The best stick vacuums have a good charge, consistent suction, and can be stored easily.  Stick vacuums are great if you want to vacuum frequently. And because they’re small, they work well if you have a tiny living space. My daughter who lives in a private dorm keeps asking me to send her one.

Benefits of Stick Vacuums

I vacuum frequently because we get a lot of dust and dander. And it matches my cleaning personality better. I’ll vacuum downstairs one day, the stairs the next, upstairs the third day, and then rinse and repeat. The stick vacuum makes it much easier to just go vacuum. I mean, if your’e like me, you don’t like vacuuming. But you know it needs to be done.

More Convenient

So it’s easier to grab the stick vacuum and just go do it rather then try to dig the canister vacuum out of my husband’s study and drag it all over the place. Plus, since stick vacuums are cordless, I no longer have to worry about watching the electrical cord when I’m vacuuming.

And it’s easier to put on an attachment for cleaning the couch or slurping up cobwebs while I’m there.

Easy to Clean

I also like the way you can empty out the canister on a stick vacuum. You don’t want to know how many times my husband put off vacuuming until right before we had guests coming over, and then discovered the bag was full. (how it got full when he rarely vacuumed, I’ll never know.) And of course, this was during the time when sewing and vacuum stores were closing up, and it wasn’t easy to find a replacement vacuum bag quickly.

Plus, we all have long hair. Hubby and I love our heavy metal music and even though we’re getting a bit more seasoned, we both still like his hair being long. Our daughter has long hair. She moved out to go to University last year, and I thought it would make the hair amount go down. It sort of did, but not a lot.

And our two cats are longer hair. They’re not like Persian long, but they do have longer fur then our previous cats (American shorthair tabby and Russian blue).

Easy to Maintain

Unlike canister or upright vacuums, it’s easy to maintain a stick vacuum. You need to wash the filter regularly. Other then that, there’s no belts that need replacing or anything needing oiling.

I do need to clean the vacuum head after every vacuum. Chances are great you won’t have to. So I made sure I found one where the motorized bar could be removed for easier cutting off of hair.

What Features Should You Look For In the Best Stick Vacuum

How to Turn It On and Off

Many of the stick vacuums have triggers for turning it on and off. If you’re doing a lot of vacuuming, it can wear out your hand holding down the trigger while vacuuming. However, there is something nice about it turning off immediately when you stop instead of hunting for the on/off switch when someone comes running up because they have something super important to tell you.

So I’ll just let you know to look for it if it’s important to you.

Corded vs. Cordless

Some people feel that vacuums with cords have better suction than those that don’t. I haven’t found this to be true. And I honestly prefer cordless so I can keep vacuuming without thinking about moving the electrical cord.

But that’s my preference.  There are some great corded stick vacuums out there that are very convenient and easy to use.

Powerful and Consistent Suction

Nothing’s worse then having to go over a clump of hair again and again and it still doesn’t get picked up. You will want to look for vacuums that have an extra burst of power for when you need it.  And you want to be sure you’re getting as good of suction on your hard flooring as you are on your carpeting.

Quality stick vacuums sense the change in flooring and adjust automatically.

Anti-allergen Filtration

It’s a plus to have anti-allergen filtration so you’re not pushing the dust back out into the room. And I like being able to take it out and wash it regularly. It helps me feel like I’m cleaning the house better.

Easy to Clean

You want to look for dirt cups that are larger so you’re not constantly running to the garbage can. And you want it to be easy to open up and dump out the debris. You shouldn’t have to be fooling around with unhooking something while trying to hold it over the garbage can and then have all the junk fall back onto your floor. So look for one with an easy hinged mechanism for simple emptying out.

My Recommendations

Right now, my heart belongs to Dyson because it cleans so well. People are also getting great results from Black and Decker and Shark.

I need to do further research and will update this soon! I just needed to get this out there so you know what to look for when you’re shopping.