CR tests stick vacuums from brands that include Bissell, Dirt Devil, Dyson, Electrolux, Hoover, Kenmore, LG, Miele, Samsung, Shark, Tineco, and others. Our vacuum buying guide dives into more details on how we test different types of vacuums. Here’s how we assess vacuum performance in the following areas:
Bare floors: In separate tests, we scatter cereal, rice, and sand on a section of laminate flooring. We use four swipes to remove the cereal and rice and two to pick up the sand. We weigh the vacuum before and after to calculate how much debris was removed.
Pet hair: We embed 1 gram of Maine coon cat hair in a medium-pile carpet and then see how many strokes it takes to remove it, with a maximum of five. We note the number of strokes and see how much fur, if any, is left behind on the carpet or in the brush roll.
Carpeting: We embed 100 grams of sand into a carpet and vacuum the debris on high speed for 16 strokes using a strobe light to highlight the test area. We weigh the vacuum before and after.
Run time: To test battery life, we run cordless vacs on high and then again on low until the battery is depleted, then we note the times. If the vacuum has a medium setting (not every vacuum does), we test that too.
