Best vacuum cleaner for pet hair? Gotta be a Bissell Pet Hair Eraser: REVIEW

How do you get the dog hair off your furniture?

I've got this red, microfiber couch, that Lulu and especially Jasmine love to sit on -- especially on the top of the couch.

Jasmine on the couch, like a furry vulture.

But that means a lot of pet hair... on the cushions, between the cushions, under the cushions.

Normally I use a lint roller to get the fur off -- but I end up needing a dozen lint sheets to do the couch justice.

But this new Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-Off vacuum is a powerful time -- and couch -- saver.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free vacuum from Bissell to do the review. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are my own.

Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-Off -- Powerful for pet parents

For years I've used an old Dirt Devil stick vac I had in my apartment days. It was fine for picking up my hair and cleaning cat fur. 

But now I have a house and two dogs -- and you would not believe how much beagles shed! That old Dirt Devil just didn't get much up, and I seemed to constantly vacuum and well, it's just not my thing!

Can you see all the dog hair? I have to deal with this all the time.

So I had to jump at the chance of trying the new Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-Off!  I already have Bissell carpet cleaning products and they are great, but this would be my first vacuum from them.

How does it work?

The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-Off works just like any other vacuum. Set your floor type (hard floor, carpet pile size), hit the brush roll button and turn the power on. The vacuum's body pulls back without the use of a button, and it swivels as needed.

The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-Off canister detaches. (Photo courtesy of Bissell)

You can pull the hose out of its spot and the attachment comes on. There are three different attachments for the hose, plus the telescoping wand -- a standard brush tool, the Pet TurboEraser Tool and the Lighted Crevice Tool. They all snap on easily to the hose. And if you don't need the whole vacuum, you can detach the canister and take it and the hose attachment with you. 

5 Things that make this vacuum great

1. THE POWER. I was pretty amazed when I hooked up the hose and the Pet TurboEraser® Tool and turned the vacuum on. It was tough to hold the hose at first, even with the handle for easy gripping. The vacuum is incredibly powerful, particularly in the attachments.

The Pet TurboEraser Tool gets all of Jasmine's and Lulu's pet hair off the couch.

2. PET TURBOERASER® TOOL. Speaking of which, that Pet TurboEraser Tool did a thorough job of getting every scrap of pet dog hair off my couch. It's meant to be used for stairs and upholstery, and it makes quick work of pet hair, even on a microfiber couch. You can even use it to clean crates and pet beds, with the help of the telescoping wand.

The vacuum head is slim enough to fit under the couch!

3. SLIM VACUUM HEAD. The main piece of the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-off is of course the vacuum head. And I love the fact that it slides right under my couch and coffee table without having to move around the furniture too much. I can even get it under my bed, though obviously not too far.

The lighted crevice tool is great when you're trying to pick up dust.

4. LIGHTED CREVICE TOOL. The vacuum comes with a slim tool with an LED light on it that sucks up dirt and hair just like any other vacuum tool. But that light is great when you're trying to get in tight spots. For instance, up against the edges of furniture, base boards, etc.

5. EASY TO CLEAN OUT. My old Dirt Devil was a pain in the neck to clean out. And filters were tough to find. I like the way the canister is set up on this. It has the SmartSeal Allergen System filter on top of the canister, rather than inside. And you empty it from the bottom. You open a latch and it all comes out. So much easier to deal with. And you don't have to really touch any of it.

3 Things we didn't like about this vacuum

1. THE TANGLE-FREE BRUSH ROLL. I mean, it could be that I just had a lot of hair in the carpet (I purposely let the vacuuming go a while to test the vacuum out -- and I never vacuum more than once a week anyway, if that). But while the tangle-free brush roll didn't have a lot of hair wrapped around the roll, it did get bunched up in the head. I had to stop the vacuum at least once to make sure nothing kept the roll from getting stopped up. 

2. SMALL CANISTER. The canister is easy to clean, but it is small, which means if you are doing a lot of cleaning, you may have to empty that canister more than once. 

3. SO. MUCH. SUCTION. This vacuum has a lot of power, as I mentioned before. But that power was so strong that it actually became a hindrance when doing some tasks. You see, the suction from the vacuum meant that when I used the telescoping wand to clean my ceiling fans, I had to really use those arm muscles to keep the hose steady while cleaning. The attachment hose is expandable, but when the power was on it would shrink back down to storage size. 

Now, it turns out that the carpet adjustment knob can also adjust the suction, according to some online reviews I read. That's not made clear in the instruction booklet or on the vacuum. If that's true, it will make a big difference. I'll have to test it out!

BOTTOM LINE

The couch is much cleaner now!

If you are like me, you don't like to spend a lot of time cleaning, and you have multiple dogs (oh and long human hair doesn't help either), then the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-off vacuum does the trick when you need it. And it makes quick work of furniture! Save those lint rollers for the pet hair on your clothes!

So the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lift-off vacuum is very versatile and powerful, and cheaper than some of the more powerful vacuums on the market, especially when you can get it on sale. 

Plus, with Bissell, $10 from every pet product goes to the Bissell Pet Foundation, which works to help homeless pets. The foundation seeks to raise $1 million a year for the foundation. BPF partners with some 3,000 shelters and rescues across the country, including Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, which is where Lulu is from!

What kind of vacuum do you use to clean up after your pets? How do your dogs feel about vacuum cleaners? Tell us in the comments below!

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