I’ve Had This Best List-Winning Vacuum for Years, and It Still Keeps My Home and Car Spotless

After living with roommates in dorms and apartments, the cleanliness of my space wasn’t a factor I overlooked when it came time to think about getting my own place. While neighborhoods, square footage, and rental costs were prioritized considerations, I also mulled over dish racks, towels, and cleaners in the back of my mind. When I was gifted with aBLACK+DECKER dustbuster handheld vacuumafter moving into my first apartment, I honestly didn’t think much outside of it being useful to have at home. I didn’t have a standard vacuum yet or any extra money to get one at the time, so making the best of the portable vacuum was all I could do. What I didn’t realize at the time was that even after I scored a hand-me-down Hoover for larger cleanups, I’d still be reaching for theBLACK+DECKER vactime and time again.

Who knew that it would someday makeAT’s handheld vacuum Best Listas the Best Reliable pick? As someone who’s used the vacuum for years, I can say with full confidence that it won for a reason.

If you live in a small space,BLACK+DECKER’s dustbuster AdvancedClean Vacuummakes a great option if you have some closet space or corner to spare. The lightweight vacuum comes with a charging dock where you can station the vacuum until you need to use it so it stays fully charged. However, if you’d prefer to not leave it out, the dock charges quickly so it’s ready for use within an hour. A full charge takes approximately four hours if the battery completely runs out. I actually kept my vacuum in a coat closet because I didn’t have space to leave it out. As long as I’d charged the vacuum before storing it, I could practically retrieve it at any time for a quick cleanup without worrying about the battery dying. Plus, if I needed to charge it for use, I would plug up the dock and do so while I took care of other cleaning around the apartment. By the time I was ready to vacuum, it was charged up enough to use without a problem.

Further evidence that it doesn’t clutter your space is the fact that other than the dock,this cordless vacuumdoesn’t come with a lot of attachments. It has a bagless design, an attached brush that you can flip up when you need it (and down when you don’t), and has a pull-out crevice tool to get deep into those narrow spaces that the vacuum can’t reach in its standard form. It also has a rotating nozzle to further assist with hard-to-reach areas. To empty it, just press the quick-release buttons in the middle to separate the vacuum in two, and then dump the dust, dirt, and debris into the trash can. The vacuum’s bowl is translucent so you can see how full it is in order to determine when it’s time to empty it. You can also see if a bug is still alive if you vacuumed it up instead of smashing it—but maybe that’s just me.

I peeked at some reviews of theBLACK+DECKER dustbuster vacuumon Amazon and a lot of stories are just like mine: This vacuum literally lasts foryears, and still works as well as it did when I first received it. It has moved apartments with me, I’ve lent it out for my family and friends to borrow, and I’ve made frequent trips from my upstairs apartment down to my car in the parking lot to vacuum crumbs and pet hair up from the seats. Reliable is an understatement when it comes to this vacuum, it’s a dependable must-have.

Buy:BLACK+DECKER Dustbuster AdvancedClean Cordless Handheld Vacuum, $49 (normally $59.99)