Shark DuoClean Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner with Powered Lift-Away & TruePet IC160UKT Review AD

Discovering Shark as a brand and welcoming their products into our home has revolutionised our cleaning in 2019.  Having both used vacuums from another leading brand in the past, my fiancé and I are now completely converted and Shark are here to stay.

Back in January, I purchased my first Shark; the Cordless Handheld Vacuum WV251UK which completely changed the cleaning game in our home and is still used daily now.  You can read all about this lightweight, compact vacuum in my Shark review post where you’ll also find out the background to why I purchased this vacuum and why I was saving up for a full sized model.  However the very generous team at Shark were happy to step in and kindly provided me with a press gift of the very vacuum I was saving up for in exchange for an honest review and so, we have this blog post.

That was back in May and it has to be said that I got a little emotional when my Shark arrived.  Some may think that its ridiculous to feel so much joy over an electrical item for my home but it was something that not only had I wanted for so long but had desperately needed.  I’m not ashamed to admit that when I moved into my apartment, I couldn’t afford to buy a decent vacuum so I ended up with something so cheaply made and archaic looking that spat more dust out than it hoovered up.  Needless to say, cleaning and more specifically vacuuming wasn’t something that I actively enjoyed or looked forward to mainly because it was took so long for a result that was mediocre at best.  Now thats all changed and I could quite happily vacuum until the cows come home, any day of the week and the same could be said for my partner too.  So many couples disagree over cleaning or leave everything for one person to do but we really share everything and find that the tasks get completed so much quicker this way.  Having a tidy and clean home means that we can relax and really enjoy the space that we work so hard for and because our electricals are so efficient now, we can keep on top of it far easier which means that we don’t have the panic cleaning session that we used to have before friends and family would pop round!

For those looking for a quick and snappy review of the Shark, or The Shark DuoClean Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner with Powered Life-Away and TruePet IC160UKT to give it its full name, then here are my brief thoughts;

There’s a real buzz about Shark products and it really is clear to see why.  This one is the easiest vacuum to put together, use and store that I’ve ever used.  It is so compact and light and its efficiency and results actually make cleaning enjoyable.  Hard floors, rugs and carpet, heights and skirting boards really are a breeze and the fact that I can do it all on one battery charge without any cords plugged in is amazing.  It is incredibly easy to navigate, steers effortlessly and the LED lights help to see exactly where hidden dust is.  I love that the front is shaped so that it’s more of a soft touch when I manoeuvre it around and into furniture so it doesn’t bash off everything.  In short, it’s absolutely fantastic & I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to any of you.

For those looking for a more thorough, in depth review then please read on because I have so much more to say about this great bit of technology!

What first attracted me to the Shark DuoClean Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner is its incredible power and DuoClean design.  I’d read so many customer reviews online and heard plenty of people shouting about the suction and technology it has on Instagram and felt as though it would be one of the only vacuums good enough to tackle our home.

The Shark DuoClean design is in its floorhead where it has two motorised brush rollers, including a soft, velvety feeling one at the front that comes directly into contact with the floor so instead of pushing dirt away, it helps to dislodge and draw in large debris, small particles and stuck on dust from hard floors and the second bristle bar behind it is what gets deep into the carpet pile to draw out dirt thats embedded deep down in the fibres of the carpet.  This is what makes the Shark DuoClean suitable for all floor types so it is perfect for all homes regardless of whether you have a stone floor, laminate or wood floor or carpet and it can even work on rugs too.  The top of the handle has three options; carpet, hard floor and boost which gives the vacuum extra power for more heavy duty areas, and you can switch between each mode literally at the press of a button so you can move from room to room seamlessly without having to change any heads on the vacuum.  I had to do this with my old vacuum and it was a total pain, especially when the results weren’t even that effective, whereas with the Shark, the proof is in the pudding; a huge difference can be seen before and after use.

We live in a big two bedroom, three bathroom apartment spread over two floors with laminate wood, lino and carpet throughout.  The ground floor of our apartment is all laminate wood flooring and has heavy footfall.  It gathers dust like a magnet and our mop isn’t exactly high tech so being able to really pick up all of the dirt first with the Shark vacuum makes mopping so much easier.  However it is the stairs and upstairs of our home that causes the most problems for us as it is all carpet.  Please believe me when I tell you that it must be the same carpet that was first laid when the apartments were built.  Theres no plush, soft feel under foot when walking on this carpet that’s for sure.  It’s stained, not properly laid in places so it bubbles and the actual fibres are so badly worn down and tightly compacted that dust, dirt and hair are easily trapped in it and difficult to remove with the vacuum I’d bought previously.  In fact, when I first moved in, I borrowed a Rug Doctor to clean the carpets and when I’d finished, they still didn’t look like they had been touched.  Needless to say, my carpets felt like a lost cause until I got my Shark DuoClean and we have tested it on every inch of our home since receiving it and I love that I can do the full apartment from top to bottom on one battery charge.

The DuoClean floorhead works excellently on all floors in our home and has even given us the slight hint of a hoover line which made me so happy; I cannot wait until we buy a home and have a fresh plush carpet to vacuum.  Yes, I am aware of how that sounds but the Shark just works so well including on the big heavily textured rugs that we have.

TOP TIP: When vacuuming a thick rug, lift it up and give it a shake, flip it over onto the back and vacuum the reverse.  This helps to dislodge trapped dirt and debris.  Move it to one side, vacuum the floor where the loose dirt has fall out and then flip it back over and iron the shaggy side on the hard floor setting.  I picked this tip up on Instagram and its worked a treat for me.

On top of the floor head, theres a handy indicator light which will glow green if the brush rolls are on and working as they should and red if theres a jam in the brush roll area.  We haven’t come up against any issues with it so far although we do have to clean the brush roll out once a month on account of my hair shedding like a moulting dog!  This is a bit of a pain but totally standard with any vacuum and I like to keep on top of it so that it doesn’t build up.  The Shark is VERY easy to take apart and put back together and the whole thing is very self explanatory.  However what I love about the clever techies at Shark is that they have developed a new roller head for some models of DuoClean vacuums that has their own Anti Hair Wrap Technology.  You can read about it here but in short, it is genius and I have heard on Instagram that they’re planning on an add on for those with existing vacuums which I’ll be totally jumping on board with when its released!

The other massive selling point with the Shark for me was it being cordless; one full single charge of the Lithium Ion battery provides around 50 minutes runtime and it lights up to show you how much charge is left.  It’s really easy to remove the batter and it simply clicks into the compact charging dock to recharge.  Although the battery can be charged on the vacuum too, I prefer to just pop it into the dock to charge which I keep on the countertop next to my Shark handheld.  A full charge takes about 3.5 hours so I just leave it over night to do its thing and since the body of the Shark is compact too, we then store it in our understairs cupboard without it taking up much room at all.  We tend to vacuum the whole apartment once a week and then just keep on top of some areas with the handheld but our kitchen floor, hallway and lounge will always get a midweek vacuum with the Shark DuoClean, sometimes twice on top of that if the floors are particularly dirty; laminate seems to collect and show every little spec of dust and dirt and it drives me crazy so having two Shark products on hand really is fantastic for us, especially the DuoClean.  It’s all so convenient and the ability to go from room to room vacuuming without running out of length on the cord or having to keep unplugging the vacuum is an absolute dream.  Anything that can save time and effort around the home is a sure fire win in my book!

These were things that I knew would really benefit me before trying out the Shark but once I had it in my home, I found so many more benefits to it including how lightweight it is.  I have some nerve damage from my neck down into my arms and a protruding disc in my neck following an accident so I’m unable to lift much weight but the Shark DuoClean is really light, even when carrying it to use the Powered Lift Away technology.  The main canister of the vacuum has a handle on it that you can hold and detach away from the wand, power continues to be delivered to the head of the vacuum and the brush rollers keep going around to draw dirt in when cleaning the stairs, ceilings and underneath furniture so everywhere gets a thorough clean with the same power.  I can’t lift a lot of the furniture in our home so would otherwise have to go around it but having this feature means that all of the floor is getting properly cleaned.

Theres an extended reach feature on the wand too which is great for those who struggle to clean things at height, as well as a whole range of add on attachments that come in a Shark branded bag with the vacuum to make cleaning even more efficient.  The wand detaches from the extendable stretchy hose and the 20cm crevice tool, dusting brush, wide upholstery tool and motorised pet tool slot on with ease and stay on securely so that you can thoroughly clean every nook and cranny of your home from sofas to the tops of skirting boards and right down deep between the carpet and the bottom of the skirting.  Although I use my handheld Shark for cleaning the car, the tools that you get with the DuoClean plus the fact that it is cordless make cleaning the car out with a breeze too.

The Shark DuoClean Cordless Vacuum comes with Shark’s TruePet Technology which is the pet tool that connects onto the end of the stretchy hose that helps to remove pet hair that’s embedded in floors, sofas and other furnishings.  It works impressively well and now that we have a fabric sofa, I’ve really felt the full benefit of it, especially when we’ve been looking after our friends dog.  However we have also found that the vacuum itself without the pet tool is so powerful and works so efficiently that it has pulled up dirt and pet hair fibres left from the PREVIOUS TENNANT!! that have been lodged in the carpet and that’s without using even using the TruePet head!  We literally couldn’t believe it.  Either way, the Shark works so effectively.

The dust cup within the main body of the vacuum holds 0.6L and is so easy to empty, literally at the press of a button.  Shark’s Anti-Allergen Complete Seal ensures that this vacuum is great for those with allergies and pets as it captures and traps 99.9% of dust and allergens inside the vacuum, rather than releasing them back into the air to be breathed in.  The powerful suction and DuoClean rollers help with the efficiency of this too.  Theres a foam filter inside the vacuum pod too which is really easy to remove and clean.  Shark advise doing this once a month and so far we’ve stuck to it, following the stories I saw on Mrs Hinch’s instagram.  It’s really easy to clean the whole vacuum and and the foam filter literally just gets a quick rinse under the tap and gets left on the side of the sink to air dry over night; it couldn’t be more simple.

A couple of my favourite features that I’ve discovered on the Shark though are the LED lights at the front of the vacuum which light up the floor directly in front on the vacuum when you’re using it so it really helps you to see hidden dust and to make sure you’ve got all the crumbs, etc up in the kitchen (plus it looks pretty cool) and the soft touch front of the vacuum.  Now I haven’t seen this listed as a feature anywhere but every single vacuum I’ve used in my lifetime has banged so loudly off skirting boards and furniture, risking damaging them wheres the end of the Shark seems to be designed so that when it hits into something, it touches it more lightly, thus reducing the risk of damage.  It has swivel steering which makes it ridiculously easy to navigate around furniture on all flooring surfaces and the whole system is really really easy to use because of this; I literally couldn’t be happier with by Shark.  I’ve been giving everyone that comes to my house a try of it; my Dad thinks there is absolutely no comparison between it and his cordless Dyson and wishes he’d bought the Shark instead, he’s even recommended it to his next door neighbour and borrowed it for her to have a try.  Needless to say, she has now purchased one and my nail tech who comes to the house has also put one top of her Christmas list.

Additional accessories are available to buy as well as extra batteries although you’d need a really big house to need more than one I should imagine.  For those who do, I’d suggest investing in the same vacuum but with the twin battery which you can purchase here.  The guarantee and warranty that you get with all Shark products is amazing- I wrote all about it in my handheld review but with this model, Shark give an additional manufacturer’s warranty of up to 5 years upon registration and 2 years for the battery.

The Shark DuoClean Cordless Upright really is the créme de la créme of vacuum cleaners and if you’re looking to buy one then I would urge you to.  Value for money is really important to me and its imperative that I only review products after I’ve thoroughly tested them because I would hate it if someone bought something on my recommendation only to discover that it wasn’t very good.  Lets face it, high performing vacuum cleaners aren’t cheap but some are definitely worth the investment and this one certainly is worth every single penny.

I find that you can get the best price for the Shark DuoClean Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner with Powered Life-Away and TruePet IC160UKT on the Shark website and they are often promoting great money off discounts or free additional accessories with their vacuums.  SHOP HERE for this specific model as well as the rest of the range.

The Shark is without a doubt, a worthwhile investment for your home. If you’ve been thinking about buying one or are in need of a new vacuum, GO FOR IT!  You’ll not be disappointed.

*This post has not been sponsored and all opinions are my own.  I have marked the post as AD with it being a press sample of a high value.