Cleaning stairs with carpet could be a tough job, it will take you more effort to clean than vacuuming the wall to wall carpet. Because, commonly, the stairs are too narrow to use the big wide vacuum nozzle.
Therefore, there are two options you can choose from.
Option 1, if you use an upright or a canister vacuum cleaner, you have to use an attachment with the hose.
Option 2, use a handheld vacuum cleaner to clean.
Option 1 is not the best choice if you have long flight of stairs. Because the hose on a vacuum cleaner usually is not long enough to a reach a whole flight of steps between two floors. Even if it’s long enough, the suction power at the end would decrease. If you want to pull out the upright or canister vacuum to get it sit on the stairs, it is at the risk of falling off the stairs, especially the upright vacuum. Another potential issue is the weight of the big vacuum. To use a full size vacuum to clean the stairs, commonly you have to switch outlets, so you need to carry it up and down stairs. This is not as easy and convenient as using a small vacuum.
To sum up, an upright or a canister vacuum is not a good choice for cleaning stairs with carpet.
Now for the option 2 – handheld vacuum, there are two types you can choose from – a corded or a cordless. For corded ones, you are limited by the cord, but get constant power and suction power. For battery powered hand vacuum, you may worry about the battery, the suction power will decrease when battery power drains. And battery commonly will die in 2 to 3 years, sometimes even shorter. But the benefit is you can move the hand unit around freely without being restrained by the cable, you get more portable convenience. Both of them have their own advantage and disadvantage. Choosing which type is about your personal preference
1 Shark Rocket Corded Handheld Vacuum for Stair with Carpet HV292
image from manufacturer
Shark HV292 is a corded handheld vacuum cleaner, it comes with a small motorized brush for cleaning carpeted stairs and furniture. It also comes with a hose, dusting brush and crevice tool for quick cleaning jobs. This vacuum features a 15-foot cord, so it does not require you to recharge battery. Like most of the hand vacuums on the market, it uses a dust cup to collect messes. So, no need to buy replacement bag. The bin capacity is 0.42 dry quarts. And the filters are washable, this lowers the overall maintenance cost.
2 Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Lithium Ion Cordless Handheld Vacuum Cleaner for Carpeted Stairs
image from manufacturer
This Bissell hand vacuum 2390A is cordless, it is powered by a 14V lithium ion battery pack, runs up to 17 minutes.
Bissell claim that it’s designed for picking up pet messes. It comes with specialized pet tools including a motorized brush tool for pulling up embedded dirt, dog and cat hair, upholstery tool for attracting pet hair and cleaning soft surfaces, and crevice tool to clean tight areas.
This one also features washable filter, and a removable transparent dust container which holds up to 0.7 liter.
3 Dyson V8 Absolute Cordless Vacuum for Stairs and Floors
image from manufacturer
This Dyson V8 is not just a handheld vacuum, it is a stick and handheld 2 in 1 cordless vacuum. It comes with several tools for cleaning different surfaces, including a soft roller cleaner head for hard floor cleaning, direct-drive cleaner head for cleaning carpets, mini motorized tool to vacuum stairs with carpet and furniture, combination tool for for versatile cleaning, crevice tool for tight areas, soft dusting brush for gentle dusting. It also has 2 power modes, a general suction setting that allows it to run up to 40 minutes with a non motorized tool or 25 minutes with a motorized tool for daily cleaning jobs, and a boost setting that generates up to 115 air watts suction power for tough jobs with 7 minutes running time. To capture allergens and emit clean air, it utilizes whole machine HEPA filtration.
Shark NV352 vs NV105
