And at just about 5 pounds, we found it lightweight and easy to maneuver, store and clean. Plus, we applaud Dyson for equipping this model with a push button on/off switch for continuous operation. Gone is the trigger that you had to hold down to keep the vacuum running that many users complained about. On the downside, vac-mop combos are much more expensive than almost any other type of mop, and they don’t clean edges or grout lines very well. And even those that can are worse at digging dust and hair out of rugs than most standalone vacuum cleaners. It can also be kind of nasty to empty out a vac-mop combo’s dirty-water tank, especially if the machine sucked up a bunch of food and pet hair, mixed in with all the turbid fluids.
Most of the testing took place between late spring and early fall 2021. Over the past couple of months, we’ve been on the hunt to find the very best cordless vacuum on the market. We’ve already covered topics like the best Miele vacuum, the best Dyson cordless vacuums, and the best Shark cordless vacuums. Now, it’s finally time for the final company in our lineup – Bissell. In our most recent category test of 23 stick vacuums, we gathered and assessed over 500 data points to calculate the highest overall scorers and select the top models to recommend.
Generally speaking, more air watts means a more powerful vacuum cleaner, but the actual design of the vacuum head plays a significant role, as well. The tighter a vacuum is against the floor, the greater the suction — but if it’s too tight against the floor, larger bits of debris won’t be able to make it underneath the cleaning head, at all. The type of flooring you’re trying to clean makes a big difference, too. Interestingly, that shortlist of perfect-rated cleaners includes two of our value picks, the Shark Rocket Pet Pro and the Moosoo XL-618. Neither one was a standout with sand (in fact, the Moosoo model was among the worst in those tests), but with larger crumbs at least, both are perfectly capable.
The PowerDash isn’t really a vac-mop, which is something we didn’t fully understand until we tested it. (Ditto for the similar FloorMate, though we did not test that model.) The PowerDash does have suction to slurp cleaning solution, but the intake isn’t designed for solid debris. This machine is more of a dedicated floor scrubber—though even at that, it didn’t work as well as the true vac-mop combos that we tested. It left behind grime that the Bissell CrossWave plug-in and Tineco iFloor3 could easily collect. It’s a little tricky to fill the iFloor3’s clean-water tank without spilling some liquid, particularly the detergent.
Loud sounds and cats don’t mix, so you probably shouldn’t expect your pet to love any vacuum you pick. Midwestern product tester and writer Courtney Irwin is a working mom of three who loves nothing more than a good deal. Equal parts entrepreneur and family-gal, bissell cordless vacuum she believes hard work deserves to be celebrated. When she’s not on the hunt for the next big trend, you can catch her in her kitchen, cooking and testing appliances. There are only a few things I didn’t swoon over, and they’re not dealbreakers.
Bissell’s ICONpet Cordless Vacuum is supposed to be one of the best on the market — it was created specifically for sucking up pet hair (as well as any other dirt or debris your BFF may leave behind). The bissell pet vacuum products are given to us free of charge and we test them for as long as possible before forming our reviews. As I said at the beginning of this post, we have been using this vacuum for a solid 6 months.
The best model, the Bissell CrossWave plug-in, can almost pull off that dream scenario, thanks to its superior suction. I also did a little bit of “challenge testing,” where I’d brush my cat and try to suck up a huge tuft of the resulting fur, or pour some maple syrup and marinara on the floor and let it dry for a couple of hours. But I didn’t learn a whole lot from this because all of the contenders performed well. All pet parents know that the battle against pet hair is a constant struggle.
It also automatically adjusts the height of the brush roll to go from carpets to bare floors and area rugs seamlessly. In the meantime, this Samsung is a worthy choice and is not just about good looks. In our tests, we found the suction to be powerful and the three cleaning modes — min, mid and max — suitable for cleaning any type of flooring we encountered. And while it comes with a backup battery, one battery had enough charge to give us over bissell handheld vacuum 53 minutes of run time on low speed and almost get us through vacuuming all the floors in a 2,000-square-foot home. The controls are easy to navigate and the display on the handle tells you how many minutes of battery life you have left on all suction settings. The attachments are handy and include an extending crevice tool and a bendable elbow that makes it easier to clean high, flat surfaces, like ceiling fan blades and bookcase tops.
Since we are renting, a friend is fostering our dogs for us, so we do not currently have any dogs in our home. (Hopefully, we will be reunited soon though!) We do however have 3 females in our home with long hair. It felt like the brush roll on our other vacuum was constantly getting clogged and I had to cut things off. I am happy to report that I have not had to get my scissors out once yet for this vacuum! I did just check it and there are some hairs wrapped around it, but not very many, and it hasn’t affected the functionality of the brush or suction. That’s why I decided that when I reviewed the Bissell ICONpet Cordless Vacuum, I was going to wait a solid 6 months to deliver my review.