If you`re in the market for a new vacuum, look absolutely no further than the Shark® Rocket Complete with DuoClean™ Technology!

 

It doesn`t look like anything fancy, but boy are you in for a surprise! The Shark Rocket Complete with DuoClean Technology has the power of two distinct brushrolls spinning in unison to remove dirt from carpets and bare floors. It`s equipped with Triple Particle Cleaning, which pulls in large, small and stuck-on particles from floors and carpets. At under 10 pounds, this ultra lightweight upright vacuum easily converts into a hand vac for versatile floor-to-ceiling cleaning. It also has powerful LED lights on the hand vac and nozzle and brushroll access for quick and easy maintenance.

 

Let me start off by saying, I`m not one to bring other brand names into a review, but I really need to for this. You see, for anyone that knows me, we have a house of pets. 11 cats and a dog to be exact. So a good vacuum is an absolute must. We originally had a hand-me-down shark vacuum, that was nice - until it started to go out, needed a new filter and couldn`t find one, etc. It was just time for a new one. So I searched for highly rated vacuums specifically geared towards pets. This was all done online so I was just basing my purchase off reviews and the description.

 

Well, the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Upright Vacuum had caught my attention. When it arrived, it was heavier than my old vacuum, but because it specified being a target for pet owners, I figured it`d be worth it. So nearly $300 later what did I get? A vacuum that seemed great at first and then started to clog up on me with a poor suction. Not to mention having to change the settings between floor and hose is inconvenient since you have to bend down to do it. Needless to say, I was disappointed, but I needed it so I dealt with it.

 

Fast forward to now. I was provided the opportunity to try out the Shark® Rocket Complete with DuoClean™ Technology and O-M-G I`m in love! Remember, I have a house full of animals and I also have a 2-year-old (almost 3), an 8-year-old (almost 9), and a husband. So add it all up and I need something powerful. Well, this vacuum certainly fit my needs! Upon reading the description it`s not one I would have picked first hand for pets because it doesn`t target pet owners.

 

As a pet owner, I figured if was geared towards pets, it`d be better for my needs. That is certainly not the case as per what happened with the Bissell - which is why I brought up their brand name in this review. Yes, Bissell is a popular brand and is geared towards pets, but Shark is also a very popular name brand. The difference is clearly that it doesn`t put that targeted pet audience in their name. Oh why, oh why?! Enough ranting on.

 

The Shark Rocket is much thinner than any other vacuum I own. While this is awesome, especially for a smaller home like mine, it does have it`s downfall of being "top heavy" making it easily fall over. So it needs to stand supported on something or placed on the included wall mount. We have yet to place our wall mount since we`re still trying to figure out where to put it. So this may be of some concern to some, however, that is seriously the worst feature about this vacuum that I could find. The vacuum itself works amazingly! I have been seriously vacuuming every day since it has arrived, and generally I`m not that excited about vacuuming. Now before you look at the before and after photos of where I used the vacuum, please keep in mind - we need new carpet. This is the same funky carpet from when we bought the house roughly 4 years ago. It`s just not something we can afford to do so a carpet shampooer and good vacuum will have to do for now. Also, the carpet and cat tree had just been vacuumed roughly a week ago, maybe a little less.  

 

Of course, even the photos really just don`t do it justice. You would need to see everything in person to be impressed; or at least compare to the other vacuum. So here you go, see for yourself the difference of before I vacuumed and after:

 

As I said, I vacuumed about a week before,  but unfortunately the Bissell, as I mentioned, just doesn`t get the job done. One of our litter boxes we use shredded paper in and it gets trailed out on to the carpet. The Bissell would have to go over the same spot multiple times (not always, but pretty often) to get it all up. So not only was the vacuum as a whole heavy to push and inconvenient, but the lack of suction power made the act of actually vacuuming an absolute nightmare.

 

The Shark Rocket, on the other hand, is light weight and almost feels like it`s rolling itself when using it. No real effort has to go into pushing it. On top of it effortlessly gliding on my carpet, it also rolled on my tile floor and worked just as well on there. In fact, there was a spot by the litter box that had a pile of paper shreds from the cats. Well, if you ever saw the descriptive video of the vacuum going over cereal and dirt piles and instantly picking it up - yea, this vacuum did just that!

 

I`ve seen commercials like that for a while by various brands, but of course the vacuums are never really that great. Well, this one is! The dual brushroll makes it easy to pick up the debris for both large and small particles on bare floors and carpets. Unlike my Bissell, changing the modes on this vacuum is super easy. Just glide the switch to change from off, to on for hard flooring, to the 2nd setting, which is good for the carpet.

 

Now when I say the carpet sucking is powerful, I mean it is powerful! Typically I can roll over a shoe, etc. Yea, don`t do that with this one. It nearly sucked up my flip flop. My flip flop is roughly an inch thick might I add. If it could have bent and fit down the tube, it would have been in there! It really took me by surprise because none of the vacuums I have ever owned could do that except maybe the shop vac.

 

 

 

To top it all off, this vacuum came with a variety of attachments. I used the mini rolling brush attachment to clean the cat tree. In the photos above I didn`t use any other attachment to get into the creases or small spaces. The difference you see is just from that piece. What amazes me is that with my Bissell I`d always use the hose to clean it and it`d do an okay job, but nothing special.

 

The cat tree has cat hair, cat nip particles, and sometimes crushed treats or treat pieces. So it`s important for us to keep it cleaned as well. Well, as you can see in the photos, it looked almost new again with how well it was cleaned. Speaking of which, changing between the various attachments is easy as well! At the top of the vacuum, there`s a button you press that will detach it from the floor vacuum piece. You can use it like that, so it`s short like a hand-held vacuum, or, you can detach it and keep the pole attached to give it that extra extension.

 

I love how you have so many options. So I`m able to use it for dusting up high - perfect for a short person like myself! Another cool feature about this vacuum is the light. Whenever it`s in the on mode, there`s a light on it. This is good if you`re vacuuming say under furniture. Just that extra little light to help you see any dirt. Then, when you`re all done, just detach the canister, hold over the trash, press the release button, and dump all your dirt! Super easy to do!

 

As you can see, I am beyond impressed with my new Shark Rocket. It is by far the best vacuum I have ever owned and it`s certainly pretty affordable - roughly $215 depending on where you purchase it from. My Bissell was $279 + tax and like I said, it`s terrible and I don`t recommend it. I know I compared the two throughout this whole review, but I hope this helps anyone else who`s similar to me and wanting to buy the right vacuum. I know Shark doesn`t specify pets, but trust me, I have more than my fair share of animals and if you`re worried about picking up pet hair, the Shark is a must have! It picks up not just hair, but almost anything.

 

I can`t encourage it enough or stress enough the difference you will see from this one to your old vacuum that`s "just not cutting it" anymore. More expensive doesn`t necessarily mean better. I learned that the hard way. Hopefully my mistake can help you. By the way, if you have any questions about this vacuum, I am happy to answer them!