Yahoo Finance 8 best corded vacuums to keep your floors and carpets spotless
Cordless vacuums are the go-to cleaning appliance in many homes these days. They’re generally smaller and lighter than their traditional corded cousins, but they’re not always the best choice for everyone. Those with larger homes who like to blitz the place in one go without stopping to charge a battery or empty a dust basket could still be better off going for a wired model. Pet owners may also prefer a heavier-duty vacuum that can tackle moulted hair daily without worrying about running out of power.
Once you’ve settled on a corded model, you need to decide if you prefer an upright, cylinder or (less usually) a stick vacuum. Upright machines tend to be a little heavier but cover large areas quickly and are particularly good for use on carpets.
Cylinder models are useful if you have a smaller property but also if you have a lot of furniture to clean under or around as they tend to be easier to manoeuvre. These machines are also particularly suited to homes with lots of stairs. Corded stick models are more unusual but are a good compromise between the power of a corded vacuum and the easy manoeuvrability of a cordless machine.
Many vacuums are now bagless, so you won’t need to worry about buying replacement bags, but it’s worth considering traditional bagged models if you suffer from allergies because the dust is sealed away and won’t escape into the air during emptying. Check the cost of replacement bags before buying though.
Look at the capacity of the machine too. Anything less than a litre will mean extra emptying while anyone hoping to do a whole house in one go would be best choosing a machine with a high capacity of up to six litres. Other features worth considering are LED lights to help spy dust, whether the machine is adaptable to use as a handheld on stairs or in the car and the length of the cord for more flexibility when cleaning. If you have a pet, it’s also worth looking for a vacuum aimed specifically at blitzing their hair with easy-clean filters and tangle-free brushes.
How we tested
We tried a range of vacuum cleaners in our own home over several weeks on both hard floors and carpets. We cleaned under beds and sofas, up the stairs and on upholstery to see how well they tackled dust, hair and larger particles. We also considered how heavy each was, how easy it was to empty and whether we could drag it up the stairs without needing to lie down afterwards.
The best corded vacuum cleaners for 2022 are:
Best overall vacuum cleaner – Miele boost CX1 cat & dog vacuum cleaner: £319, Johnlewis.com
Best stick vacuum cleaner – Shark anti hair wrap corded stick pet vacuum HZ500UKT: £199.99, Sharkclean.co.uk
Best lightweight vacuum cleaner – Hoover upright 300 pets: £120, Hooverdirect.co.uk
Best budget vacuum cleaner – Amazon Basics 2-in-1 corded upright vacuum cleaner: £39.99, Amazon.co.uk
Best bagged vacuum cleaner – Hetty eco bagged vacuum cleaner: £159.99, Lakeland.co.uk
Best bagless vacuum cleaner – Dyson ball animal 2: £249.95, Amazon.co.uk
Best vacuum for speedy cleaning – Bissell smartclean pet: £122.97, Currys.co.uk
Best cylinder vacuum cleaner – AEG animal AL61A4UG cylinder vacuum cleaner: £199, Ao.com
Miele boost CX1 cat & dog vacuum cleaner
The best things don’t always come in the biggest packages. It’s not always easy to store a cumbersome vacuum cleaner when not in use or carry it around the house when cleaning. This blisteringly powerful cylinder doesn’t sacrifice suction but is ideal for getting into smaller spaces – and for tucking away in a cupboard after use. The downside is that it has a fairly small capacity, but it’s well worth the compromise because it is so quick and easy to empty.
In every other way, it more than competes with a vacuum twice its size. It has an eight-metre cable, an automatic cable rewind and a multi-stage filtration system with a Hepa AirClean filter to seal away dust. Three attachments can be held on the vacuum itself so you don’t need to go searching for them while you clean, and the suction tube rests neatly on the back of the machine when you stop for a break. It’s also a whizz at tackling even the worst pet hair and sucks up everything in sight without faltering. A great vacuum for any house, especially if space is tight.
Buy now £319.00, Johnlewis.com
Shark anti hair wrap corded stick pet vacuum HZ500UKT
Stick vacuums have traditionally been cordless for a quick zip around the home and easy storage afterwards. But they don’t cut it if you have a large home, pets who shed hair or you just don’t want to rush around anxious the battery will conk out at any moment.
Shark has come up with an ideal compromise. This stick is as easy to manage as a cordless model, with ingenious Flexology that means it folds for storage and to clean under furniture better than any other model we tried. Yet it has the power and long-lasting cleaning capability of a corded vacuum, with a long 10-metre power cord and two motorised brush rolls in one floorhead to move easily from carpets to hard floors. Suction is excellent too, dealing with fine dust and large debris like spilt grains of rice with no problems. It’s designed specifically for homes with pets, so you can expect anti-hair wrap technology to stop hair from tangling around the brush roll, plus a special pet tool to remove embedded hair. The whole thing transforms into a handheld vacuum to tackle sofas, stairs and the car too. The only real downside is its teeny 0.3l capacity, which means you’ll almost certainly have to empty it mid-clean.
Buy now £199.99, Sharkclean.co.uk
Hoover upright 300 pets
The reason many people have abandoned their old corded vacuum is simply because they hated lugging it around the house. This incredibly light, upright model is the ideal compromise for anyone who prefers a machine with a wire, yet struggles with their usual weight. We were astonished by how light this new Hoover upright was, at just under 5kg, and found it only a little heavier than our usual cordless vacuum. That made it far easier to steer than heftier uprights too, with a swivelling floor nozzle that meant we could whip around corners with no problems. It managed well on all surfaces, though you need to switch the brush bar off for longer pile rugs and hard floors.
Suction is impressive too, and it left our home spick and span, only struggling with the occasional larger food particle. It has a decent capacity, an H13 Hepa filter to keep dust away and a lengthy 8.1m cord, so we found we could vacuum large areas without having to move plugs. The included pet turbo brush is also brilliant for keeping upholstery in tip-top condition.
Buy now £120.00, Hooverdirect.co.uk
Amazon Basics 2-in-1 corded upright vacuum cleaner
We were absolutely floored (sorry) when we saw this boxed vacuum and were convinced we’d mistakenly received a replacement nozzle instead of a full machine. The box is a third of the size and weight of any other vacuum we tested but really does reveal a dinky-sized appliance that manages to hold its own against bigger models. It’s unusual to see a stick vacuum with a cord – one that’s a reasonable 6m long in this case – but this makes the model a fantastic choice for anyone who struggles with steering an upright. It weighs in at a teeny 1.8kg and comes with a useful swivel brush head for getting in the tightest corners. We especially loved that the cylinder could be lifted off to operate as a corded handheld, which was great for use on upholstery or even in the car if you can get close enough to a plug.
At this size, it needs emptying at least twice as often as most corded vacuums, and it is on the flimsy side, so the brush head occasionally needed re-attaching mid-clean. However, if you’re short on cash or space, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Buy now £39.99, Amazon.co.uk
Hetty eco bagged vacuum cleaner
Call us shallow but we were instantly smitten with Hetty and her candyfloss-pink exterior, cute face and long eyelashes. And yes, we are still talking about a vacuum. Hetty’s distinctive appearance certainly brightens up the drudgery of cleaning, and she is a dream to use too. This is a stonkingly powerful vacuum with a high-efficiency motor that uses 30 per cent less energy than previous Hetty models. As expected, it’s just as solidly built as its well-known brother Henry and is perfect for bigger houses as the 10m-long power cord and smooth wheels make it easy to cover a huge area in no time. It’s particularly good on carpets and stairs, though has no trouble on hard floors either and slurped up everything in its path, although we did find long hair tangled a little on the brush head.
We loved that the cable rewinds automatically after use and it felt like we hardly needed to empty it as the enormous 6l capacity was double the size of most other vacuums we tested. Bear in mind it does require bags, which add an ongoing cost, but allergy sufferers will appreciate that they self-seal and lock dust securely inside.
Buy now £159.99, Lakeland.co.uk
Dyson ball animal 2
This Dyson dream machine didn’t leave even a speck of dirt or dust in its wake when we tested it. It has three suction modes for carpets and hard floors and performed equally well on all of them, steering around corners fairly easily thanks to Dyson’s renowned ball technology. We never needed to go back and redo any areas and our carpets looked good as new after the first vacuum. The machine is also certified asthma and allergy friendly by Allergy Standards Limited and has a useful 10m long cord.
We also liked the fact the wand handle rotates in three directions, making it easy to tackle under furniture or ceiling corners and awkward spots, while the tangle-free turbine tool is astonishingly effective at dealing with hair.
Our only gripe? Though it’s not significantly heavier than other models we tested at 7.34kg, we did find it felt like more when cleaning the whole house, and our wrist was a little tired afterwards. However, it couldn’t be simpler to maintain, with no bags, a large bin that empties at the push of a button and a washable lifetime filter.
Due to the fact that Dyson has stopped developing its corded models since 2018, the Dyson ball animal 2 is currently only available to buy pre-owned.
Buy now £249.95, Amazon.co.uk
Bissell smartclean pet
Got a moulting pet or – worse – a shedding teenager? This bagless cylinder vacuum powered through our teen’s trail of long hair without too much tangling around the brush roll like with other vacuums. The hefty suction had no problem tackling larger dirt particles and we loved the LED headlights to help us spot dust we’d have previously missed under furniture. It had no problem dealing with lurking dirt traps either, thanks to the clever two-position handle which squeezes into even the tightest spot.
It’s also super easy to drag around, even during a marathon cleaning session, with a huge 9m cord and 3m hose. This was particularly useful on stairs and stopped us from having to lift the cylinder itself every few seconds. The massive capacity meant we didn’t need to empty it halfway through cleaning either, though when we did, we preferred to empty it outside as some dust escaped in the process.
Buy now £122.97, Currys.co.uk
AEG animal AL61A4UG cylinder vacuum cleaner
If you’re a, ahem, sucker for a cylinder, this AEG model ticks all the boxes. It’s bagless so you can empty dirt straight into the bin and don’t need to worry about running out of bags mid clean, has a washable filter and isn’t too heavy to lug around the house at 5.4kg. We loved the long 3m hose and 9m cable, which meant we could clean even the biggest rooms without changing the plug we were using.
It was noticeably effective on bigger particles of dirt, gulping down some dried pasta without faltering, and suction remained powerful as we cleaned. This was also one of the quietest machines we tested, with a noise level of 74 dB, making it ideal if you have an open-plan home or want to whip around when the kids are in bed. We’d have loved the capacity to be a little bigger but, otherwise, this is a solid buy that will leave your home spotless.
Buy now £199.00, Ao.com
The verdict: Corded vacuum cleaners
If you want the impressive power and run time of a traditional corded vacuum but don’t have the space to spare for storing, go straight for the Miele boost CX1 cat & dog vacuum cleaner, which is small but seriously mighty. When only a bagged vacuum will do, we couldn’t resist the Hetty eco bagged vacuum cleaner for great manoeuvring and a no-frills, professional-level clean.
For more vacuum reviews, read our round-up of the best pet vacuum cleaners, cordless models, and robot cleaners
