I had the Philips one but after about a year it’s suction changed to the point where it’s hard for it to pick up cat litter now…
It must be able to deal with a lot of cat hair and litter… and preferably be under 500 euros.
Of course I think a corded one is better for my purposes, and I have mostly hard floors with a few small rugs.
The problem is that every year the quality decreases, so it becomes difficult to know which vacuums will still be good. For example, someone may have purchased the same vacuum 5 years ago and think it’s great but the one sold today might not compare
I have pets and bought a new vacuum just a couple years ago. I went with Sebo airbelt k3 after hearing Miele had gone down in quality and I love it. This vacuum fixes every single annoyance I’ve ever had with a vaccum:
- the canister rolls easily on carpet
- the cord retracts perfectly every time and rachets out as you pull the canister
- it’s easy to take apart to clear clogs and even has a little spring flap behind the brushroller to quickly clear the most common place a clog will get stuck
- the roller is trivial to remove and clean
- the bags are easy to change and hold a lot of dust and pet hair before you need to change them
The K3 is a little out of your price range but the K2 and E2 are a bit cheaper. I will say that if you’ve got a lot of thick carpet, it’s worth investing in a vaccuum with a powered brushroller like the K3.
Just an alternate perspective, but we have a Roborock S7 robotic vacuum and we absolutely love it. We started using it in Jan 2023 and it’s been working well since. We run it twice a week so we always stay on-top of vacuuming and it does a great job in our house with wood floors with an area rug.
When we want to run the vacuum upstairs, we carry it up, put it in a specific place and hit the “on” button and it does a good job there as well, but we only vacuum upstairs occasionally. When it’s through, we carry it back downstairs and put it on the charger.
But it’s not completely “set and forget”. We do have some very small rugs (think in front of your door or maybe in front of the bathroom mirror) that we shake out (onto the floor) and get off the floor before the vacuum runs and we have a few other things (like bar stools) that we move away from the counter to give the vacuum more room. Sort of a “pre and post vacuum process” to help ensure it can get into some tighter spaces.
And we have to clean the vacuum and it’s docking station regularly (similar to cleaning out the bag in a standard vacuum). But that’s about it. Moving that stuff takes maybe 3 minutes?
We have a dog and a cat, we have a litter box that gets litter scattered around it, and the robot seems to handle it just fine.
I think the tradeoff is this: while you do have to move some stuff to help the vacuum get into some tighter spaces (which I guess you’d have to do with a manual vacuum anyways as well), that takes just a few minutes and you can run your vacuum regularly several times per week to just keep up with the dog hair.
Edit: One more concern is that, unlike a regular vacuum, the robot vacuums share a lot of data with their parent company so if that’s a concern, then it’s not a good choice! But if you use Facebook or Instagram, maybe you don’t care?
We have a 2700 SQ FT house (250 m2) if that helps.
Just got a Miele C3 myself, it’s such a great purchase! Really does the job well and I’ve got two cats making a mess each week!
Which C3 did you get? There are so many versions 😭
Haha yeah there are a lot. However what I found out is that the versions also vary whether you order from within Europe vs. US.
I am also europe and went with the Complete C3. Here is a link to the one I got however the link is in Norwegian: https://www.obs.no/elektronikk/stovsugere/stovsuger/2692091.
There isn’t a massive difference between the C3 models. From my understanding its all the same base but varies what extension come with. But it’s always possible to add these later if you need. If I were you I’d go for the version that’s one sale/best priced one.
Also: One vaccum bag is in the canister once you get it, plus you can get a free 5pack if you register via the code you also get in the package.
Let me know if I can help further 👍
Thanks! I was getting really confused because the local Miele website had zero info on each model. So I checked the UK one, and it seems like the C3s are mostly the same, and the only difference seems to be the attachments they come with, and some have a different “comfort” handle. Which is literally what you just said, lol.
Maybe I will choose based on the colour of the vacuum lol. The pet one seems to only come in dark red.
I hope they come with codes for free vacuum bags here xD they’re having a decent sale now so I’ve been considering getting one
Honestly the main part that worries me is that for the price, they seem to have a pretty small warranty period (12-24 months). That’s the only thing keeping me from buying one immediately
Yeah can see that the warrenty is a worry. If it helps and you can check this yourself, but Miele has published some videos illustrating some videos of how the test the durability of their vacuums too.
Additionally Miele vacuums are highly recommended on the r/vaccumcleaners subreddit too, that’s where I got a lot of my inspiration to get one from. All in all I think these have great build quality and worst case they have a good amount of spare parts should you need that down the line.
I hope they last okay. They are currently on promo for like 250-300 euros here.
Have you ever used a similar design vacuum before, except maybe one without a bag? Did you find this one harder to maneuver?
Nope nothing similar to this. But i bought a bagless cheaper vacuum last year and it didn’t even last a year so swore not to buy that again. I’m sure there are better bagless ones but they’re more prone to dust getting into places it’s not supposed to be. I personally don’t have any issues with the manuvering.
I forgot to ask, do you have pets? and how often do you need to use a new bag? I live in a 2 bedroom apartment but one of the rooms isn’t really used
I’ve got 2 cats and they’re young and make one he’ll of a mess. The couch especially after a week looks like it’s been through WW2. But this vaccum literally makes it look factory new again after I’ve vacuumed it.
Ove only had mine for the months so far and I vacuum once or twice a week. Still on the first bag and it’s not even half full yet. I’m vacuuming roughly 60-70square meters of house. If I had to guess I will use one bag per 4-5months. Which is quite good imo. A new 5pacl of bag is roughly 30euros, but you can find cheaper too.
Careful with the couch my cats almost ruined mine lol. I added a cover on it and it helped a lot. It’s mostly because they use it to jump when chasing each other so it gets scratched.
Which attachment do you use for the couch btw?
Yeah not so easy to control them when they have the zoomies but generally tell them off if they’re scratching the couch.
I use the furniture attachment for my couch, works wonders!
I think it mostly depends on whether your pet has thumbs and how tall it is.
Miele makes a good bagless model. But if you don’t have clouds of fur every day like I do, the bag models are a lot better at keeping the dust inside. They’re generally under 500€.
I second Miele.
I have two cats and two dogs and my bag model does great.
There was a Reddit for inappropriate usernames making helpful replies wasn’t there? Absolute prime name choice!
Which model do you recommend? I’ve heard good things about the c3 but no idea which version is actually good
For people with pets, the Cat & Dog version. Just be aware that the brushes in the hoover head tend to wear out in 4-5 years, depending on the frequency of hoovering and amount of hardfloors. A genuine replacement head can get a bit pricy; for the Cat & Dog head even more so.
How often do you find you need to change the bags? I’ve heard the cost can really add up
About once every 3-4 weeks. It is costly, but I get them off Anazon at a reasonable price. The box of bags also comes with two sets of filters that need to be replaced regularly.
I honestly don’t think you can go wrong as long as you avoid the battery and robot models (I’m just suspicious of their longevity). I have the blizzard cx1. I’m happy with it; it doesn’t feel as robust as the Mieles from the early 00s that other family members have but I trust/hope that their engineers didn’t overdo the optimization. The hose has a tendency to get twisted and developed a bit of a kink where it goes into the unit.
There is another model that’s smaller, which I would prefer given the choice, because my house is tiny and doesn’t even have closet space for a vacuum.
As far as I know, the Allergy or Pet etc. models are the same, just have some different accessories.
Be aware of bag cost, if you go that route. They capture more dust but I’d go through one every 2 days here.
You might be able to find a shop vac with a large enough hose and intake port, typical household vacuums will struggle to fit anything larger than a medium-sized kitten. I urge you to reconsider though; whatever the cat did wrong, there’s no way it deserves this. Show some mercy.
I hate bagless vacs since you get exposed to all that dirt and pathogens when you empty them, plus anything sticky that gets vacuumed up will get stuck in the vac and eventually have to be scrubbed out. Get a bagged vac if you can. I’m in the US and use an upright/canister, bagged, Dirt Devil MVP.
The only reason for a vacuum to lose suction power is due to being clogged somewhere. Maybe it’s time to change the internal filter. The internal filter is usually behind the bag. Try to either wash it or replace it.
Not even that, but damn near fully disassemble and clean it out. I have some random brand from Costco 10 years ago and clean it out annually, and it still works great.
I bought a henry hoover around 9 years ago, it’s still going as strong as the first day I bought it. 10/10 would buy again
Yes, the pet Henry is great, it has a special brush attachment that spins really fast to get all the dog/cat hair.
Hi, I am currently traveling so no link right now, but hopefully a pointer in the right direction.
Philips sucks (I have one too). My parents had one of the more powerful Bosch (corded) vacuums. Think marketed for pets. They worked very well with pets, long haired dogs. Lasted over 10 years I reckon.
The issue is usually that the motor is not powerful enough. Due to EU regulations the maximum watt is limited. Make sure to check the kilopascal suction power. If it’s not mentioned, it’s probably poor!
I have only 2 cats these days and we get by 95% with a good Robo rock vacuum though. Sometimes a bit with the corded for some impossible to reach corners.
But Philips vacuums are supposed to suck!
sorry
Haha, yes but you will never finish the job with a Philips vacuum. ;)
I am not sure about kitty litter, but I swear by Numatic, known for the Henry model. Due to its design, it will not lose suction power as much as regular vacuum cleaners as the dust bag fills up. It is extremely repairable and it has great reach (long cable, long hose).
I have a corded Bosch Zooo for my Bernese Mountain Dog’s hair that has done a fantastic job over the last ten years, and I have an iRobot Roomba E5 that’s also doing a decent job with dog hair. Would gladly recommend both, though iRobot’s business doesn’t seem to be doing so well, so there’s a risk of the company going bankrupt and the vac robot losing its (few) cloud features.
Oh, EDIT: missed the “Europe” part, so that probably rules out iRobot.
Feel free to crosspost to [email protected]
Well if I’m in the US and my pets are in Europe, I’d say my vacuum needs for pet hair are pretty low.
Possibly not helpful but
