The best small vacuum cleaners for smaller messes
A good handheld or stick vacuum is on most off-to-college checklists. Where it gets tricky is encouraging your student to use it now and then. Consumer Reports can’t help you with that part but we can tell you which small vacuum cleaners are worth the money from the results of our vacuum tests.
Handheld and stick vacuums are lightweight picker-uppers meant for spilled cereal, dirty car interiors, and other messes too small to require lugging out the heavy equipment—which a student is less likely to have anyway. These small vacuum cleaners are also designed for quick surface pickup, not the deep cleaning for which upright and canister vacuums are intended. Many are cordless making them easy to grab and go.
Handheld vacuums
Hand vacs tend to be the lightest and are especially handy for cleaning cars. A cordless model, the $60 Shark Pet Perfect II SV780, did best overall with strong carpet and floor cleanup, even along edges. And in our vacuum tests it ran longer than 18 minutes on a single charge. Want a corded hand vacuum instead? The $35 Bissell Pet Hair Eraser 33A1 did just as well as the Shark except for pet-hair pickup, not a common need in dorms. Another, the $50 Eureka Easy Clean 71B didn't do as well for carpet pickup but is a bit quieter, something roommates may appreciate.
Stick vacuums
The best stick vacuum at cleaning across the board was the cordless Dyson V6, $300, which ran for 7 minutes in its “max” mode. (It gets twice that in the regular mode.) But if you also don’t want to pay as much for a student’s vacuum than you might for a full-size vacuum at home, consider the corded Shark Rocket HV302, $180. We judged it very good or better at cleaning carpet surfaces, bare floors, and edges. The similarly priced but cordless Hoover Platinum LiNX BH50010, $160, also cleaned impressively. It ran for about 17 minutes on a charge.
Need a new vacuum for yourself?
Our vacuum cleaner Ratings of upright, canister, and robotic vacuums—as well as hand and stick small vacuum cleaners—include more than 120 models. (Alongside our performance Ratings are survey-based brand reliability Ratings.) Check out our vacuum buying guide before you begin zeroing in on your top choices.
—Ed Perratore (@EdPerratore on Twitter)
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