Consumer Reports: Stick vacuum cleaners

Need a quick pick-me-up to keep your house looking nice for the holidays?

Three new, lightweight stick vacuums from Shark and Dyson not only promise to do the trick but also claim to be as good, or better, than full-sized vacuums.

So Consumer Reports challenged them with a deep-cleaning test, where dirt is poured on and pressed in. It's a test normally reserved for full-sized vacuums.

The stick vacs couldn't keep up.

"For deep cleaning carpets, suction alone isn't enough," said Consumer Reports' John McAloon. "A vacuum needs to have some weight and a powerful brush roll. Stick vacs are generally under 10 pounds and just won't do the job."

But don't count them out. When compared to other stick vacs, the Shark and 2 Dyson units actually took the top three spots in Consumer Reports' tests.

Number one is the Dyson D-C 59 Animal.

It does an excellent job on pet hair, light carpet cleaning and bare floors. But the Animal is a beast when to comes to noise. It's one of the loudest stick vacuums tested.

Another Dyson, the D-C 59 Motorhead, came in a close second. It's a little quieter but wasn't quite as good on bare floors.

Both are cordless. But at maximum power they only run about seven minutes before they need recharging.

And at $500 each, they cost far more than most decent uprights.

If you don't mind a cord, the Shark Rocket is a more reasonable $180.

The way it's designed prevents it from cleaning well along the left edge, but it sucks up pet hair like a champ.