Embedded pet hair in carpets needs brush action as well as suction, and all these models use rotating heads to lift nasties from deep in the pile. If you add extra filter and fragrance pods to some models, your home will be whiff-free and pristine. We've tested and included cylinder, upright, hand-held and robot vacuums, so make sure you opt for the model best suited to your space. 1. Miele C3 Cat and Dog Powerline: £229.99, johnlewis.co.uk The most efficient cylinder vacuum we tried, this packs a punch to the point where our tester said she could see carpet actually lift from the floorboards. Unsurprisingly, it picks up hair with ease. It comes with an extra turbo-head for pet hair pick-up and the integral air filter helps absorb dog and cat whiffs so you won’t spread odours around the house. We liked the way this cylinder vacuum had a dial to vary the suction strength, so it could be used to gather lighter fluff in a pet bed without sucking up the cushion insert too.

The turbo brush head attachment was good on longer-pile carpets. This wasn’t the strongest vacuum we tried but a good value budget choice. 3. Sebo Airbelt E1 Pet: £259.95, amazon.co.uk This powerful cylinder model was so whisper-quiet, our tester had to check she’d put it on properly. The squidgy 'bumper' all around it meant any knocks to walls and furniture were also hushed. The ergonomic handle was very comfortable and it made light work of stubborn pet hairs with a couple of sweeps of the pivoted head. are air purifiers necessary for newborns 4. Roomba 880 Vacuum Cleaning Robot: £574, amazon.co.ukwhole house air purifier for allergies Expensive, yes, but what price more free time with your pet? are air purifier effective

You can programme the Roomba to do its thing at a certain time every day while you’re out taking Fido to the park. It will reverse as it senses obstructions and stairs but will also know when something’s light enough to brush past.  Robust and surprisingly effective, it can sense how hard to work as it scoots under furniture and goes from hard floor to carpet before returning itself to base for charging. 5. Turbo Power Bagless Pets Upright Vacuum Cleaner: £119.99, hoover.co.uk This was heavier than most of the vacuums we tried, so not best for stairs and lugging around smaller rooms. However, if you want to tackle bigger carpeted areas, this budget model is effective and has a rotating brush pet attachment too, making tackling hairy upholstery a cinch. Rather than using a traditional brush movement to sweep up pet hair, Dyson’s Tangle-Free Turbine attachment uses counter-rotating heads to ball up the hair and send it straight to the see-through bin. (Easily emptied, thankfully – balled Labrador hair is not pleasant.)

The hose was long enough to cover a 13-step staircase, so we set it to work with impressive results. 7. Black and Decker Lithium Flexi Vacuum with Pet Hair Removal Tool: £67.99, amazon.co.uk Leave this cordless, lightweight vac to charge then you’ll get around 20 minutes to half an hour’s worth of surprisingly strong suction. That’s plenty of time to zip over the car interior using the pet hair attachment, or zoom round curtains and other hard-to-reach areas with the extendable hose. 8. Vileda Robot Cleaner: £149.99, argos.co.uk Another robot vacuum, this more basic version has less powerful suction power and fewer clever features than the Roomba, but let’s not forget the price difference. However, if you want something to scoot round uncomplicated areas cleaning up kitty kibble and fluff, then it’s great for sprucing up while you get on with other chores. 9. Gator Pet Handheld Vacuum: £49.99, amazon.co.uk The more traditional ‘dust buster’ end on this handheld vac can be supplemented with a chunky Turbohead brush to gather hair.

As usual with rotating heads, any longer hair (human, usually) gets wound around the brush but that’s easy to snip off with scissors thanks to its wide opening. We liked the washable filter which kept this model whiff-free. 10. Gtech AirRam K9: £249, gtech.co.uk Our tester loved the versatility of this cordless cleaner. Though it worked well on pet hair with a couple of scoots, he found larger debris could be fired out again occasionally. Dirt and pet hair was compacted into blocks that were less messy to jettison than bags or dusty canisters. The option of fitting floral-scented tabs to the filter was a nice touch this cat owner appreciated. The Miele seemed to have the most impressive suction of all those we tried and really set to work on carpet hair that was usually hard to shift. With the uprights, there’s no denying the Dyson delivers, especially with its handheld attachment for pet hair. For absolutely amazing results with zero effort, though, Roomba really was the dog’s whatsits.