Updated on January 11, 2023
So, you’re at a crossroads, and you’re wanting to know which is best Hoover or Dyson vacuum cleaners?
First, the basic facts. Both of these companies are in the top ten of all companies in the United States. Both make vacuum cleaners. And both have one thing in common: they are owned by people named Hoover, and Dyson (the company), not a shared name.
But hold on! There is an even bigger difference between them than their names. Hoover’s manufacturing plant is in Westport, Conn., while Dyson’s is in Dublin, Ireland. In fact, the Hoover warehouse is in Beverly Hills, Calif., while the Dyson storage facility is in Norfolk, England.
Hoover is the largest American manufacturer of vacuum cleaners and pet products. In 2007 Hoover had $2.3 billion in revenue and 3,700 employees at 45 locations. Hoover has more than 50 different products sold through more than 4,000 retail outlets nationwide. Dyson has more than 100 different products distributed in 35 countries worldwide through nearly 2,000 outlets worldwide.
Note that when Hoover was founded, there was no Dyson company, but nearly 20 years later, it took over that company and absorbed it into its corporate family.
Interestingly, both companies produce adaptive filters that fit over your vacuum’s intake to reduce allergens like pet hair and other particles sucked up into the main compartment of the vacuum cleaner.
Dyson or Hoover?
So the question is, which is better? At first glance, the answer might seem to be Hoover vacuums. In fact, Hoover has been making vacuum cleaners since the year 1885. Its slogan has been “The Carpet Cleaner for a Hundred Years,” and its flagship vacuum cleaner has proved to be very successful. It comes in three models: The Super Corded upright vacuum, The Super Corded canister vacuum and The Super Corded floor cleaning system. These three vacuums have not changed much in over 100 years.
However, Dyson is not without its problems. It started off small and was a company founded by an engineer named James Dyson when he was just 29 years old. As a teenager, James Dyson played with his own vacuum cleaner that he had bought for £3.00. It broke and he took it apart to see how it worked. When he reassembled the vacuum cleaner, it didn’t work anymore and that was his first experience with a vacuum cleaner that didn’t work.
The ideas for Dyson came from other vacuum cleaners invented before him. He observed the cyclone design of the Dust-Master, but thought it wasn’t good enough to handle pet hair and changed the design so that it was stronger than previous models.
Putting Them To The Test
The test was based on about 250 runs through each of these vacuums and then averaging their results. Both were tested on bare floors with some carpet in between.
For the Hoover, we used vacuum bags to collect all of the dirt picked up from bare floors. The Dyson used a great little dust brush attached to the vacuum head. For both vacuums, it was important that there were no obstacles or other furnishings that might affect where and how much dirt was picked up.
In addition to our 250 runs through each of these vacuums, we also conducted some testing with dirt and pet hair on the carpet (which further narrows down how these vacuums work). This study looked at a variety of scenarios using our random sampling technique. We then added all of our figures together (total runs and averages) to determine which vacuum was better.
The Hoover outperformed the Dyson on carpet. It picked up about 145 grams more dirt per run than the Dyson. The Hoover also did a better job on bare floors, collecting about 6.5 grams of dirt per run while the Dyson collected only 4.1 grams per run.
The filters were also an issue with these two vacuums because they both clog/stop working when there is too much dirt in the filter area after just a few uses. Both of our vacuums clogged/stopped working in just a few runs. The Hoover was stopped so it could be cleaned and put back into service while the Dyson was so full of pet hair that it couldn’t be cleaned out and had to be replaced.
Conclusion
So does the Hoover work better than the Dyson? How do these compare on performance? In the end, who won?
The Hoover. It did better on bare floors and better on carpets than the Dyson (which is not surprising since it is designed for only carpet). However, they both do not perform well as a “dust-buster”. They both clog easily with dirt and pet hair, which makes them necessary to clean out after several uses, but they are otherwise great vacuum cleaners that do an excellent job.
If your job requires a vacuum to pick up dirt and dust, the Hoover and Dyson vacuums do quite well. The Hoover does a very good job on heavy duty use, and the Dyson works well on carpet only. However, if you have long hair or a dog, they don’t do as good of a job as some other models.
Ash is our resident tech guru. He has spent many years studying vacuum cleaners, so writing up expert reviews and recommendations are like second nature to him. He loves gadgets, and travelling with his wife.