Vacuum cleaners: How to buy the best vacuum cleaner Cylinder vacuum cleaners
Cylinder vacuum cleaners are easy to move up and down stairs
How a cylinder vacuum cleaner works
A cylinder vacuum cleaner uses a suction-powered hose to pull up dust and dirt.
Cylinder vacuum cleaners are lighter than upright models and, because they come with a flexible cylinder head, they tackle stairs and hard-to-reach areas well.
Cylinder vacuum cleaner checklist
Size
Think about where you'll be storing your vacuum cleaner as this will often dictate the size of vacuum cleaner you go for.
Cylinder vacuum cleaners may appear to be more compact than upright vacuum cleaners, but unwieldy hose sections can be difficult to store neatly. Look for a cylinder vacuum that comes with a side clip to attach the nozzle to the body and keep the hose upright.
Using your vac
Consider how and where you'll be using your vacuum cleaner. Because cylinder vacuum cleaners have more flexible cleaning heads and are usually lighter than uprights, they're good at tackling hard-to-reach areas - under furniture, round corners and on stairs.
Weight and reach
Cylinder vacuum cleaners are, on the whole, lighter than their upright counterparts. This can make them a good option if you'll be using your vacuum cleaner both upstairs and downstairs.
Our tests have found that a vacuum cleaner's reach can range in length from 6 to 15 metres - a big difference when tackling a large room. Look for a vacuum cleaner with a long power cord so you don't have to keep stopping to plug it in elsewhere.
Type of flooring
Most vacuum cleaners have different settings for different floor surfaces - but some vacuum cleaners will perform better on one type of flooring than others. Our vacuum cleaners review lets you search for vacuum cleaners that specifically scored highly for carpets, laminate floors or floorboards, as well as the best all-round cleaners.
Filters
Many vacuum cleaners these days are fitted with Hepa (high-efficiency particulate air) or S-class filters, which are designed to prevent allergens escaping and pick up extra dirt that would otherwise remain on the floor.
But simply having a filter doesn't guarantee the performance of the vacuum cleaner. During our tests Which? uses specialist machinery to test how much dust and fine particles each model retains.
Cylinder vacuum cleaners are often quieter than upright models
Pet hairs
Cylinders are generally not as good at picking up pet hair as uprights, which use motorised heads. Some cylinders come with a turbo brush 'recommended for pet hair' but this doesn't always guarantee good pet hair pick up. Our tests show that some cylinders do just as good a job with their carpet nozzle as a turbo brush - so don't buy a cylinder purely because it comes with a turbo brush. We recommend choosing a cylinder that scores four stars or more for picking up pet hair in our tests.
Wattage
Vacuum cleaner manufacturers often use vacuum cleaner wattage or power as a product selling point - but good performance is about design and suction, and not a high-wattage motor. A high wattage doesn't guarantee you're getting a better cleaning vac, but it will mean you'll use more energy.
Noise
Cylinder vacuum cleaners are usually quieter than upright models - but some models are significantly louder than others. We've registered decibel readings of 90 during our vacuum cleaner testing, equivalent to a symphony orchestra during loud passages! Our vacuum cleaner report gives a star rating for each vacuum cleaner model according to its emitted noise.