Sometimes, all it takes is the right upgrade to realize that a pesky household chore never needed to be so challenging. With a powerful enough vacuum, cleaning pet hair can suddenly go from a never-ending frustration to a job that's done in a few seconds.
The Shark POWERDETECT Upright, now discounted by a huge $250 for Black Friday, is that upgrade. When we tested it on real-world fur in a pet rescue center, it banished cat fur, long hair, dust, as well as other household winter messes with total ease thanks to its strong suction and high-quality design.
The Shark POWERDETECT Cleans Fur and Hair Like It's Nothing
The Shark POWERDETECT Upright picks up hair, dust and other messes in more-or-less one pass, every time.
To be able to vacuum pet hair easily, you're looking for two things: Strong suction and a powerful brushroll.
The high-friction fibers within pet hair, combined with the static electricity generated by pets rubbing on surfaces, make fur stubborn to remove. That's why a bristled brushroll is needed to agitate and loosen the fur, then strong suction is able to pull it up before it re-clings to the carpet or upholstery.
Luckily, the Shark POWERDETECT Upright has both, and is the most effective vacuum we've tested for keeping your home clean with pets. And now with $250 off, it brings it down from its premium, flagship price band to what you'd expect from a more budget-friendly pick.
During testing, James Holland's cat went through a period of heavy shedding, and the vacuum had no issues dealing with it, 'With one pass, the Shark POWERDETECT had basically picked up every visible piece of hair (as well as litter near the litter box) from the carpet, filling the dust bin with an amount of hair equal to a second cat.'
Not only that, but thanks to the vacuum's anti-odor cartridge, the room was left smelling a little fresher. Most pet owners know too well the odors that our beloved animals can leave behind, and the POWERDETECT Upright solves this.
It also has HEPA filtration and Shark's 'Anti-Allergen Seal', meaning the air that comes out of the vacuum is much cleaner than before, and almost completely free of the household allergens like pet dander and dust.
And to make life easier, the Shark POWERDETECT Upright has a 30-foot power cord – about five feet longer than what you can expect from the best upright vacuums – for more reach from each power outlet. It also has a handy 'Lift-Away' pod that detaches from the main vacuum unit, allowing for more mobility when cleaning tricky areas like the stairs, cars, and tight spaces.
Pet hair aside, the Shark POWERDETECT Upright picked up everything in its path during every vacuum test we ran, from fine material to large debris. It can handle large food crumbs, mounds of dust, pet kibble, and just about everything you throw at it.
It also makes it well-suited to cleaning up caked-on mud now that we're into the colder months – just make sure the muddy prints aren't wet to avoid vacuuming things you shouldn't.
The Shark POWERDETECT Upright with the TruePet Upgrade is discounted to $349.99 at SharkNinja.
More to Shop
For more pet hair cleaning wizardly, here are some more tried-and-tested solutions we recommend, all of which are on offer for Black Friday.
All prices correct at time of publication.
To quickly clean fur whenever you see it start to appear on furniture, the ChomChom Roller is an essential cleaner to have nearby.
Lint rollers are still one of the most effective tools for removing fur, especially from clothes that can be damaged by a vacuum's suction.
This handheld vacuum docks onto a neat charging base, meaning it's always ready to use whenever you spot fur. I tested it in a local pet shelter and it had no issues vacuuming hair from rugs, carpets and upholstery.
Read more in my full Black+Decker dustbuster furbuster AdvanceClean+ Pet review.
The Miele Guard L1 Cat & Dog actually has better suction and performance than the Shark POWERDETECT Upright, but it's more expensive and the brushroll wraps with hair quite easily. If you don't mind using a $4 seam ripper to remove wrapped hair, and can spend the extra $300, you won't find better than this.
Read more in my five-star Miele Guard L1 Cat & Dog review.
If you'd rather avoid plugging in your vacuum every time you want to clean, the Dyson V15 Detect can vacuum as well as the big, corded vacuums, but with the convenience of a cordless stick. I use it at home and it's never once wrapped with hair, too.
Read more in my five-star Dyson V15 Detect review.
Currently the best robot vacuum for pet hair that we've tested, the eufy Omni S1 Pro actually pulls fur from carpets and rugs similar to a full-sized vacuum, freeing up hours and hours of time every week for a home that's constantly spotless.
Read more in our full eufy Omni S1 Pro review.
Next, see how the best Miele vacuums and the best Dyson alternatives fare against pet hair.
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