What’s The Best Vacuum for A Small Apartment?

When transitioning to apartment living, you’ll find that an apartment vacuum is a must-have necessity. And while a larger vacuum will do the job, it’s big and bulky and will take up much-needed space in your closet.

Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional (NV356E)	Our favorite for 2020
Dirt Devil SD20000RED Simpli-Stik Lightweight Bagless Stick Vacuum – Corded	A very close runner-up
Hoover Sprint QuickVac Bagless Upright	A nice bagless vacuum

An apartment vacuum may be bagless (great for saving money) or handheld, which is great when trying to vacuum in corners, on couches or tough-to-reach areas.

If you’re looking for the best apartment vacuum, we have several models listed below that we’ve reviewed. Here are a few things to consider when comparing vacuums:

• Size: Generally, you want a smaller vacuum that also offers handheld action if you have stairs or upholstery that you would like to clean.
• Attachments: There are attachments available that offer handheld usage, extension and crevice tools, which are great for cleaning difficult-to-reach corners and spaces.
• Cord Length: The cord length should be long enough for you to clean at least an entire room or two without having to unplug the unit and plug it into a different outlet.
• Suction: The suction power that is ideal can be used on carpet, hard floors and upholstery if you want to be able to clean a multitude of surfaces.

Since you’re living in an apartment, it’s a smart choice to consider the size of the unit and what type of flooring it can clean. Saving room by not needing numerous cleaning tools is a lifesaver for small, one-bedroom apartments and flats.

Reviews of the Best Vacuums for Apartments

Dirt Devil SD20000RED Simpli-Stik – Dirt Devil offers one of the industry’s best vacuums for apartments, and the Simpli-Stik is a 3-in-1 model perfect for saving space. Being bagless, you don’t need to replace vacuum bags, and there are three vacuum options: stick, handheld and detail.

You’ll be able to clean the carpet with the stick vacuum and quickly detach the head to clean pet hair off of your sofa.

Smooth rolling wheels allow for quick vacuuming, and the cord is 16-feet in length, which is ideal for spaces of all sizes. Getting into tough-to-reach places is a breeze with the crevice tool, and at an extremely budget price you won’t find a better vacuum for the price.

BISSELL 9595A Vacuum with OnePass – A powerful vacuum that is considered an upright and has enough suction power to offer onepass cleaning. This lightweight vacuum cleans more in the initial pass thanks to the brush design that rotates deep into the carpet to loosen debris.

Multi-level filtration offers less debris travel, and the foam filter is washable, so you don’t need to spend any money buying new filters. The turbobrush tool can be used on stairs and upholstery for those areas where a large vacuum head simply won’t do.

If you have an apartment that features primarily carpet flooring, this model’s cyclonic system will allow you to clean your carpet more effectively.

Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional – The Shark Navigator is lightweight, and it features and extra-large canister that can hold even more debris for less cleaning. An anti-allergen seal keeps dust inside of the unit (goodbye sneezing) and the dust away attachment allows you to vacuum up large particles quickly and easily.

There are also 2 microfiber pads that attract dust.

A swivel steering head allows you to maneuver into tight spaces and offers the control you need for vacuuming around furniture, stairs and corners. The suction power of this unit is ideal if you have kids or pets that drag in dirt, or you live in an apartment that has carpet, which demands even more suction power.

Hoover Sprint QuickVac Bagless Upright, UH20040 – The Hoover Sprint QuickVac is an upright, bagless vacuum that separates particles using cyclone technology. A removable wand can be used to clean floors and ceilings, while the stretch house offers you 7 feet of extension to reach above the floor.

Certified for no-loss suction, this powerful vacuum also has a HEPA filter and multi-cyclonic filtration, with the primary filter able to be cleaned.

The power cord is 23’ in length, and this vacuum is powerful enough to clean rugs without pulling up the edges in the process. This is a great mid-priced vacuum that offers powerful, precision cleaning.

VonHaus 600W 2-in-1 Corded Upright Stick – VonHaus’s 600W, corded upright stick can be used at full length when needed or without the extension for handheld cleaning. The easy-to-remove dust container allows you to empty content right in the garbage, while the HEPA filtration system locks in small particles that would otherwise make it back into the air.

Easy glide technology allows you to clean hardwood floors, carpets and stairs with an 18’ cord length.

There is a crevice tool, shoulder strap, hose adapter and small brush attachment included to make cleaning fast and easy. Lightweight and  with powerful suction, the VonHaus is perfectly priced at budget to mid level and is a great overall vacuum for carpets, hardwood flooring and upholstery.

Buyer’s Guide –  How to Find the Best Vacuums for Apartments

The best vacuum for you and your apartment is a personal decision. There are a lot of considerations that need to be assessed. When choosing the best vacuum, you’ll need to pay close attention to the following criteria and points:

• Floor Type: The type of flooring you have in your apartment makes the selection process more difficult. Hardwood floors need less suction power than carpet, but the vacuum also needs to keep dust and debris from being pushed away. If you have carpet, you need strong suction power to reach deep into carpets and remove hair and dirt.
• Price: There are great vacuums between the budget and premium ranges, but keep in mind that the more budget vacuums are often not powerful enough to clean carpets effectively aside from spot cleaning.
• Filtration: I personally prefer filters that can be washed and cleaned. It saves money in the long run. If you have allergies, filtration will reduce the amount of dust pushed into the air that will result in a sneezing fit.
• Type: Extensions and handheld options offer added cleaning flexibility that surpasses a simple upright. Again, handheld and extension options are great for different scenarios, such as cleaning dry spills off of counters or pet hair off of your bed or sofa.
• Size: Small spaces demand smaller vacuums. Stick vacuums take up much less space than a traditional upright, but they’re less powerful, which needs to be considered.

Cornering and swivel heads may also be a concern if you need to get into difficult to reach corners or flush against the wall. Swivel heads also help you to reach around furniture legs, which is a difficult task otherwise.