Cordless Handheld “Pet Hair” Vacuum
video review
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review by Joni
If you live with fuzzy pets, you have to accept that everything you own will eventually be covered in their hair, right? … Wrong. Hi folks! It’s Joni with Day Undefined, and I want to tell you about some products I’ve found that can help you get ahead of this problem. Here are links to some other reviews on this topic:
The product I’ll be reviewing today is the Bissell handheld vacuum. We live with two pets—a cat and a dog—so if we take a break from cleaning, our house quickly resembles the wild west, complete with tumbleweeds made of pet hair.
This Bissell vacuum can be used as-is, but it also comes with three attachments to help you with many cleaning situations. The crevice tool provides an extension for hard-to-reach places; the upholstery tool works great on furniture, and the motorized brush tool is perfect for carpets and for areas with embedded hair. This vacuum is cordless, lightweight, and has large buttons and a handle that can be grasped in different ways. Also, using the crevice tool provides me with enough of a reach that I can clean most surfaces while I am seated safely in my wheelchair.
A potential downside is that the lithium battery does take quite a while to charge when it is completely drained; this can take up to six hours. However, once the battery is fully charged, I think that you will be impressed with how long this thing can clean. Even if the vacuum sits unused, it can hold its charge for several days. The charging port is kind of small, and the cord is not reversible, meaning that it only plugs in one way, so connecting the vacuum to a power source may take some practice.
This vacuum requires very little in the way of maintenance costs. It’s bagless, so it saves you from buying replacement bags and from creating needless waste. There is a line on the dirt bin that indicates when it is full and should be emptied to maximize the vacuum’s performance. This is done by pressing the “eject” button, removing the filter from the dirt bin, and emptying the contents into a garbage can. To reassemble it, align the filter and reattach the dirt bin. (This is an exact task and may, again, require some practice.) Congratulations! You can now continue cleaning, which—let’s face it— is a nonstop task in a household with pets.
It is not necessary, but it is good practice to extend the lifespan of the filter by cleaning it whenever you empty the bin. This is done by twisting off the filter cap and dislodging any collected fine debris by giving the filter a couple of taps inside your garbage can. (No worries if you forget to do this every time; you can use an old toothbrush to dislodge any accumulated build-up.) Depending on your grip strength, coordination, and dexterity, you may need someone to help you clean out the filter…or you can order additional filters, and simply replace the entire triple-level filtration system when it’s time.
I hope you found this information helpful. Thank you very much.
review update
1. Do you still use it? Yes
2. Does it still work well? Yes
3. Anything else you want to add? I bought a second one for everyday household cleaning, and I use the first one specifically for cleaning up small messes around the litter boxes. It helps that, if the battery on one runs down, I can detach the battery from the other one and then attached to the other one’s dustbin so I can keep on cleaning while I am charging the depleted battery. Changing attachment tools requires more strength than I had originally anticipated; I find that I use the crevice tool more than any of the other attachments, so I just leave that one attached at all times.
I love it so much that I bought a second one soon after writing the initial review. Switching the attachments requires more grip strength than I’d originally anticipated. I think that is because once I found the one that I used the most, I just left it attached. For me, this is the crevice tool because of the extra reach and precision it allows me when I am seated in my wheelchair. Also, the battery capacity is great for smaller clean up jobs, but it may not be enough for larger cleaning tasks without needing an additional charging. The good thing about having a second vacuum now is that I can exchange them whenever one needs to be charged.
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notes, hacks and tips
Don’t be fooled by the “car” or “pet hair” name description – handheld vacuums are multi-purpose devices, and finding the right one can make cleaning more accessible. Two of our team members have reviewed models that they use at their own homes. Joni reviews the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Hand Vacuum, and Karen reviews the KMM Handheld Car Vacuum.
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