Choosing The Best Vacuum For Your Home

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When looking for a reliable household product, your first thought is not, “what product sucks the most?”. Well if you are looking for a VACUUM then yes that’s your mindset. (Insert dad joke canned laughter). 


Okay so currently we have SIX vacuums, it didn’t always start off that way. Two were gifts, one my husband wanted to add to our wedding registry, I wanted two (one for tile, one for carpet), and one I had from 2013.  All six vacuums are different, so they all have something to bring to the table, or should I say floor. (Insert more dad joke canned laughter). 


Although our tile floors and carpet don’t get incredibly dirty, they still require regular cleaning due to everyday dust in the air and spills. Here is an overview of the level of “how dirty are floors are” on a day to day basis:  

  • We don’t wear shoes inside the house
  • We don’t have dogs, but we do have 2 cats (95% indoor, 5% outdoor)
  • We don’t have babies/kids yet
  • We don't eat/drink on carpeted areas
  • Biggest messes are in the kitchen on the kitchen/dining floor


Let’s dive into different vacuum options to see which vacuum would best suit your needs:

CrossWave Cordless Max by Bissell 

I bought this vacuum for the wet option as an alternative to using a mop on our tile floors. It is a fantastic idea for cutting cleaning time down in half. Instead of first sweeping the floor, then mopping, then drying, you can do all of that work with one machine. Who doesn’t love ease and convenience when it comes to household chores?! 


This model is cordless and comes with a docking station that also has a self cleaning feature. Crosswave has a two tank system where the dirty water is separate from the clean water. I personally only used the wet vacuum on tile as I did not want to use it on carpet. 


It comes with a limited two year warranty (varies by state) through Bissell, which I had to reach out to them on two separate occasions. The first time I reached out to Bissell was 7 months after I bought the machine. I let the customer service team know our vacuum was leaving teeny dirty water puddles on our floor after I would turn it off. I had one instance where we had a big liquid spill (I had kombucha explode on me in its second fermentation stage) when cleaning the floor, it was barely sucking up the liquid, the brush was spinning but it just seemed to slowly suck up the spill. I had to take it into a vac shop near me and they fixed it free of charge (long ordeal back and forth for MONTHS until I got it back), the vac shop’s customer service was horrible-I should have looked at Yelp first. 

The second time I reached out was just about two weeks ago, (a year and 9 months from date of purchase) and the dirty tank error light kept coming on, even though the dirty water tank was empty. After some troubleshooting to no avail and talking with Bissell’s customer service team, they graciously sent me a new vacuum free of charge. It is currently in the mail as we speak!


CrossWave Cordless Max Summary


Pros:

  • Cordless option is great for going anywhere around the house without the limitation of a cord
  • Sucks up dry and wet messes simultaneously 
  • Lightweight
  • Floor dries quickly 
  • Keeps dirty water and clean water separate 
  • Smart design, easy to dismantle for cleaning 
  • Comes with cleaning solution 
  • Vacuum swivels to get hard to reach areas

Cons:

  • Not great for heavy duty jobs, better for lighter messes 
  • Limited suction power 
  • Must remove and clean dirty tank, brush and filter with every cleaning or will start to smell
  • Only 30 minute of run time 
  • Highly priced and gave us two major issues (I would have not minded the price if it didn’t break down).  


ILIFE Pro Robot Vacuum Cleaner

This has to be my favorite and most used vacuum. Again, who doesn’t love convenience? This little robot will quickly become your best friend when you need to automate some of your cleaning routine. 


The ILIFE Pro Robot vacuums the floor by itself with a simple push of a button. It has a filter inside it to catch the debris from the floor. Once full, simply dump it in the trash. This vacuum will run up to 100 minutes, and the charging time is about 4 hours. It will let you know if it needs to be charged, and it can still run on halfway charged. The vacuum comes with some settings to choose from, but it mostly runs in a random path inside your home, and will avoid obstacles (although it always seems to tickle our feet). 


We were extremely blessed to receive this as a gift from my brother Matt + sister in law Can. It is our robotic pet, and it does a great job of picking up dirt, hair, crumbs, etc off our tile floors and carpet. I have had zero repair issues with this robo vac. Overall I am very happy and impressed with the vacuum. I love how I can clean other things and let it do its job unsupervised (with the occasional get the robo vac out of a tangle).


Pro Robot Vacuum Cleaner Summary


Pros:

  • Long run time-over an hour and a half 
  • Self-charging and will make its way back to its docking station
  • Can schedule to clean every day at a specific time
  • Noise level is at a good talking/hearing level
  • Easy to clean

Cons:

  • Can get stuck/caught in things in path of travel
  • Can tangle on items such as cords, shirts with spaghetti straps, etc
  • Not programmable (right now its running and I barricaded off the living room so it only stays in the kitchen)   

Dirt Devil 3-in-1 Mini Stick Bagless Vacuum Cleaner



I think I am going to keep this vacuum for posterity’s sake. Maybe this will be the first vacuum that our future kids learn how to clean the floor with lol. I got this back in my college years, I couldn’t afford a regular vacuum, so this was perfect to get the job done.


The Dirt Devil stick vacuum can be used on hard floors and carpet, and then can turn into a hand vacuum. If the end stick is kept on, it can be used to reach taller hard to reach areas. It is bagless, so simply dump the container once full. This vacuum is ideal for the office, a small apartment space, or just to have around the house.



I like the Dirt Devil for quick/small jobs where I don’t want to lug out the main vacuum. I also like using this as a hand vacuum where I know I don’t have to worry about charging it later, as I would a cordless handheld vacuum. I also like the compact design where all the pieces fit together as one unit.

Dirt Devil 3-in-1 Mini Stick Bagless Vacuum Cleaner Summary


Pros:

  • Affordable 
  • Extremely lightweight and compact
  • Transforms for three different uses
  • Powerful suction

Cons:

  • Has a cord that can get in the way


Shark Cordless Bagless Handheld Vacuum

Shark’s handheld vacuum is perfect for those uh-oh messes that need a quick clean up, or those hard to reach crevices (like window sills) in your home. It comes with a wall plug to charge the battery, as well as two head attachments: a motorized brush attachment and a crevice tool. It is bagless and clean up is simple. 


Matt and Can also gave this to me as a birthday gift a few years ago (yes I LOVE cleaning tools as presents). It is great for vacuuming up crumbs/sand in the car and as I mentioned around the house. 


Shark Cordless Bagless Handheld Vacuum Summary


Pros:

  • Cordless 
  • Portable
  • Different head options 
  • Bagless
  • Great for pet messes 
  • Washable filter

Cons:

  • Multiple parts, not conducive to easy storage
  • Run time is brief before a full charge 


Cleanview Bagless Vacuum Cleaner by Bissell


This is a great heavy duty carpet and hard floor cleaner. I use this for deep cleaning days, as I have the automatic robo vacuum to do its daily rounds, for lighter cleaning days.  


The Cleanview vacuum comes with cleaning accessories such as a brush tool, dusting brush, crevice tool, and an extension wand. Like the Crosswave, it also comes with a limited two year warranty (which thank God I haven’t had any issues). This vacuum is reasonably priced, just under $90. If you are looking for a dependable vacuum without all the frills, this is the vacuum for you! 



Cleanview Bagless Vacuum Cleaner Summary


Pros:

  • Bagless
  • Easy to clean-see through tank 
  • Easy to detach main dirt compartment 
  • Comes with attachments 
  • Adjustable carpet/floor thickness 
  • Powerful suction
  • Under $100

Cons:

  • Not lightweight 

SpotClean ProHeat Portable Spot and Stain Carpet Cleaner by Bissell


The Bissell SpotClean ProHeat vacuum is like the Bissell Crosswave in that it has a wet feature, however this vacuum is for smaller jobs, hence it being called “SpotClean”. It also has a two tank system that keeps dirty water separate from clean water. It claims to have Heatwave technology, which maintains the water’s temperature during the cleaning process. 


Of all the vacuums we have, we use this the least in this stage of our lives because we don’t have dogs or kids, and we don’t eat/drink on the carpet. I have even used this on our tile when we had a large spill, and the Bissell Crosswave was losing power and not picking up the liquid off our floor. I personally haven’t tried using hot water to clean while vacuuming, but upon reading other reviews on Amazon, it seems as if the heat technology doesn’t work. However, it can clean up spills and stains with tepid water. 


SpotClean ProHeat Portable Spot and Stain Carpet Cleaner Summary


Pros:

  • Portable
  • Easy to fill
  • Cleans multiple surfaces
  • Great for areas with stairs
  • Great for cleaning cars
  • Stores easily and does not take up much room

Cons:

  • Not ideal for individuals with accessibility needs (cleaning on hands/feet)
  • Hose is not too long 
  • Susceptible to leaking
  • Heatwave technology system unreliable


Best of luck with finding the right vacuum for your home! Please share the love on social media, or pin on Pinterest!

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