Vacuums haven’t exactly been the picture of “buy it for life” since they stopped making ’em like the Electrolux canister clunker that my grandma used in the ’70s — and that my mom still uses to this day for certain situations.
So, why don’t vacuums last as long anymore? Their designs and capabilities are ever-evolving, but the materials used to make them aren’t keeping up with the innovation, it seems. To be fair, product quality diminishing over time isn’t strictly a vacuum thing — blame the larger manufacturing shift to less durable materials, which are quicker and cheaper to churn out (i.e., crappy plastic). Likewise, the theory of planned obsolescence that we associate with our smartphones can be applied to vacuums, too, especially cordless stick vacuums and robot vacuums.
All this made me wonder: How long should a vacuum last in 2025?
How long do corded vacuums last?
The average lifespan of a corded vacuum is generally between eight and 10 years. (For context, Dyson’s limited warranty covers corded vacuums for five years.) However, maintenance and normal wear and tear are all factors in longevity. If you slam your vacuum into walls while cleaning or let gunk cake up its internal parts for a year, then yeah, it probably won’t be at peak performance for long.
Corded vacuums generally last longer than cordless vacuums because they’re not dependent on as many electrical components. With no waning battery to worry about, corded vacuums get full power streamlined from an outlet for every single use. Their inherently larger physical build also allows for a larger filter that can withstand more dust buildup before clogging, and often, a larger cleaning head that allows larger debris to pass through and avoid blockages.
Do corded vacuums look as cute as a sleek cordless stick vacuum? No, but “buy it for life” shoppers on Reddit can’t be asked to care about chicness if they’re replacing their vacuum every few years. Rather, users are sold on heavy duty upright and canister vacuum cleaners — brands like Miele, Sebo, and Numatic are recommended a lot. My colleague Samantha Mangino went on this exact quest and settled on the Miele Classic C1 Turbo after seeing countless Reddit users clock it as the best vacuum cleaner that’ll last.
Unfortunately, some vacuum brands aren’t as invested in corded vacuums anymore. Dyson hasn’t made a new corded vacuum since 2018, when it officially announced that the focus would be on cordless technology going forward.
How long do cordless vacuums last?
The average lifespan for a cordless vacuum is generally between two and five years. For context, Dyson’s limited warranty on cordless vacuums is good for two years, while Shark’s limited warranty covers between one and two years (depending on the model you have). I’m well into year three with my Dyson V12 Detect Slim and haven’t experienced a single functional blip yet.
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Dyson aims for at least five years, a far cry from the Electrolux canister vacuums of old. And that’s Dyson — a brand famed for its engineering.
Dyson vacuums are actually tested for durability and longevity before they even hit the market. “Every Dyson vacuum goes through the equivalent of five years (and sometimes even longer) abusive and real-life representative testing before being brought to market,” Brian Hu, Head of Electronics at Dyson, told Mashable. “This includes being pushed and pulled over 1000km of flooring, running the motors inside the machines for over 20,000 hours as well as hitting, slapping, and throwing vacuum cleaners down the stairs. If a machine breaks in this process, we take it back to the labs and re-engineer the vacuum until it doesn’t break.”
But in general, rechargeable cordless vacuums typically don’t last as long as corded vacuums because, well, they have to be charged all the time. Battery degradation is a real thing that stems from relentless plugging in and unplugging, as well as the fact that they’re the sole power source for the motor. Motor or battery burnout isn’t a matter of if, but when.
Many newer cordless stick vacuums also have extra technological features like screens, smart sensors, or lasers, if you’re Dyson. Those create far more opportunities for crapping out, and you just can’t expect the same level of durability that you would from a husky corded vacuum that relies on none of that stuff.
There are ways to preserve the life of your cordless stick vacuum, though. To keep the motor and brushroll in tip-top shape for as long as possible, ensure that you’re inspecting cleaning heads and attachments for stuck debris or gunk buildup on a regular basis. While you’re in there, take a second to rinse out the filter — a clogged filter is the most common cause of loss of suction. A word to the wise: Let that filter dry completely and then some before clicking it back into the vacuum. Wet filters can cause electrical damage to vacuum, as one Reddit user learned from their Dyson.
How long do robot vacuums last?
The average lifespan of a robot vacuum is estimated to be between three and six years. For context, iRobot’s limited warranty and Roborock’s limited warranty last for only one year.
Robot vacuums suffer the same fate as cordless vacuums in that they’re battery-powered. They charge on their docks 24/7 when they’re not in use, and some people believe keeping the vacuum constantly charged to 100 percent battery is detrimental to the battery’s health. Others are confident that any relatively new device with a lithium-ion battery has built-in protection against overcharging. Either way, robot vacuum batteries will probably get worse over time, just like any other battery.
As the most automated type of vacuum, robotic vacuum cleaners are also internally decked out with far more technological programs than an upright vacuum: smart mapping done via lasers or cameras, AI-powered small obstacle avoidance, self-docking, and self-cleaning mechanisms — if any of these stop working, the robot vacuum would become borderline unusable. App-connected robot vacuums (most of them nowadays) often perform software updates over WiFi, but there’s a chance that simply making the system more laggy after a few years.
But it’s important to remember that far fewer people have even owned their robot vacuum for as long as others have owned any type of upright vacuum — so anecdotally, we just have less evidence showing how long most robot vacuums last. This is especially true for the super high-end robot vacs that just came to the scene within the past two years. They’re either going to last longer than old robot vacuums because they have more advanced parts, or they’re going to die sooner than a basic, cheap robot vacuum would because they’re exerting so much more power. Only time will tell.
As always, routine maintenance of your robot vacuum can help it to work for longer. Keep the wheels and brush rolls spinning properly by flipping the vac over to cut out any wrapped hair and replace the filter as often as the brand recommends. Though self-emptying robot vacuums deal with their own dustbins on a daily scale, you should still take a second to manually wipe out the dust bin ports. On the subject of docks, robot vacuum and mop combos that self-wash and dry their own mopping pads require de-gunking of the tray where the mopping pads live — it gets really gross after a few weeks. Letting that area get soggy and mildew-y could wreak some real havoc on the whole mopping mechanism in the long run.
To sum up my research, modern cleaning machines, particularly cordless stick vacuums and robot vacuums, do seem to die more quickly than their corded ancestors. In general, paying more for a premium product will usually result in a longer lifespan, as will regular cleaning and maintenance. (Yes, you can and should clean your vacuum.)
Topics
Robot Vacuums
Vacuums
