Best Vacuums For Allergies 2024 - Forbes Vetted

Keeping your allergies under control can feel like an uphill battle—especially during allergy season—but the right vacuum can help by removing allergens from your home and easing some of your symptoms. The best vacuums for allergies feature powerful suction, HEPA filters and fully sealed systems to trap particles. Our top recommendation is the Shark PowerDetect Upright Vacuum, which meets all these criteria and outperformed the competition in our firsthand testing.

The best vacuums for allergies feature powerful suction, HEPA filters and fully sealed systems to ... [+] trap particles.

“Vacuuming is one of the most effective ways to remove dust, dirt and allergens from carpets, rugs and floors,” explains Dr. John McKeon, CEO of Allergy Standards Limited. “Household dust may contain common allergens including pollen, pet dander, mold spores and dust mite allergen, and these can trigger allergy and/or asthma symptoms. Establishing a regular weekly or biweekly cleaning schedule for your home can make a significant difference in removing the presence of these triggers.” No matter your preferred vacuum style, we’ve rounded up the best vacuums for allergies that can help keep your home clean and allergen-free.

Amazon

Type: Upright | Weight: 17.57 pounds | Dust bin capacity: 2.02 quarts | Bagged: No | HEPA filter: Yes

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The Shark PowerDetect Upright Vacuum, a new high-tech model from the brand, stands out as one of the best vacuums we’ve tested. It’s a top choice for anyone with allergies, thanks to its powerful suction, HEPA filtration and fully sealed system, which prevents particles from escaping back into the room once they’ve been sucked up. This model offers some of the most powerful cleaning capabilities available today, and its dual-brushroll design excels on both carpeting and hard floors, effectively capturing fine particles like allergens with its unique soft roller.

The PowerDetect Upright Vacuum also offers a range of high-tech features. Built-in sensors automatically adjust suction power based on dirt level and flooring type, and the vacuum boosts suction along floorboards to pull debris from tight corners. Another highlight is Shark’s Powered Lift-Away technology, allowing you to detach the canister while keeping the brushroll running—ideal for reaching under low-profile furniture where allergens often collect.

At over 17 pounds, this vacuum is on the heavier side, but it’s self-propelled for easier maneuverability. The large dustbin is simple to empty and clean, and the vacuum includes a few basic attachments for dusting and cleaning tight spaces.

Amazon

Type: Upright | Weight: 14 pounds | Dust bin capacity: 3.1 liters | Bagged: Yes | HEPA filter: Yes

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Despite its lower price, the Kenmore Intuition Upright Vacuum is highly effective against allergens, especially in homes with extensive carpeting. This upright model uses vacuum bags to capture and contain allergens, preventing them from being released back into the air, and each bag holds over 3 liters of debris—meaning it requires less frequent emptying than bagless models. Equipped with a HEPA filter and fully sealed system, it traps fine particles so they don’t end up back in your home.

In our testing, this vacuum proved highly effective at extracting dirt, dust and debris from carpets, and its oversized upholstery brush works well on furniture. However, it’s less effective on hard floors and occasionally scatters larger debris across surfaces. Still, for its price, this vacuum offers powerful cleaning capabilities and can significantly reduce allergens in your home.

Amazon

Type: Cordless stick | Weight: 7.6 pounds | Dust bin capacity: 0.2 gallons | Bagged: No | HEPA filter: Yes

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While expensive, the Dyson Gen5detect is one of the few cordless vacuums featuring whole-machine HEPA filtration, making it an excellent investment for anyone with allergies. This model offers an impressive 70-minute runtime with a convenient countdown timer, so you’ll always know exactly how much cleaning time remains. It also includes separate floorheads for carpets and hard floors—the Fluffy Optic cleaner head, which is equipped with a green laser that highlights dirt and dust, helping you spot hidden allergens in your home.

The Gen5detect has an on/off power button instead of a trigger-style switch, making it more comfortable for extended cleaning sessions, and its crevice tool is built into the wand for easy access. It comes with a few basic attachments, like a combination tool and pet hair brush, and Dyson offers a range of specialty accessories, including dusting brushes, to help you tackle allergens throughout your home.

Amazon

Type: Upright | Weight: 21 pounds | Dust bin capacity: Not listed | Bagged: Yes | HEPA filter: Yes

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The Kenmore Floor Care Elite features a bagged design that helps contain dust, dirt and allergens, preventing them from being released back into your home when emptying. It also requires less maintenance than bagless models, as you won’t need to clean out the dustbin as frequently. However, you’ll need to buy replacement vacuum bags periodically, which cost around $23 for a pack of six.

While this upright vacuum is heavy, weighing over 20 pounds, it delivers powerful performance, digging deep into carpets for a thorough clean. It comes with a HEPA filter and a five-height adjustable floorhead that can be customized for different surfaces. However, it does lack swivel steering, making it harder to maneuver around obstacles, and its floorhead isn’t designed to fit under low-profile furniture.

Amazon

Type: Canister | Weight: 22.6 pounds | Dust bin capacity: Not listed | Bagged: Yes | HEPA filter: Yes

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Despite weighing over 20 pounds, this Kenmore canister vacuum is easier to maneuver than a heavy upright model. It features a telescoping wand that adjusts to your height, and the canister rolls smoothly behind you as you clean. The vacuum comes with floorheads for both carpets and hard floors—the hard floor attachment conveniently stores within the vacuum’s body. Additionally, it has a HEPA filter and uses vacuum bags to trap debris for easy and mess-free disposal.

The vacuum's motorized floorhead offers four height settings to optimize suction on different types of carpeting, and it’s highly effective at picking up a wide range of debris. However, during testing, we found the pet hair tool somewhat cumbersome due to its bulky size, making it less ideal for cleaning furniture.

Amazon

Type: Canister | Weight: 23 pounds | Dust bin capacity: 4.8 quarts | Bagged: Yes | HEPA filter: Yes

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If you’re willing to invest in a high-end vacuum, the Miele Complete C3 Marin is a powerful, well-designed machine that's exceptionally user-friendly. It uses large-capacity vacuum bags to trap debris and allergens and includes a HEPA filter to keep airborne irritants at bay. In our tests, this vacuum performed exceptionally well on both carpets and hard floors, thanks to its adjustable suction settings, and it rolls smoothly behind you as you clean.

Several premium features make this vacuum worth the splurge. It’s ergonomically designed with a comfortable handle and a telescoping wand, and the motorized floorhead is both powerful and adjustable, offering multiple height settings. Foot controls allow for easy operation without bending over, and the Parquet Twister floorhead is perfect for cleaning under low-profile furniture.

The Forbes Vetted team has extensive firsthand experience testing vacuums and other cleaning tools. We’ve tested the best vacuum cleaners on the market, as well as specialized products like handheld vacuums, robot vacuums and vacuums for pet hair.

With hundreds of vacuums available today, we relied on our firsthand testing experience and expert recommendations to narrow down the best options for tackling allergies.

Regardless of the vacuum style you prefer, there are several key factors that you’ll want to look for as you shop to ensure a vacuum will be effective against allergens.

“When selecting a vacuum, individuals with allergies should prioritize those with an effective filter, which can capture particles including common allergens like dust mite allergen, pet dander and pollen,” says Dr. McKeon. In particular, you’ll want to look for a HEPA—or high-efficiency particulate air—filter, a highly efficient style of pleated mechanical air filter. A true HEPA filter is able to capture at least 99.97% of dust, pollen and other particles with a size of 0.3 microns.

In addition to a HEPA filter, vacuums for allergies should have a sealed system: “A sealed filtration system is crucial to ensure that allergens don’t leak back into the air through any gaps or weak spots in the vacuum’s design,” says Dr. McKeon.

The specific terminology used to describe this feature may vary between brands—for instance, the Shark PowerDetect Upright Vacuum has a “anti-allergen complete seal,” while the Dyson Gen5detect is described as having a “whole-machine HEPA filter.”

The best vacuums for allergies come in both bagged and bagless designs, and there are a few things to keep in mind as you decide which option is best for your home. “Both bagged and bagless vacuums can serve allergy sufferers well if they are designed to minimize dust release,” explains Dr. McKeon.

If you opt for a bagged vacuum like the Kenmore Floor Care Elite, you won’t have to empty the vacuum as often, as vacuum bags can hold more than an average dustbin. Additionally, vacuum bags are often less messy to dispose of. However, you will have to purchase replacement bags and swap them out regularly. “It is important to replace vacuum bags when they are about two-thirds full to avoid losing suction,” McKeon says.

Bagless models, on the other hand, don’t have any recurring expenses, but they need to be emptied more frequently and can often be messier. “For those choosing bagless models, it may be helpful to empty them outdoors or place the waste bag tightly around the receptacle before emptying, to avoid inhaling allergens released during disposal,” McKeon recommends. Bagless dust bins also get dirtier much faster, so you’ll need to clean out the compartment regularly to maintain the vacuum’s performance.

To keep your vacuum functioning optimally, it’s important to follow the manufacturer’s care instructions. Before you purchase a vacuum, it’s a good idea to look at how often its filters need to be cleaned and/or replaced. Some HEPA filters can be washed to remove trapped allergens, while others may need to be replaced multiple times a year, which can drive up the cost of operation.

People with allergies should look for a vacuum with powerful suction, HEPA filtration and a fully sealed system. Our top recommendation that meets all these requirements is the Shark PowerDetect Upright Vacuum. In testing, we found that this vacuum offers more powerful suction than many other upright models, and its highly effective on small particles like dust and pollen thanks to its dual brushroll design, which features a soft roller.