Find the purr-fect vacuum

Many vacuum cleaners are aimed at pet owners and have words like "Animal" and "Pet" in their monikers. But vacs that are good at pet-hair pickup should still show prowess at other tasks.

We judged the Eureka Whirlwind+ Pet Lover 3276[ ] and Bissell Lift-Off Multi-Cyclonic Pet 89Q9 excellent and very good, respectively, at picking up pet hair using the main power head on a medium-pile carpet. But we can't recommend them.

The Eureka, $120, was very good at cleaning carpets and had very good airflow with tools. It was also excellent at keeping emissions low, a plus for allergy sufferers. But it was only so-so on bare floors.

The Bissell, $180, excelled at cleaning bare floors but was middling on carpets. It was very good at limiting emissions. But other models blend impressive pet-hair pickup with better performance in all other areas, including carpet cleaning, a more common task.

Two recommended models are a pair of Hoover WindTunnel Anniversary Edition uprights: the $140 Bagged U5491-900 and $160 Bagless U5786-900. They were excellent on carpets as well as pet hair and very good or better at cleaning bare floors. They were excellent at limiting emissions.