Keeping a home clean is always a challenge; especially when:

a. said home is large and has two stories, and

b. said home contains ten cats.

Yes, you read that right: we have ten (10) cats. Housecleaning is enough of a challenge in a “normal” home, but add ten constantly shedding furballs to the mix and it’s a constant war against cat hair. That’s why I was ecstatic when Bissell offered me the chance to take their Powerforce Helix Bagless Upright Vacuum Cleaner for a test drive.

The first thing I noticed about this vacuum cleaner is that it’s very lightweight. That’s a big bonus in a two story house when you have to carry it up and down the stairs.

It’s also a big bonus when you have to use the vacuum cleaner on the stairs, which I do because the cat hair likes to accumulate there for some reason:

Now before you guys start thinking I’m a total slob, I had vacuumed the stairs the week prior to the above photo being taken. So that’s only one week of cat hair accumulation. (And yes, I usually do vacuum more often… I held off this week because I knew I’d be testing out the Bissell Powerforce Helix and I wanted to give it a good challenge!)

This brings me to the second thing I noticed about this vacuum cleaner: it’s got a crazy long cord. That’s another huge bonus with a big house with stairs: I don’t have to stop vacuuming every five minutes in order to unplug and re-plug the cord. And I was able to plug it in by the bottom stair and make it all the way up the stairs without having to re-plug it. It makes tackling all the kitty hair tumbleweeds on the stairs a heck of a lot easier!

The hose extender and nozzle made vacuuming the stairs a breeze; no more achey breaky back from having to bend over to clean them! And that brings me to the third thing I noticed about this vacuum cleaner: this sucker (pun intended) has some serious power. It made the kitty hair tumbleweeds disappear.

The next test was our office, where we have a black rug with a floral pattern.

As I’m sure you’ve already figured out, black rug = cat hair magnet:

The vacuum cleaner made quick work of cleaning the rug. It not only picked up all the cat hair with no problems, it also picked up all the dust, which is also super easy to see on the black rug. I could really see the difference while I was vacuuming; in the photo below, the rug to the left of the vacuum cleaner is what I had just vacuumed. What a difference!

Once I finished, I checked the spot on the rug where I took the “before” photo – not a cat hair or dust particle to be found!

The final test was to try it out on some upholstery. I have cushions on our office chairs, and they are one of the many favorite places for our kitties to sleep.

Which of course means this:

I used the brush attachment to vacuum the cushion, and once again, the vacuum cleaner made quick work of the job.

The results were unbelievable- it looked like I had just washed the cushions as apposed to vacuuming them!

It was so satisfying to see all that kitty hair trapped in the large capacity dirt cup. That’s yet another bonus- no more extra trips up and down the stairs to empty the dirt cup out!

A few more awesome things about the Bissell PowerForce Helix Bagless Upright Vacuum Cleaner:

Powerful suction with the Helix Dirt Separation System for longer lasting pick-up performance.

The unique Helix cleaning system captures dirt and other debris using internal “ribs” that are incorporated into the Easy Empty™ Dirt Cup. This forces large particles, dust and other debris down to the bottom of the tank instead of up into the filter, helping the vacuum to work more effectively longer.

And the most awesome-est thing off all? The price is less than $50! I used to think that the price of the vacuum = more suction and cleaning power, but now I know better!!!

*** The giveaway has ended! Thank you to everyone who entered! ***

Bissell is giving away FIVE of these vacuum cleaners! And all you have to do to enter is to leave me a comment below with a summer cleaning tip! How easy is that? The five winners will be randomly chosen by Bissell. Please visit the Bissell page for full giveaway rules. Your comment below signifies that you have read and agree with the Bissell giveaway rules. Giveaway ends May 16, 2016.

Thanks for letting me share my winning the war against pet hair with the Bissell PowerForce Helix Bagless Upright Vacuum Cleaner!