We have a long-haired old moggy, a poodle and a Pomeranain so you can imagine between the lot of them our carpets get pretty hairy over the year which does not help especially when it is beige in colour and is laid in our large hall, many stairs and generous landing.

For years now I have tried using our Henry, which although good, does not pick up embeeded cat and dog hair. A couple of years ago hubby bought a Back & Decker hand-held pet vacuum but once again, although successful at sucking up hair, could not reach the bits trapped in the carpet pile.

Several months ago my youngest daughter came back from Pets at home with this Petmate Pet Hair Magnet which cost just under a tenner. To be honest though, never thinking for one moment it would solve our problem, I forgot all about it until yesterday when I thought I would give it a try. I blame this Indian summer we are currently having because the sunshine made the carpet look even worse than ever.....

Ours is a newer version than the one in the Dooyoo picture and it's an eye-catching bright pink colour for some reason. It weighs approximately 400 gms and measures about 19 x 18.5 x 5cm which, in my opinion, is a perfect size and weight.

Basically it looks like one of those squeegy thingymebobs that window cleaners use and all you need do is stroke the Petmate towards you and it lifts up deep embedded fur and hair which you can then leave in a pile and vacuum or brush up easily.

Even though the design is so simple it is really effective and it is particularly good on the stairs where it picks up cat hair a treat even from corners where the hoover will not reach. It is also effective when doing around the skirting board which can often be a tricky area to reach with an appliance.

I hate to admit that I have filled half a Tesco carrier bag with dog and cat hair so far but, bearing in mind I have never used this before, it just goes to show how much can be 'hidden' and what health issues it may cause in some households eg (those with asthma or allergies etc). I am so embarrassed that I'm determined to use this hair remover on at least a weekly basis!

Now for the negatives -
I'm afraid this gadget is not a miracle-worker as you DO have to put some work into using it and I would suggest that you do a little bit at a time if you suffer from back problems. You need to get on your hands and knees to achieve the best results and then of course you need to brush/ vacuum up the piles afterwards.

I have not had as much success using this inside the car - the seats are fine but I could not get it to lift the hair from the mats and it does not work on laminate or tiled floors, nor does it remove hair from clothes - Ia lint roller works much better.

summary
- easy to use (as long as you can bend over!)
- simple to use
- decent price
- good design
- not too heavy
- just the right size for stair carpets
- worked really well on our hall, stairs and landing carpet which looks almost new now :)
- I am awarding 4 stars because of the results I achieved on the carpets but knocking one off as it does not work on all surfaces.