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We've tested every Vax floor cleaner – these are the best for your home
We've been testing floor cleaners for 100 years, so we know a thing or two about what makes a good one
Tested by Blossom BoothroydHomes Testing Manager
When it comes to at-home floor cleaning, Vax is one of the biggest brands on the market. And here at the Good Housekeeping Institute, we’ve tested and endorsed nearly every product the brand has launched, so we can see why they're a market leader.
Vax's products deliver sparkling results, task after task, and while many are investments, they aren’t break-the-bank expensive like some of its competitors.
So, for those who know they want a Vax, but aren't sure which model is best for them, we've curated a handy guide to the brand’s very best buys. Here they are at a glance – keep scrolling for our full verdicts.
What Vax floor cleaner is best?
This all comes down to what your home, and specifically your flooring, is like. Below, you’ll find our top picks from each of the following product categories:
- Carpet cleaner – a carpeted home plus young children, grandchildren, or pets is the perfect storm for your floors. You shouldn’t deep clean your carpet too often, but using a carpet cleaner every six months should keep it germ-free.
- Spot washer – this is the one to turn to for cleaning more regular messes. Generally smaller than carpet cleaners, they aren’t designed for covering large areas, but are good for targeted stain and dirt removal.
- Hard floor cleaner – the clue is in the name for this one, but the way these cleaners go about their jobs can vary. Some are wet and dry vacuums; others are steam cleaners. But they’re all designed to make the dreaded job of mopping, easier.
- Vacuum cleaner – we don’t need to explain what these are, do we? Vacuums are a true household staple, and one we’ve been testing for nearly as long as we’ve been around (100 years, if you hadn’t heard!).
How we test floor cleaners at the Good Housekeeping Institute
This varies according to the capability of each floor cleaner. For vacuums, we lift dust, crumbs and pet hair from a selection of surfaces and judge how effective they are.
If we’re testing carpet cleaners, spot washers and hard floor cleaners, we check stain removal capabilities too – including how they tackle common household stains such as red wine and mud.
We test any attachments or bonus features as well, and our experts assess ease of use and the overall design of each cleaner throughout.
After collating all of the above, each product is awarded a final score, to create the list of top-rated models below.
Pros
- Cordless
- Powerful and good at odour removal
Cons
- Doesn’t come with any additional tools
Score: 97/100
Dropping just three marks across all our testing, this hard floor cleaner should keep your home sparkling. It washes and dries as it goes, and lifted stains with ease. Mud required a smidge more effort – but when our experts adjusted the brush bar, the results were impeccable.
It’s also simple to use and has a faff-free water tank. The best bit? A self-cleaning programme means you don’t need to worry about any additional clean-up.
Vax SpotWash Home Duo Spot Cleaner
Pros
- Comes with various tools, including a two-in-one tool that can be adapted to either hard floors and carpet, and a crevice tool
- Long-reaching hose
Cons
- Can’t store tools on board
Score: 95/100
Three of the Vax spot washers we've tested share the top score, so we’ve included all of them here, listing the pros and cons of each to help you decide which is right for you. This one is designed to make cleaning up soils quick and easy – and it showed on test, banishing dried-on stains with ease.
This is particularly handy if you don’t have time to tackle a spill as it happens (and, in fact, testers found it was marginally better at cleaning stains after they’d been left than addressing them straight away). It’s great for cars too. A dream cleaning machine.
Pros
- Boost mode offers more suction and was effective on test
- Lightweight at 4.5kg
Cons
- Smaller tank capacity than some, so you may need to refill mid-way through if you're tackling a few jobs
Score: 95/100
If portability is your priority, then this cordless spot washer is the one for you – it's lightweight with clear controls and its battery lasted for 25 minutes in our tests, which should be plenty for most stain-removal jobs.
As with the others on this list, it lifted stains well – the only one it struggled with was red wine; it was unable to quite banish all traces. But that’s hardly a surprise – wine is notorious for staining for a reason! Our surfaces were largely dry after use too, meaning whipping it out in a cleaning emergency won't be too disruptive to your day.
Pros
- Has a separate ‘Messy tool’ for the dirtiest jobs
- Self cleans
Cons
- Tricky to apply cleaning solution when in use
Score: 95/100
This is the last of our spot washer top picks, and it’s the most affordable of the three, which means you can still enjoy Vax’s cleaning prowess but for a lower price. Testers found little scrubbing was needed to achieve a good finish and the cleaner left surfaces close to dry afterwards.
It struggled with wine and mud on carpet, and coffee on upholstery, but testers were able to shift most eventually – so only keen eyes would notice. And they were impressed with the overall appearance of our carpet, which was refreshed and water mark-free.
Pros
- Excellent pick-up
- Intuitive design
Cons
- Fiddly canister lid
Score: 95/100
Vax’s latest vacuum cleaner seriously impressed, making it the brand’s highest scoring one yet in our lab. It excelled on all floor types and tackling all debris. Testers preferred the motorised pet hair tool over the standard one as hair caught on the latter, whereas it all vanished within a couple of sweeps of the former.
It makes a great handheld vacuum, even if it is a little bulky. Note too that boost mode drained the battery quickly. But it was comfortable to use throughout testing, reaching well under furniture thanks to a flexible design. The tools and canister were also faff-free (although testers noticed some dust falling out when swapping them or emptying).
Vax ONEPWR Blade 4 Pet Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
Pros
- Up to 45 minutes' battery life
- Comes with a motorised pet tool for any matted hair
Cons
- Can feel heavy after extended use
Score: 94/100
Close behind the Vax above when it came to in-lab performance, this one aced our dirt collection tests, and its pet brush tool lifted hair reliably too – which is good, as this vacuum is designed specifically for homes with furballs.
The dust canister was easy to empty, it has a powerful boost mode, and it impressed when used as a handheld to clean a car. Just note that it can’t stand up on its own, so you’ll need a good spot to store it.
Pros
- Handle detaches to become a pretreatment wand to help with targeted stain removal
- Comes with a ‘SpinScrub’ tool that has rotating brushes to scrub for you
Cons
- Bulky
Score: 93/100
Simple to use, sturdy, and a stellar cleaner, this is one of the very best models our team has tried. It automatically releases detergent as you move it, and dries your carpets on the go too.
No stain proved beyond its capabilities, and its array of tools helped make light work of trickier jobs like removing set-in mud. It’s ideal for refreshing carpets throughout your whole home.
Hannah is our homes editor, specialising in reviewing the latest kitchen appliances, cleaning products, mattresses and bedding, and crafting equipment. Hannah has written about hundreds of products, from air fryers to smoothie makers to pillows, and is committed to finding the most reliable and best value for money buys.
Hannah is also interested in sustainability in the home and has completed a course with the University of the Arts London in sustainable textiles, so she can help cut through the noise on what’s green and what’s not. Hannah has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously worked as a freelance lifestyle and women’s sports journalist, working for Stylist, Sky Sports and more.
Hannah has also previously worked in a florist and can normally be found caring for her house plants or sewing something new for her home or wardrobe.
Blossom is passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for GH readers. As head of the homes testing team, she has led reviews across multiple categories, from pizza ovens, and smart plugs to portable fans and hobs. She enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols to ensure we’re testing them against their claims. Her aim is to find the top-performing products on the market, to help take the hard work out of housework. Blossom’s most notable accomplishment in the lab has been toasting 528 slices of bread in her quest to find the best toasters money can buy. In her free time, she openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.
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