It takes about five hours to fully juice up the cordless vacuum, and the battery was drained again in just 15 minutes of use. Most cordless vacuums don’t last very long, but other models we’ve tried have lasted at least get 20 to 25 minutes per charge; 15 minutes is definitely on the low side. The furniture wasn’t all that dirty to begin with, but the dog does sleep on it daily, so we were curious to see how much dirt and hair it would pull up. After vacuuming one seat cushion with the motorized tool and a back cushion with the upholstery tool, we weren’t all that impressed with how much hair was in the dirt cup.
But, then again, the couch gets cleaned fairly regularly, so there may not have been much on it to begin with. We’ve used a lot of hand vacuums in the past, and there’s nothing special that stands out about the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser. It’s pretty standard as handheld vacuums go, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Three of the four models included in this story were tested by Lynn Redmile, Contributing Product Analyst.
Although you can buy accessories to turn it into a stick vacuum, in that case we think you’re better off buying one of our cordless stick vacuum recommendations. But if you have hand or wrist issues, or if you’re planning to spend a lot of time cleaning your car, you may prefer a hand vacuum with an extendable hose and useful attachments. The Worx 20V Power Share Cordless Cube Vac WX030L and bissell cordless vacuum the Black+Decker 20V Max Lithium Flex BDH2020FL are the best examples of this type, with slightly different strengths and weaknesses. They are similarly priced and have long, flexible hoses that you can use with one hand while setting the vacuum’s body on the ground. In our testing, the CHV1410L had no trouble sucking up crumbs and dirt off bare surfaces like countertops and windowsills.
In addition to standard included attachments like a crevice tool, this vacuum comes with a pet hair tool that was we found to be amazingly effective at sucking up hair during our tests. When it’s not in use, the whole vacuum can be placed on its included charging base, which has spots to hold the nifty attachments. This vacuum is bagless, so all the dirt and hair gets sucked into the main compartment, which is see-through so you can tell when it needs to be emptied. There’s a filter inside, and clumps of hair tend to get wrapped around it—fairly common with handheld vacuums and even standard vacuums. The power button is on the main handle, making it easy to push during use, and the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser has a fairly large opening, making it easy to suck up all sorts of debris. When the dust bin is full, you simply press the release button and dump it out.
The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Cordless Vacuum is definitely efficient at removing pet hair from various furniture and other fabric surfaces, and it’s useful at cleaning up other pet messes, too. However, it’s meant to be a supplemental cleaning tool, so you’re still going to need a full-size vacuum for larger jobs, such as vacuuming rugs and hard floors. This portable vacuum from Worx doesn’t look like any we’ve tested before and eked out a win over the Black & Decker by a fraction of a point to snag the highest overall score in our handheld vacuum category test. It easily picked up all the debris and most of the pet hair we put down in our Lab tests, even without using the max power setting. Though it can’t compare to the suction power of an upright vacuum, it is a mighty little tool for fur, dirt, pet food and any other dry debris that might be lurking in your home.
The dust bin’s 2.6-ounce capacity is quite small so it’ll fill up quickly and often. It also runs for less than 10 minutes at a time, taking 2.5 hours to fully recharge between jobs. Ultimately, this machine is ideal for small, quick clean-ups that require a decent amount of power and/or anyone who’s short on storage space. While not a main selling point, it’s nice to know that Bissell donates $5 from each Pet Hair Eraser to the Bissell Pet Foundation. The company claims it has saved over 180,000 pets, which is right on brand for a handheld vacuum that leans hard into cleaning up after furry creatures.