Pet owners, will the cordless upright with Powered Lift-Away and TruePet keep up with your shedding house companions, as well as the rest of the cleaning? Our review is here to give you the full story on its capabilities.
I tested a wide selection of vacuum cleaners on carpet, parquet, tiles, stairs and upholstery, and challenged them with mud, fluff, light debris and pet hair to give you the lowdown on how efficiently they’ll do the job, how easy they are to use, and how much space they’ll take up in your cupboard.
Read on to find out how the Shark DuoClean fared and whether it deserves a place in our prestigious list of the best vacuum cleaners.
Shark DuoClean Lift-Away TruePet at a glance:
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- Type: upright and handheld
- Bag or bagless: bagless
- Suction: effective
- Noise: OK, the vacuum’s on, but relatively quiet
- Easy storage: yes, you won’t be complaining at its size
Shark DuoClean Lift-Away TruePet cordless vacuum specifications:
- Power: 260W
- Dimensions: H108 x W25 x D26cm
- Weight: 5.7kg
- Container capacity: 0.6 litres
Who will the Shark DuoClean Lift-Away TruePet suit?
Pet owners who don’t want keeping up with the hair that’s shed to be a tough job.
What is the Shark DuoClean like to use?
A design that makes every task and adjustment obvious, plus all-round cleaning flair, make it a welcome addition to a home.
Hard flooring, carpet and stairs
DuoClean means one floorhead for both hard flooring and carpet. The only thing I needed to do in moving between the different surfaces? Push the carpet or floor button located above the on button: quick and simple. The was at home on both types of flooring with rather pleasing restoration of flattened carpet pile. Starting out with it as an upright just needed a push of the floorhead with my foot with the handle tilting back into position.
To do the stairs, it’s the Powered Lift-Away feature that comes in with the vac’s pod coming away from the stick so there’s only the small pod to hold or set down, and the wand – also detachable – to do the job with. Mock if you like, but the fact that the button to do this is clearly labelled Lift-Away and the wand release, er, wand release was entirely pleasing. Shark doesn’t make you work hard to operate your vac even when it’s new to you.
Attachments
This vac comes with a crevice tool, dusting brush, wide upholstery tool and a motorised pet tool (that’s the TruePet), plus a bag to put them in to avoid the rummage through the cupboard. The point of the pet tool is to deal with hair that’s got itself knitted into upholstery – including in the car, dog owners – and stair carpet. The attachments fit on either the machine’s wand or handle.
Power and debris removal
The was a whizz on my carpet, picking up both mud and light debris quickly and thoroughly without scattering it around. On hard flooring it ably coped with mud, while light debris was spread a little and needed another go around. It has a powerful boost button located along with the power on and off and hard floor and carpet selectors. This does shorten running time, but unless your home is particularly hard work, the 18 minutes it gives shouldn’t leave you feeling short-changed. The pet tool, meanwhile, lived up to its promise on my upholstery.
- See more of the best vacuums for pet hair
Container emptying
There’s more clear labelling when it’s time to empty the dust and debris the machine’s removed, and because of this, it was simple to see which tabs to use. Opening the container over the bin was also a doddle.
Handy features
Want to vacuum under furniture? Detach the pod and the vac’s floorhead fits underneath. The wand can also be used with the pod in place, or the pod detached to go higher or further. This sorted out both a cobweb on coving, and the top of the skirting boards in my living room. The handle is also detachable at the press of a button labelled (you guessed it) handle release and again you can do this with the pod still attached, or with the pod on the floor while you sort out the pet hair on the sofa.
Also removable is the battery. Why would you want to? So you can charge it out of the vac if you prefer. I loved being able to put the machine away and just having the battery out while it revived. A great idea is to buy a spare battery so you never have to wait to recharge.
Storing
I don’t have the benefit of a lot of cupboard space, so I was happy that this slim upright design didn’t take the lion’s share.
Manoeuvrability
Moving the whole upright around rooms and between them when cleaning didn’t involve any contrariness from the vac, which went happily wherever it was directed. It wasn’t a weight challenge to take up and down the staircase as an upright either. The pod plus wand and pod plus handle are really easy to move around with.
How does it rate online?
It’s an overall 4.6 out of five on the Shark site with both quality and value rated highly. Thumbs up from buyers included for amazing suction power, pet hair thoroughness, and the versatility of the vac from handheld to upright, and from carpet to hard floor. It was thumbs down from some for the length of battery time, and long dog hairs that got tangled in the brushes.
Those who shopped at Amazon turned in verdicts that averaged at 4.6 out of five stars and ease of use, suction power and the light weight got good scores. Fans called the Lift-Away genius, liked the lights that help pick out all the debris on the floor and the battery life indicator. Criticisms focused on the running time, and wanting a better bag for the tools.
How does it rate against similar vacuum cleaners?
There are plenty of models to choose from when you’re going cordless and the span of prices is wide with the cordless upright with Powered Lift-Away and TruePet having both some way pricier as well as much cheaper competitors. However, the design can definitely claim to be worth a place on your shortlist when its cost, power and features are stacked up against the rivals.
About our review – and our reviewer
Sarah Warwick has specialised in homes and interiors for over 20 years. She was Executive Editor of Ideal Home magazine, and has written for nationals, magazines and websites including Real Homes, Homebuilding & Renovating, Grand Designs, Homes & Gardens, Houzz, The Guardian, House Beautiful and Country Homes & Interiors. She put the vacuums through their paces all round the house, on all sorts of dirt and debris, and a variety of flooring and surfaces.