It's a shame how, during these winter months, when we spend more time indoors, our floors are dirtier than ever. Our shoes and our pets track in all kinds of dirt, and quickly they set deep within carpets.
Once that happens, you need a powerful vacuum to pull it out. The Dyson Ball Animal 3, discounted by $150 for Cyber Week, is that exact solution.
During our testing, its absolutely relentless suction power was demonstrated in full, making it one of the best vacuums for carpet that we've ever got our hands on. Bring it into your home, and you can say goodbye to those muddy floors this winter.
The Dyson Ball Animal 3 Will Be Your Savior for Banishing Every Speck of Dirt from Your Carpets
With a rapidly spinning brushroll and some of the strongest suction you'll find in any Dyson, the Ball Animal 3 is designed for deep cleaning carpets – and our tests showed just how effectively it can pull all manner of dirt and mud from even the thickest rugs.
Its suction is more powerful than the Dyson V15 Detect and the Dyson Gen5detect – two of our best-on-test vacuums – that cost 3-4x as much.
'Right away, it was clear to me that the Dyson Ball Animal 3 was designed as a vacuum for carpet,' wrote seasoned tester Camryn Rabideau in her Dyson Ball Animal 3 review. She's tested more than 50 of the best vacuums during her time as a product reviewer, and touted the upright vacuum's sheer cleaning power.
'I have lots of area rugs in my home, and the Dyson does an unbelievable job pulling dirt and dog hair out of the fibers,' she continued, a major vote of confidence when it comes to cleaning all the winter mud our pets track indoors.
It has an 11'' wide floorhead that covers a great amount of floor in one pass. This Motorbar floorhead is also what makes it one of the best vacuums for pet hair. Not only is it absolutely incredible at pulling stubborn fur from thick carpets, but it also detangles itself as it cleans. It's the same design as the best Dyson vacuums I've tested in a pet shelter and use in my own home, and I've never seen them wrap with hair.
At 17.3lbs it's a heavy vacuum – as all the best upright vacuums are – but this is what makes it such a reliable cleaner. It isn't restricted by the limitations of a cordless battery.
And to make the weight easier to manage, the vacuum sits atop a 'ball' that 'makes it quite easy to maneuver around obstacles and into corners of your home,' Camryn wrote, adding, 'I like that the stabilizing wheels on the bottom of the vacuum automatically release when you tilt the body back, making it easy to start moving.'
Not only that, it has a 50 foot cord – almost double what you'd find in other upright vacuums like the Shark POWERDETECT Upright. This means you can cover multiple rooms at once (unless your home is ginormous), so you won't have to move from outlet to outlet nearly as much.
Over the past year, it's only been discounted to this price fewer than five times, so I'd snap this up before it becomes more expensive again.
The Dyson Ball Animal 3 is available for $299.99 from Dyson.
More to Shop
Fed up of your vacuum missing stubborn winter mud and pet hair? Here a few more vacuums we've tested that will absolutely banish mess from carpets.
All prices correct at time of publication.
Its cleaning performance is pretty similar to the Dyson, but for $50 more, the Shark comes with extra features such as an anti-odor cartridge, floor sensors that automatically adjust suction when needed, and a 'Lift-Away' pod that detaches from the main vacuum for more lightweight cleaning.
Read more in our five-star Shark POWERDETECT review.
The Miele Guard L1 Cat & Dog has the strongest cleaning performance out of every vacuum we've tested, especially on carpets and pet hair with its robust TurboTeQ floorhead. However, it's expensive, and hair easily wraps around the brushroll.
Read more in my five-star Miele Guard L1 Cat & Dog review.
Not as powerful as the Dyson, Shark or Miele vacuums I've recommended, but packing a strong punch considering its low price, the Bissell SurfaceSense Allergen Pet Lift-Off performed excellently on carpets during testing, and doesn't wrap with hair.
Read more in our full Bissell SurfaceSense Allergen Pet Lift-Off review.
Unlike a vacuum that just sucks up dry material, a carpet cleaner actually washes carpets, using a combination of cleaning solution, a fast-spinning roller, and suction that sucks away the dirty liquid. The Revolution HydroSteam takes it a step further, using high-powered steam to break down stains. It's so powerful that it completely cleared muddy dog stains from a pet shelter that were two years old.
Read more in my five-star Bissell Revolution HydroSteam review.
To really combat winter mud on your carpets, get a robot vacuum cleaner. It'll do runs of your floors as often as multiple times a day, preventing dirt from building up while requiring such little maintenance from you, that you'll free up hours each week.
Read more in our full Yeedi S20 Infinity review.
The best robot vacuum we've tested on pet hair, the eufy Omni S1 Pro never wraps with hair, and can pull dirt and debris from carpets similarly to a full-sized canister vacuum.
Read more in our full eufy Omni S1 Pro review.
Next, see how the best Miele vacuums and the best Dyson alternatives handle dirty carpets.
