VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car Vacuum Cleaner review: the vacuum for busy homes with pets and cars

Earning its place as one of the best car vacuum cleaners, the VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car vacuum is designed for deep and tough cleaning for busy households. The cordless vacuum has been cleverly designed to tackle pet hair, dirt and detritus with ease. But, despite its name, the power of this VAX vacuum shouldn’t be restricted to just pet hair and your car boot.

In fact, as you’ll soon find out, it effortlessly cleans carpets and hard floors throughout your home - giving you a cleaning performance that rivals one of the UK’s best upright vacuum cleaners. Plus, with the VAX Pro Toolkit 4, you can extend its cleaning power and revive your upholstery, stairs, hallway, radiators and more.

Read on to find out exactly what our very own Mumsnet editor, mum-of-two and pet owner, Rebecca, thought for a complete review of the VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car vacuum cleaner.

Looking for other floor care devices? Don't miss our guides to the best vacuum cleaners, best carpet cleaners, and even the best steam cleaners to leave your floors clean and fresh.

During testing, it has been put through its paces. To give you an idea - our home is a three bedroom, three bathroom with an open plan living, kitchen and dining room. 85% of the entire house is carpeted, with only the kitchen and bathrooms laminated. We have two young children, a toddler and a preschooler, and a maltese. Yep, white haired dog and grey carpets. Add to that my own hair that likes to shed at an alarming rate. 

We have stairs at home, too, as well as a large SUV for transport, which understandably, gets just as messy and is filled with McDonald’s wrappers and months-old snacks. Simply put - our new VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car vacuum cleaner has been been used everywhere.

I’ll admit, at first I was sceptical over whether it would be powerful enough to thoroughly clean the floors in our home. Sure, it’s designed for pet hair, but given that there’s a lot of ground to cover, I wasn’t too sure it’d be up for the task. But boy, was I wrong! Within minutes of first using it, it was evident that the VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car vacuum cleaner was strong - if not stronger - than other popular corded and upright vacuums available on the market.

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Final thoughts: So, on that note, I’d highly recommend the VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car vacuum cleaner to anyone who can relate to my hoovering struggles at home. It’s perfect for both quick clean ups and full, deep cleaning of your home and car. It’s also very easy to store, takes up little space, and comes with fabulous attachments to tackle every spot. It loses half a star from me, though, as it does start to get heavy to hold after 10 minutes of use. 

VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car: how we tested

• Tested for several weeks on a daily basis

• Used in a three bedroom, three bathroom home

• Primarily used on carpet, but some hard flooring too

• Used to clean our sofa and mattresses

• Cleaned out the inside of our large SUV and car boot

After seven years of hauling my heavy, corded Dyson around, it was hard to believe that a cordless, handheld vacuum cleaner could match its power while cleaning our home and car. But to my surprise, the VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car vacuum cleaner both matched, and outperformed my existing hoover.

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VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car: what’s in the box?

• Mini motorised pet tool

• Flexible powered hose

• Onboard crevice tool caddy

• Crevice tool 

• Soft bristle dusting brush

• Wall mount

• Powered floorhead

• ONEPWR charging dock and 4.0Ah Battery

You get all of the above for the price of £299.99, which sounds quite expensive at first, but is still less than other brands and models like Dyson, Shark, and even VAX’s own dual offerings.

For review purposes, I was able to also test out the VAX Pro Toolkit 4, which comes with:

• Stretch tool, which is handy for the car

• Textile tool (great for the sofa)

• Flexi tool (great for the door frames and above windows/curtains)

• And a bristle tool for hard-wearing mud on floors and in car boots

VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car: how easy is it to assemble?

Much to my surprise, assembling the vac is quite straightforward and user-friendly. With the help of the very clear instructions included, we first needed to charge the battery. The battery needs to be fully charged before first use. Removing the battery from the vacuum itself is easy with the help of the side buttons, which when pressed, enables you to slide the battery off the vacuum and also in and out of the charger. 

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To assemble the machine, all you need to do is attach the handheld to the reach wand (the long bit), and then attach the floorhead. To use different accessories, it’s equally as easy to switch. All of the included accessories - and those included in the VAX Pro Toolkit 4 can be attached directly to the handheld vacuum (the main body), the reach wand and the powered hose. 

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VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car: how does it look?

As a cordless stick vacuum cleaner, the VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car has been specifically designed for efficient cleaning. So, part of its overall performance is its streamlined design.

The main vacuum and handle is quite bulky and as I’ve said, can become quite heavy to carry after 10 minutes or so. On the carry handle, you’ll find the dirt container, the filter cover and filter, the dirt container release latch and button, as well as three buttons: power, brushbar, and boost. There’s also four battery level indicator lights to show you how much battery life you have left. On the handle you’ll also find the battery and battery dock, as well as the filter cover release tab.

When it comes to vacuum cleaners, it’s not exactly an eyesore. It also looks great when not in use. I love the fact the vacuum comes with a wall mount that can be installed wherever you’d like to store your VAX, which you can also use to store your accessories on. 

The reach wand is a nice blue colour, compared to the original VAX Blade 4, which is grey. There’s also hints of blue throughout the machine, and the buttons are blue as well as the bristles in the brushbar. Otherwise, the rest of the vacuum is silver and grey. 

Finally, the light. That was a lovely surprise as I turned it on for the first time! There’s a white light on the brushbar that helps you to see all the dirt that’s been ignored under your furniture for months. The best part? The light itself turns red when your battery is running low, as does the battery level indicator light. 

VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car: what’s it like to use day-to-day?

I’ve personally found it very handy. Vacuuming the house no longer feels like a huge chore.

Previously, we’d have to battle with our large, heavy Dyson to clean our carpeted, open plan living and dining area. Add the fact both DC like to “help” carry it around, it would be fair to say that hoovering daily became a stressful task. 

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Whereas these days, with the VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car vacuum, cleaning up after mealtimes and daily hoovering sessions have become so, so, so much easier for us. It’s incredible how something so simple as having a cordless vacuum that’s lightweight, and doesn’t take up too much space when not in use, can make such a positive impact on your mood. 

“Rice krispies thrown on the floor? No problem, kids - let me whip the vac out.”

“Oh no, dear DC, you’ve dropped your packet of crisps? It’s okay, let’s clean it up… Quickly…” 

“What’s that my messy toddler? You’ve chucked your rice across the room? I won’t shout because you see, I can clean it up quickly with our new vac!” 

I dare say, not only has welcoming this VAX into our home helped with cleaning on a daily basis, but it has in fact, improved my parenting overall. Cleaning up congealed rice on my carpets is no longer a task that pushes me over the edge during witching hour - you know, the hour after tea time and before bath where your lovely kids are abducted and replaced with Tasmanian devils. Now, I can calmly tidy up during the chaos around me, quickly and efficiently. 

VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car: how easy is it to store?

Very. As I’ve mentioned, I love the fact that a wall mount comes included and I also love the fact it can be stored neatly. Gone are the days of shutting my utility room only to hear a big thump of a vacuum handle falling behind the door. 

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VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car: how easy is it to clean?

I’ve not yet needed to give the vacuum a full, deep clean but for general maintenance on a daily basis, it’s very easy to empty. You can use the direct container button to dismantle the container from the handheld - and there’s just a little release latch on the container itself that opens it up so you can empty it into your bin. 

The instructions do say to empty the container after every use - which doesn’t surprise me, as in my house, it fills up pretty quickly. Filters should be tapped over a bin every four to six months to remove dirt, and washed every three months. The instructions also state that filters should be replaced every six to nine months depending on how much you use the vacuum. 

Lastly - the brushbar. Understandably, given that it’s designed to pick up hair, it’s advised to remove and clean the brushbar every one to two months to reduce hair and dirt build up. According to the instructions, this seems relatively easy to do - albeit, it’s something I’ve only done once. I’ll admit, the amount of my own hair wrapped there was astonishing. All you need to do is unlock the brushbar from its place, pull it out and then remove any threads of hair that are tangled with scissors. 

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VAX ONEPWR Blade 4 Pet & Car vs the VAX ONEPWR Blade 4 Dual Pet & Car

There’s a couple of differences between the VAX ONEPWR Blade 4 Pet & Car and the VAX ONEPWR Blade 4 Dual Pet & Car. The first is that the dual comes with two battery packs, whereas the one I’ve tested only comes with one battery pack. This allows the dual machine to offer a 90 minute run time, as opposed to just 45 minutes. 

Secondly, the price tag. The VAX Blade 4 Pet & Car is the one I’ve been testing, and retails at £299.99 - so, a penny under £300. With that said, different merchants are currently offering a discount of £100. So, you can currently get your hands on the single battery powered one for £199.99. On the other hand, double battery packs means a higher price tag - and the VAX ONEPWR Blade 4 Dual Pet & Car retails at £369.99 usually. 

About the author

Rebecca Roberts is a writer, editor, and content marketing expert hailing from Leeds. Here at Mumsnet, she commissions, writes, and edits to bring parents content designed to make life easier. Having birthed two DC just 15 months apart, she knows all too well how stressful it can be to keep your house clean and tidy when you’re managing a busy household. So, she’s fully invested in finding the best products for families. 

Beyond her role as an editor here at Mumsnet, Rebecca can be found balancing life as a working mum of two toddlers and when she’s not at her desk, you’ll likely find her at a local playgroup, in a nearby coffee shop, or walking the dog.

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