, battery runtime, portability, and more.

Powerful handheld vacuum

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. Tackle car floorboards, pet hair on the sofa, spills in the kitchen, and more with these powerful, pint-sized vacuums. Marcus Reeves is an experienced writer, publisher, and fact-checker. He began his writing career reporting for The Source magazine. He is an adjunct instructor at New York University, where he teaches writing and communications. Jump to a Section. Not every big mess requires a big vacuum. Handheld vacuums can suck up cracker crumbs in a car seat , pet hair embedded into the sofa , and kitchen spills with ease—sometimes even faster than a traditional vacuum.

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In particular, the appliance shined when cleaning up the carpet, even getting the hairs buried in the fabric. Health Angle down icon An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. Related stories Best cordless vacuum cleaners to buy in , including Shark, Dyson, Gtech and more. The unsealed suction means that, even as a handheld, it still sucked up all dirt like there was no tomorrow. John Schrumpf, owner of John's Rugs Crub , noted that vacuums last an average of seven years. Best for gardens. What is the best handheld vacuum for cars? While it's great for couches, you'll still want a full-size pet hair vacuum for floors. There's also no indicator light to tell you when the battery is charged. You can find stick vacuums in our other vacuum guides. With those, you'll need to be close to an outlet to operate it, but you won't have to stop and charge it. Car — Cheerios. Is this the solution to our embarrassingly epic car-crumb problem.

We evaluated over handheld vacuums before purchasing the top 9 contenders for extensive hands-on testing.

Best for a quick dust. We lay down a designated volume, before weighing exactly how much each vac has collected after a set number of sweeps. Its larger, bagged design makes it ideal for bigger households, while emptying is also mess-free. Cleaned well on all surfaces Check mark icon A check mark. It's an especially good choice for a household that doesn't want to fuss with or store extra attachments, and performed consistently well in a home with two kids and two pets for six months and counting. All the vacuums we evaluated performed poorly in this regard. What is the best handheld vacuum to buy? She specializes in home tech, appliances, cleaning, and organization topics, and has written about everything from baskets and bins to carpet shampoos and robot vacuums. Its pivoting dust brush and crevice tool make getting into corners and nooks simple. For example, the Shark UltraCyclone Pro Cordless Handheld Vacuum , our best overall pick, comes with a crevice tool that was able to reach into the nooks and crannies to clean a car seat in our testing. To avoid continuously emptying your dust canister, look for a minimum capacity of 0. James Brown, service specialist and museum curator at Mr. Tom Gasko, vacuum cleaner collector and repair specialist and owner of Mid Missouri Vacuum, Zoom interview, February 1, Best Overall, Runner-Up:.