In order to find the vacuum that will best make short work of your cleaning chores, start your search by figuring out what you want it to do. For instance, upright vacuums are often good choices for larger homes and those that have a consistent pet hair presence. They're powerful and well-suited for deep-cleaning carpets, and also effective on area rugs and hardwood floors. They usually clean a wide swath so are efficient in wide open areas, easy to steer, and often include the attachments that make them versatile enough to handle whole-house cleaning. Canister vacuums tend to be easy to maneuver and powerful like uprights, but lighter. They're well-suited to vacuuming corners, hard-to-reach spots and under or on furniture. Plus they're good for cleaning drapes, upholstery and car interiors.
Stick vacuums work well in multi-level homes because they're good with stairs and easy to move from floor to floor. Plus they're convenient for quick surface cleaning on short pile carpets and bare floors that get frequent traffic. They can also handle pet hair on upholstery. Generally, they're smaller and lighter than uprights and often cordless. The vacuum cleaner that takes the least effort, of course, is the robot vacuum. These little wonders do the dirty work while you do, literally, anything else you want. Just program it to go wherever and whenever you want, forget it, and check back later to a home full of clean floors. Robots use sensors to avoid obstacles and stairs, can easily clean underneath furniture, and most can travel from carpet to hard floor surfaces.
