If you’re shopping for a vacuum for pet hair, you’ve likely seen several options from Shark. Shark pet vacuums are popular thanks to their affordable prices and innovative features aimed at sucking up every single piece of fur in your home. We put those features to the test ourselves to find the best Shark vacuums for pet hair.
How We Tested
We put these vacuums through a series of in-studio tests and at-home trials with our editors’ own pets. In our studios, we tested suction strength by picking up whole and crushed cereal, cat litter, synthetic hair, and synthetic pet hair on a variety of low and high pile carpets, textured rugs, and tile. We also tested the durability of each model by running it into baseboards and knocking them over. We took note of how easy it was to empty the dustbins into the trash and the experience of contacting customer service in the event of a broken part or malfunction. After our in-studio testing, we sent the vacuums home with editors, where they used them to clean up real pet hair and recorded their findings.
Shark Vacuum Features
Alex Moschella, senior product development manager at Shark, says the brand’s vacuum features are constantly evolving with customer wants and needs. For example, its self-cleaning brush roll allows users to suck up pet hair while keeping the machine clean and free of blockage. Plus, Shark vacuums are designed to stand out—some are offered in various colors, like the Wandvac mint green and rose gold vacuum, so you don’t have to sacrifice your home’s color palette for powerful suction. Here is a breakdown of the Shark features you’ll see on vacuums included in this list.
Self-Cleaning Brush Roll: This component is designed to pick up pet and human hair without hair wrapping around the roller. Our testing found there is a limit to the amount of hair it will pick up before it starts to tangle, but the way the fins and bristles lift the hair off the roller make it easy to cut out if needed.If hair does become entangled, keep the vacuum running on a low pile carpet to help it suction through the barrel, advises Moschella. If that doesn’t solve the problem, follow the manual’s instructions for clearing the blockage.
DuoClean PowerFins: These are curved fins that dig deep into your carpets to help unearth embedded dirt and pet hair for a deeper clean. The DuoClean PowerFins also have a soft roller in the front to help slowly pull up debris. This will keep your vacuum from sucking up socks and rugs, as the soft roller serves as the first line of defense against potential messes.“DuoClean PowerFins is a dual-brush roll system that picks up debris, dirt, and pet hair—with no hair wrap. While a soft front roller pulls in particles, the bristle-free PowerFins deliver nonstop contact to pick up more in every pass,” says Moschella.
Dustbin: The dustbin size will make a big impact on which vacuum you choose. If you’re looking for an everyday cleaner, the smaller dustbin of the Wandvac will work well for you, but if you’re looking for an extra-large dustbin, opt for the Vertex Upright or Vertex Cordless Stick vacuum.
While some Shark vacuums come with all these features, you can opt for fewer bells and whistles if you’re looking to spend less. It’s ultimately up to your personal preference and budget. However, the models with self-cleaning brush rolls (especially the ones with the yellow fins, such as the Shark Rocket Pet Pro and the Ultracyclone Pet Pro) performed best in our tests, and we think they’re worth the investment. The Shark Rocket Pet Pro passed all of our tests with flying colors. It was one of the only vacuums we tested that picked up human hair without getting tangled, so if you have an animal with long hair (or if you are a shedder), this is an excellent option. Making use of one Lithium ion battery, the Pet Pro boasts up to 40 minutes of runtime. It’s relatively lightweight at 3.34 pounds, comes with a HEPA filter, and can transform into a handheld vacuum with the press of a button. Its XL dust cup will help you finish the job without multiple stops. Along with the cordless stick vacuum, you get a crevice tool and a pet multi-tool for tougher jobs. It also folds over for easy storage in a cabinet or small closet. Price at time of publish: $350 This Shark upright is packed with every feature you could imagine. It has DuoClean PowerFins, a self-cleaning brush roll, a HEPA filter, and rose gold accents. But what impressed our testers the most was its suction power. It stood head-to-head with Dyson’s Ball Animal 2 in our tests, and it was able to remove pet hair and cat litter from all types of carpet in one back-and-forth swipe. Since it is an upright vacuum, the Vertex is bulkier than the other vacuums on the list, but its power makes up for the extra space it takes up. The lift-away features makes it easy to get to harder-to-reach spots like stairways and behind furniture, and Shark even sweetens the deal by including a steam mop when you buy directly from its site. Price at time of publish: $500 Pet hair is no match for Shark’s Ultracyclone Pet Pro Plus. Similar to the Rocket Pro, the yellow-finned brush roll sucked up all our testing pet and long hair without tangling. It’s ultra-durable, and at less than 3 pounds, it’s a great portable option. The handheld vacuum comes with three accessories, including the pet power brush, making it an excellent choice for a car vacuum or quick cleanups. Plus, this Shark vacuum is under $100. Price at time of publish: $100 Robot vacuums have come a long way in the past few years, and the Shark AI VacMop has all the latest technology: room mapping, artificial intelligence laser vision to avoid messes, and a self-cleaning brush roll. While the design of robot vacuum cleaners limits the places it can clean in your home (no nooks or crannies), this is an excellent option for daily clean-ups. This docking station is also small, so it should be easy to find a place for it in your home. While this vacuum didn’t do an excellent job picking up cat litter, it picked up a ton of pet hair that wasn’t visible to the human eye while making its 20-minute run in our tester’s apartment. Also, our tester didn’t love the mopping feature because it wasn’t great at tackling sticky messes. Price at time of publish: $480 Corded stick vacuums offer a convenient design without the worry of battery life. This one has a cord that’s 30 feet long, so it won’t limit where you can go. Also, the top part of the vacuum can detach, so it’s easy to store anywhere. Our testers loved that this vacuum was self-propelled, making picking up pet hair that much simpler. It has two modes—hard floor and carpet—and it also converts to a handheld vacuum. Price at time of publish: $300 The Shark Wandvac isn’t explicitly marketed for pet hair, but that doesn’t mean it can’t vacuum up a mean furball. This vacuum stood head-to-head with the Dyson V8 in our tests, performing just as well as the more expensive model for nearly half the price. The bin is small, so it’s better for daily cleans than deep cleaning, but since it comes in various colors, including rose gold and mint green, it makes everyday cleaning a little bit more bearable. Price at time of publish: $260 The Shark Vertex cordless stick vacuum was designed to offer the same powerful cleaning as a full-size vacuum in a smaller size. It’s packed with features: DuoClean PowerFins, a self-cleaning brush roll, an anti-allergen filter, and a flexible stick that’s easy to maneuver and store. Its suction was super powerful, but longer hair did get tangled in the brush roll. However, it conquered pet hair with no problem, and at the end of testing, we reached for this vacuum to quickly clean up the leftover testing debris in our studio. Price at time of publish: $430 Contacting customer service during our test was simple. Shark’s website has many options for troubleshooting problems, but if you can’t resolve yours, you can input your number, and a customer service representative calls you immediately. In our hypothetical product-breaking request, they offered to get on a video call to see what part needed replacing and then process the warranty.
