Switching the brush head with the combi tool helped to remove this unwanted pet hair from upholstery and pet bedding, albeit a little bit more elbow grease was required. A puff of passionfruit from the scent pod left the bedding smelling nice and fresh. Clumps of cat hair and strands left behind from a long-haired breed didn’t pose much of a challenge and were vacuumed up from the carpet, hard floors and rug without a problem, and without the need to keep moving the vacuum over and over the same patch of floor. One of the biggest annoyances of cordless vacuums is that you have to find somewhere to lean them when you’re mid clean. The Hoover HF500 doesn’t have this problem. When it’s upright you can let it go and hey-presto, it waits there, ready to resume cleaning when you want to restart. I adore the smooth springy action of this bin. Just press a button and the lid pops open. There is zero dust with this system because the entire bag – which is sealed with a one-way rubber gasket – simply falls out into the rubbish bin. I’d hazard a guess that it would take several single-room clean ups or one entire house-worth of vacuuming before the bag is full. There are four models in the Bespoke Jet range, but the Pro Extra also comes with a mopping attachment. This uses a second floor head with two rotating pads and a water reservoir, which is more than capable of giving your floor a good wipe – perfect for households with messy eaters or muddy paws.

Henry Quick - Numatic International Henry Quick - Numatic International

Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 250 x 252 x 1,234mm; Weight: 2.2kg; Bin capacity: 0.35l; Runtime: 60mins; Warranty: 2yr RTBThere are a handful of specifications to look at before you begin, of which the most crucial are weight, bin capacity and battery life. The brush head itself is 24cm in length and the single roller is 21cm so it’s not the widest brush bar I’ve ever seen and that invariably mean’t I had to perform a few more passes up and down the floor. Also, because the roller itself is a little shorter than the housing unit it may miss some dust along skirting boards. But hey, that’s the case with many vacs I’ve tested. Factor in the anti-tangle floor head and sensible price, and you’ve got a real winner, particularly for anyone who’s cursed their previous cordless vacuum cleaner for not being able to stand by itself. Both of Dyson’s best floor heads come included; the De-tangling Motorbar for all floor types, and the fluffy illuminated head that’s so good at cleaning hard floors. The vacuum also features a bright OLED screen for selecting settings, keeping an eye on battery life, while also providing data on exactly the number and type of particles it’s pulling off your floor.

Henry Quick Hen.100, Cordless Stick Vacuum, Red, 300 W, 1

The IZ300 range uses its new PowerFins technology on the brush bar: these stiff fabric fins work alongside the usual brushes to agitate your carpet more vigorously. In our tests, we saw this help the vacuum perform as thorough a job on our controlled spills of cereal and flour as we’ve seen from any cordless vacuum, including more expensive models. We test all our cordless vacuum cleaners in the same way, so we can compare the performance of a new model with every vacuum we’ve reviewed in the past. With a cordless unit, this starts with a battery rundown test, to see how long the battery lasts at each of its power settings on short-pile carpet with the floor head attached. Then we measure the suction (in kPa) and the air flow. Last but certainly not least, the kit comes with two batteries, so you can charge one while using the other. This provides a combined run time of well over 40 minutes, if using the vacuum’s most economical suction setting, but it can last well over 15 minutes even at full pelt if you switch batteries part way through.The Dyson Cyclone V10 was once the king of cordless vacuum cleaners and was a noteworthy improvement over the V8 in almost every way, but it’s still worth a recommendation today. It’s incredibly powerful – so much so that Dyson ceased development of new corded cleaners because of this vacuum – and we agree that the V10 is easily good enough to replace your old upright if you’re hoping to upgrade. All the vacuuming power is kept in the floor head, including the collection system, which uses small 0.3l disposable bags. These fill rapidly, and the battery only lasts around 20 mins, so it’s best for cleaning smaller properties. Where most of Dyson’s cordless vacuum cleaners follow a familiar design, the Omni-glide is something different. With a tiny bin and low suction power, the specification doesn’t look that great, but by introducing an incredible new type of motorised floor head, Dyson has created a cordless vacuum cleaner that’s perfect for small flats with hard floor throughout. It’s not the only balancing act it can perform. You can also remove the vacuum section from the top and hang it further down the extension wand, reducing its height significantly for storage purposes. It supports itself in this position, too. Considering how powerful it is, the Dyson V10 Cyclone has an excellent battery life of up to 60 minutes in the default mode and 30 minutes on the more powerful “Max Boost” setting. The dust container is also 40% larger than the V8 (it’s now 0.76l) and while that makes it more expensive, it’s still exceptional value if you want to keep your house spotless.