Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Allergen Lift-Off Review

Our Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Allergen Lift-Off Experience

Anywhere we used this vacuum, it offered an unimpressive experience. We were most surprised at how it wasn't all that effective on regular, low-pile carpet. We noticed the vacuum struggled with quick passes and deeply embedded messes. It did a better job with more time and slower passes, but this takes much longer than other vacuums.

Our jaws dropped at the terrible performance on shag carpet. It gathered almost nothing and embedded sand deeper within the fibers. We needed to get another vacuum to clean up the mess this one couldn't. If you have any high-pile carpet in your home, choose another vacuum.

The one place where this vacuum did well was in filtration. However, it doesn't actually clean all that much. So, what isn't being pulled into this vacuum might just be sitting on the floor at the end of your cleaning session, never making it into the vacuum in the first place.

Our Analysis and Test Results

Carpet Performance

The Pet Hair Eraser Allergen is a bit unwieldy. After vacuuming our large mess, we could see sand left in the carpet weave, as well as sections of rice and Cheerios left behind. That said, our carpet didn't appear all that clean and was in need of a better vacuum given the amount of sand left behind. In total, it captured 75% of our mess on standard, low-pile carpet.

On shag, this vacuum was one of our worst performers, only grabbing 26% of the mess. Even after multiple passes, the Bissell Pet Hair's cleaning power plateaued and couldn't capture anything else. It has no height adjustment, which can contribute to it performing so poorly on high-pile carpet.

Hardwood Performance

The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Allergen Lift-Off isn't good on hardwood either. Without the brush roll turned on, we captured almost none of the debris. On both ends of our floor, we had piles of Cheerios left behind. Once we turned on the brush roll, we were able to capture more, but some debris was sprayed across the room. In total, we captured 58% of the mess.

It did better on the edges and baseboards of our home. It sucked up all the coffee grounds in the corner of the wall. However, it left behind larger debris like Cheerios.

Pet Hair

Despite having “Pet Hair” in its name, it isn't all that good at cleaning up after our furry friends. It managed to pick up 75% of the hair on low-pile after we passed over spots multiple times. On high-pile, we had much worse results, with only 46% cleaned. In both cases, hair was totally wrapped around the brushroll and needed to be cleared before moving on to the rest of the house. The dustbin only holds one liter of debris, so even once you manage to clean up the pet hair, it'll need to be dumped frequently.

Ease of Use

While this model has the lift-off feature, it wasn't helpful during our testing. The brush roll turns off when used in this mode and offers an even less powerful clean. However, taking the canister off is the only way you'll reach under tables or furniture, as it's so bulky otherwise.

When in its normal upright configuration, it isn't easily maneuverable. It takes some muscle to push around corners and chair legs, especially on carpet where there is more resistance.

It has suction control adjustments based on the floor types, but you'll need to remember to click the button when moving between bare floor, low carpet, or plush carpet. Finally, we hated how short the cord was (25 feet). We ended up playing musical outlets around our house.

Filtration

The Pet Hair Eraser Allergen Lift-Off utilizes a SmartSeal Allergen System and HEPA filter. In our testing, we measured an average peak of 36 escaped particles (2.4-0.5 µm). For reference, anything under 75 is considered excellent. While these results are inspiring, the vacuum doesn't actually pick up that much. So, small allergens and particles might be left behind in the carpet, never even making their way through the vacuum in the first place. That said, we can't confidently recommend this for allergy sufferers.