I have a toddler and two cats, so you can imagine how dirty this house gets. Now if you’re imagining a toddler sat nicely at the table, spilling a few crisps off his plate, then you don’t know my son. If I give him a packet of crisps, he’s going to tip it onto the floor. Oh and that banana he dropped, well that’s now going to be smushed into the carpet.

Never mind the cats, in particular my large tabby who is fluffy and loves to throw up (preferably on the carpet and not on the laminate). Or the other cat who likes to trail cat litter into the hallway, even though I have those mats that are meant to stop them trailing it everywhere.

So as you can imagine I’m constantly cleaning up after my toddler and cats throughout the day.

At first I used a dustpan and brush, which takes forever when trying to remove anything from carpet or the fabric sofa.

The only other option is my Shark corded hoover, which I love (here is the latest edition to my model if you’re interested in a corded version, as it’s been updated since I bought it. This is an affiliate link so I’ll get commission if you buy it via the link). I used to be a Dyson owner, until that gave up after a decade use. Money was a bit tighter at the time and I kept seeing people mention Shark, which wasn’t as expensive as Dyson.

Honestly I was so thrilled when I first got my Shark. You turn it on and the noise just tells you how powerful it is. I could put it on the carpet and struggle to pull it, the suction was that strong. I actually have to stand either side of rug when I hoover, or it will be hoovered up in milliseconds.

I also had the pet attachments which pull up hairs so easily. It’s so satisfying moving it over the cats scratch palace and watching the hairs disappear. If you’ve watched those pressure washing videos and found them satisfying, it’s like that.

But there was one problem. It lived in the airing cupboard upstairs and I regularly needed it downstairs. We only live in a two storey, but it is heavy and awkward. I didn’t really have anywhere to put it downstairs, but even if I did, it was still too heavy and awkward to be constantly getting in and out.

I’d seen cordless vacuums in the past, but I wasn’t convinced. They could only run for about 40mins at a time, so I could hardly use them to clean the whole house. And they weren’t as powerful as corded, when surely the more power the better, especially with cat hair.

Well my boy changed that, because I was going from spot cleaning here and there, to constantly cleaning up messes. I could finally see the appeal, but the price was making me wonder if it was worth it.

I’d had a good productive work month and I decided I would treat myself (yes, I’m at that age where a good cleaning product is a treat).

I was so excited when my cordless Shark arrived (here is the closest to my model if you’re interested, as it’s been updated since I bought mine. This is an affiliate link so I’ll get commission if you buy it via the link).

With it being so light, I was dubious about the suction. How can something so light have so much power? Well it turns out something can. Obviously not on the same level as my corded version, but still very powerful. And if that’s not enough, there’s a turbo mode, but I found I didn’t ever need to use it, plus that would quickly drain the battery.

There is also two floor modes, hard floor and carpet. I actually found the suction strong enough on the hard floor mode for cleanup. But now and again the carpet mode is helpful for stubborn messes on the carpet, as it definitely does perform better on carpet.

I was also impressed by the fact that you can fold the hoover down into a compact form for easier storage (the long stick folds in half), or you could store broken down into multiple pieces. Although I loved the idea, I actually only ever used the hoover itself with the long nozzle. I found it a lot easier to clean up messes by grabbing the hoover and attaching the nozzle. Plus it slotted easily in pieces by my shoe bench.

Here is how I store it:

And here is how I use it:

Another cool feature was how you can chop and change the hoover to whatever form you needed. Long stick with hoover end, long stick only, or short. It was very handy being able to switch to what scenario suited it. And I can imagine being able to use the long stick would be useful for people who have issues that make bending down difficult.

I also liked a feature that wouldn’t work the same with the bulkier corded version. When using the long stick, it can bend down so it’s basically parallel to the floor. It’s really handy to hoover under tables and dressers.

It did come with a few tools in a Shark tote bag, but I didn’t use them and they tended to stay tucked away in the cupboard. However it did include the tool I often use with my corded Shark. It’s this one on the lower left:

It’s like a mini version of the main long stick. It’s very useful for cleaning places like my cats scratch palace, as it’s great for pulling up hairs.

The fact it claimed a 50 minute runtime had me concerned, but it turned out it wasn’t that much of an issue. With multiple quick cleanups a day, I would be charging it every 2-3 weeks.

Also, although its bin capacity wasn’t as much as my corded version, This wasn’t a concern as it didn’t fill up too quickly with little cleanups. And it was very easy to empty. I could hoover then pass by the bin and click a button, letting it all fall out in the bin.

Now that I have a Shark cordless hoover (this is an affiliate link so if you purchase it via the link, I get a commission), it’s honestly one of my favourite buys. It’s made it so much quicker and easier to clean up any messes, without lugging about a heavy hoover. I’ve been using it multiple times a day for a year and it’s still going strong.