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We’ve written a lot about vacuum cleaners. Take a peek at our archives and you’ll find buying guides for just about every type of vacuum — from the general to the granular, like robot vacuums and vacuums for pet hair — where we’ve painstakingly spoken to cleaning experts, researched and tested dozens of models, and crowdsourced from our own team to figure out which ones are worth your coins. It’s a household staple you kind of have to buy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a high-quality, Strategist-approved vacuum for less than retail price.
Vacuums are one of those products that go on sale all the time, and though the discount can vary greatly, you can usually find some good options for at least 20 percent off. The best time to buy a vacuum doesn’t have to be during Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday sales (though that is when you’ll get the most options). As the Strategist’s deals editor, I spend hours combing the internet’s sales bins and can tell you that I find great deals on vacuums all year round — and I’ve rounded up the best ones that are on sale right now below.
To do that, I went through all of our best-in-class vacuum guides, as well as our home-organization and cleaning-specific posts from last year’s Prime Day, so you can trust that everything here has been vetted by our team. To make it even easier to find what you want, I’ve also broken the deals out into categories: upright and stick vacuums, robot vacuums, handheld vacuums, and carpet cleaners and steam mops.
Upright and Stick Vacuum Deals
Gone are the days of the clunky canister vacuum being the only option to clean your floors. These days, upright and stick vacuums are more high-tech than ever, from countless cordless vacuums to HEPA-filter-equipped models to doubly destroy dust and dander. It’s the most prevalent shape in our best-in-class guides by far, and you can usually find a good deal on some of our favorites at Amazon, Best Buy, or Target at any given time.
The Bissell CleanView is our top pick for thoroughly cleaning carpets and rugs.
“If you’re looking for a lightweight, versatile vacuum cleaner that can tackle both hardwood floors and carpet, the Lift-Away is for you,” says our writer Dominique Pariso. It can detach into a handheld vacuum.
Dyson is one of our go-to brands for cordless cleaning, and since its products tend to be on the pricier side, your best bet is to wait for them to go on sale. It’s not the biggest discount, but Best Buy is offering $100 off the apartment-size V12 Detect Slim.
We named the Dyson Ball Animal 3 our favorite vacuum for pet hair, and the upgraded version is $100 off. It easily sucks up tufts of cat fur and “unearths layers of dust and crumbs that have been buried in my thick living room rug for months — if not longer,” writes our former senior writer, Karen Iorio Adelson.
Our best less-expensive vacuum is even cheaper than usual. The stick bends at a right angle so you can slide the whole vacuum under all your furniture.
If you have allergies, we recommend the Miele Triflex HX2, which is $150 off. With an HEPA lifetime filter, this model claims 99.999 percent filtration, picking up dust and allergens.
Robot Vacuum Deals
If you like the idea of a vacuum that does most of the work for you, consider getting a robot vacuum. When these first arrived on the scene, most were pretty pricey — but today, you can find plenty of excellent options for just a few hundred dollars.
The vacuum Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo uses to “maintain a sense of dust-free calm” in her home is $70 off with the on-site coupon.
Robot vacuums with a charging dock will cost a bit extra, but it’s well worth it if you have the space — and when the deal is this good.
This option has a tiny camera embedded in the front that prevents it from colliding with obstacles. You can also specify if you want it to clean a particular area within a room.
This robot vacuum has all the bells and whistles, which is why we named it our best robot vacuum-mop combo. Our tech writer tested its mopping capabilities by spilling a sugary drink on the floor and letting it dry, then running the Combo j9+ for a full mopping job. “It cleaned up nearly all the residue, leaving just a bit for me to wipe up myself,” he writes.
Handheld Vacuum Deals
I’ve found that handheld vacuums don’t go on sale too often — and when they do, the best deals are during Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday. They’re usually on the inexpensive side to begin with, so a difference of 20 percent off versus 30 percent off won’t be more than a couple of dollars.
This Black+Decker handheld has a slim nozzle that can reach nooks and crannies underneath a sofa or behind a fridge; it even swivels to let you clean sideways.
And this slightly more advanced version (that’s just $1 more) has a larger capacity and up to four times more suction power, according to the brand.
Carpet Cleaner and Steam Mop Deals
These exist within the same family as vacuum cleaners, so we thought they’d make a helpful addition to this list — especially if you have high-tread areas in your home that need a little extra oomph to get sparkling clean.
Our pick for the best portable carpet cleaner, Bissell’s Little Green comes recommended by cleaning experts, pet owners, and vintage-furniture flippers. “It pushes the water through the fabric and then sucks it back up again, taking all the particles the fabric might have absorbed, like cat hair balls,” says Justin Renard, a marketing consultant and cat dad.
For something heavy-duty, this Hoover uses 360-degree brushes to scrub away dried-on stains from carpets and upholstery.
If you have hardwood floors, your best bet is a vacuum that can tackle both wet and dry messes. This one from Tineco is 22 percent off and comes with two roller brushes and two bottles of cleaning solution.
The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
