Best Robot Vacuum for Pet Hair

If you have a dog or a cat in your home, you will undoubtedly have to deal with pet hair. There can be a lot of animal hair in the carpet in particular. If you prefer a robot vacuum cleaner, it is important to pay attention to the floor brushes and whether it is suitable for different floor types.

Looking for a suitable robot vacuum cleaner for dog or cat hair? Then you've come to the right place. I researched the best robot vacuum cleaner for pet hair.

Table of contents

Best robot vacuum cleaner for pet hair

At the moment, the iRobot Roomba J7+ is the best robot vacuum for pet hair. This robot vacuum cleaner is equipped with two rubber floor brushes that rotate in opposite directions. This makes removing pet hair very easy. Especially on carpet.

iRobot Roomba J7+

Thanks to the rubber floor brushes, the iRobot Roomba J7+ is very suitable for removing pet hair.

Best deal Read my review

🇺🇸 Available in the United States at Amazon.com and Walmart

The iRobot Roomba J7+ is a powerful robot vacuum cleaner that uses a 3-step cleaning system. There is a side brush that pushes dirt and hair from the sides towards the floor brushes.

The combination of a high suction power and the rubber floor brushes that rotate in opposite directions ensure that the dirt and animal hair are easily sucked up. In addition, there are also the following benefits when using pets:

• Very good obstacle detection, can even recognize and avoid dog poop
• Doesn't make a lot of noise (66 decibels)
• Has a secure pet and child lock, which disables physical buttons on the robot vacuum cleaner
• Ability to create No Go zones

What you have to take into account is the price. With a suggested retail price of 999 euros, it is not the best cheap robot vacuum cleaner. However, this concerns the J7+ version, which includes the Clean Base – an automatic emptying station.

Alternative robot vacuum cleaners for pet hair

If you find the iRobot Roomba j7+ too expensive, you can also opt for the new Roomba i5. This Roomba is a lot cheaper than the J7, but it is less effective in the field of obstacle recognition. In addition, you cannot delineate zones in rooms with this Roomba.

On the other hand, the iRobot Roomba i3 EVO has the same floor brushes as the Roomba J7 and the suction performance is almost equal on every floor type.

iRobot Roomba i3 EVO

The Roomba I3 EVO has the same floor brushes as the Roomba J7, but recognizes obstacles less well.

Best deal Read my review

🇺🇸 Available in the United States at Amazon.com and iRobot

If you have a dark floor, there is a good chance that you will see fine dust on the floor after vacuuming. A solution could be a robot vacuum and mop combination. This type of robot vacuum cleaners is equipped with a mopping pad. These robot vacuums mop and vacuum in one go.

The best robot vacuum cleaner with a mopping function that scores well for removing pet hair is the Roborock S6 MaxV. Is there a lot of pet hair from your dog or cat in his or her favorite spot on the carpet? Then you can even increase the suction power via the app.

Roborock s6 MaxV

You can manually adjust the suction power if there is a lot of pet hair on the carpet.

Best deal Read my review

🇺🇸 Available in the United States at Amazon.com and Walmart

How I research the best robot vacuum cleaner for pet hair

Whether stick vacuums or robot vacuums: in all my vacuum cleaner reviews I investigate how well a vacuum cleaner can remove pet hair. How well a vacuum cleaner can vacuum the hair of dogs or cats depends, among other things, on the floor brushes. For example, are these made to pull hair from carpet?

With robot vacuums, I research the following factors to find out how well it works on pet hair:

• Suction performance on different floor types
• Type of floor brushes and maintenance of parts
• Filters of the robot vacuum cleaner

I discuss below how I research each part and why it is so important.

Suction performance: pet hairs on carpet and hard floors

Chances are you have a rug somewhere in the house. And let that often be the favorite spot of your dog or cat. To take into account different floor types, I examine the suction performance of the robot vacuum cleaners on wooden floors, deep-pile carpet and short-pile carpet.

For the investigations we use the hair of Caesar, a red-haired Maine Coon with a large head of hair!

In the suction performance test I also check the functionalities of the app. For example, you can manually adjust the suction power of the Roborock S6 MaxV.

Floor brushes and parts maintenance

I also research the floor brushes of the robot vacuum cleaners. To what extent are these suitable for different floor types, for example? And they can be easily maintained. Removing animal hair quickly results in tangles in the floor brushes.

In every robot vacuum cleaner review I pay attention to the maintenance of the parts. It is important that robot vacuum cleaner parts are easy to disassemble and that you can easily make them hair-free.

It is important that robot vacuum cleaner parts are easy to disassemble and that you can easily make them hair-free.

Filters of the robot vacuum cleaner

While this has nothing to do with pet hair removal itself, in my view it is an important factor for households with a cat or dog. The filters of the robot vacuum cleaner. If a robot vacuum cleaner does not have good filters, there can be an increased dust emission. Very small dust particles, including pet dander, are not filtered properly.

And that's not just the problem: vacuuming pet hair can also cause unpleasant odors. A good filter can prevent a vacuum cleaner that smells.

Compare best robot vacuum cleaners for pet hair

In each review, I rate the performance of robot vacuum cleaners for pet hair by giving a final score. By keeping these final scores side by side, I am able to label the best robot vacuum cleaner for pet hair. View the scores of the robot vacuum cleaner models that I have highlighted on this page in the overview below.

Important with an animal-friendly robot vacuum cleaner

What many do not take into account is the animal-friendliness of a robot vacuum cleaner. I do include this in my research, because I believe that a dog or cat should also be able to feel comfortable in the presence of a robot vacuum cleaner. An animal-friendly robot vacuum cleaner meets the following points:

• Low noise level, take into account a noise level below 60 decibels (also check out my research on the best quiet vacuum cleaner here)
• Ability to disable physical buttons so dog or cat can't activate them
• Option to exclude private places of the dog or cat from cleaning area (No Go zones)

In an earlier article I already discussed why dogs are afraid of the vacuum cleaner. This not only has to do with the noise level, but also with the movements of a vacuum cleaner. And with a robot vacuum, it can get a bit scarier: you won't be chasing it and you might not even be home when the robot vacuum gets to work.

Robbert Tigchelaar

Robbert Tigchelaar is the founder of Vacuumtester.com and is a true vacuum cleaner guru. With more than 10 years of experience in the world of electronic devices, he knows better than anyone what is important in a vacuum cleaner. When a new vacuum cleaner appears, he is eager to test it extensively.