T3 Awards 2021: all the Home Living award winners announced

In this year's Home Living category we reveal the T3 Award winners for the most beloved Air Purifier, Vacuum Cleaner, Robot Vacuum Cleaner, Washing Machine, Mattress, Duvet and Pillow. It's all in the T3 Awards 2021, now in its 15th glorious year.

There are 90 categories in the T3 Awards, and that includes home wares as well as tech hardware and software. There is huge competition in all of these home categories, particularly the cut-throat world of cordless vacuuming and all the sleep-related gongs.

If you bought every winner in this list – and then added the winners of the garden and kitchen awards – your home would be a very happy home indeed. Let's crack on, now.

Best vacuum cleaner: Dyson V15 Detect Absolute

In which Dyson refines its cordless vacuum formula for the nth time, and comes up with something so effective, it's really rather terrifying. The terror comes from the laser mounted at an angle on the front of if its spongey hard-floor-cleaning head. Think your floors are clean? Think again! This Detect's laser will not only reveal the scarcely believable quantity of dust, muck and stuff on your floor; it will also give it a sinister and eerie green glow, just to make it look even worse.

The good news here is that the V15's maximum 240AW of suction and the superbly designed head will then dispatch said filth. Just to rub it in, sensors within the V15 Detect then analyse the dirt and give you a breakdown of what you've just picked up, which is peace of mind of sorts, I suppose.

There's another excellent cleaning head for doing your carpets, and the good news here is that this 'High Torque' head does not contain a laser, so you can at least feel more secure about the likely state of your carpets and rugs. Among the various smaller heads the pick is a powered one for doing upholstery that is almost totally resistant to getting tangled in long pet or human hairs. 

Dyson really has thought of everything with this vacuum cleaner. It's the complete package, and the best cordless vacuum cleaner in town, as you can find out in our full Dyson V15 Detect review.

We have also decided to give a Highly Commended to the Samsung Jet 90 Pro. That's because it offers superb cleaning., with the unique-as-far-as-we-know addition of a rotating mop head for doing troublesome hard floors.

The Best Vacuum Cleaner shortlist

Dyson V15 Detect Absolute

Samsung Jet 90 Pro – Highly commended

Dyson V11 Absolute

Halo Capsule

Vax OnePWR Blade 4

Shark Anti Hair Wrap IZ251UKT

Best air purifier: Blueair HealthProtect 7470i

Looking like something that might sit on the flight deck in Star Trek: Discovery, the Blueair HealthProtect 7470i sets its phasers to kill bacteria, allergens, small particles and gases. The device is able to purify rooms up to 62 sq m in size. You can interact with it via a colourful touchscreen on top, or Blueair's mobile app or, perhaps a better bet, set it to 'auto' and just leave it to get on with it.

A highly advanced filtration system means it can deal with particles as small as 1 micron. This is allied to a separate system that actually pulls bacteria and viruses out of the air and, to put in layman's terms, electrocutes them to death. We had some doubts about the likely effectiveness this system initially, but Blueair has a solid body of scientific evidence to show that the HealthProtect 7470i really can protect you and your loved ones from nasty infections. That's a feature we can all get behind in 2021.

You can find out all about why this is the best air purifier you can buy in our HealthProtect 7470i review. 

The Best Air Purifier shortlist

Blueair Classic 480i

Blueair HealthProtect 7470i

Dyson Pure Hot+Cool Formaldehyde

Meaco MeacoClean CA-HEPA 76x5

Philips Series 3000i Connected AC3033/30

Best robot vacuum cleaner: Roborock S6 MaxV

Here's a funny true story about the S6 MaxV, which is our Robot Champion for 2021. It arrived in the post in a bumper promotional pack with what I can only describe as a plastic dog turd. This wasn't some sort of insult; it was to demonstrate that Roborock's discus-shaped cleaning droid could detect and avoid this foulest of obstacles. The funny bit was that it couldn't – I returned to find the machine merrily pushing the simulated poo around the carpet without a care in the world.

However, after this inauspicious start, the S6 MaxV has proved to be a supremely capable cleaner, and very good at detecting and avoiding most other common floor obstacles. The suction is highly impressive or such a relatively compact device but the best thing about it is the mind-boggling speed and intelligence with which it navigates your home. Since you can trust it to make its way around without getting lost or stuck, you can send the MaxV off to do battle against dirt every day, or even several times per day, keeping your home clean with zero effort on your part. It's also got a mop head for wet-cleaning hard floors, although this is a little less convincing. When it comes to vacuuming however, there's nothing to top it.

That's why, even though Roborock has released the supposedly improved S7 since this came out, the S6 MaxV remains for our money, the best robot vacuum cleaner available to humankind.

The Best Robot Vacuum Cleaner shortlist

iRobot Roomba i3+

Ecovacs Deebot N8 Pro+

Eufy BoostIQ Robovac 30C

Roborock S6 MaxV

Roborock S7

Best Washing Machine: AEG 9000 Series L9FEC966R

Talk about a long cycle: this model has been our pick as the top washer for several years running, and still nothing has managed to topple it from it sudsy perch. Once again, the AEG 9000 Series is the T3 Awards 2021 winner for best washing machine.

It makes it so easy to just get everything right. The 9kg drum is a great capacity for most people, and the machine will warn you when you've added too much weight for your intended cycle. The Wool Plus program treats your fuzzies more carefully to ensure they stay perfect for longer. The 1600rpm spin speed really wring the water out before you unload it. The steam cycle takes so much of the pain out ironing.

It even has a water softener built in, which not only helps to keep colours and black garments vibrant for longer, but is also a benefit to the longevity of the machine.

As our full AEG 9000 Series L9FEC966R review says, the combination is just impeccable, and is why is remains the best washing machine available today.

The Best Washing Machine shortlist

AEG 9000 L9FEC966R

Bosch Serie 8 WAX32GH4GB

Hisense WFQY1014EVJM

Indesit My Time EWD81483WUKN

Samsung WW90K6414QX

Best Mattress: Simba Hybrid Pro

The T3 Award for Best Mattress is a hard-won category. The market is filled with innovation and research, with a number of major brands pouring their efforts into creating models that are comfier, cooler, more planet-friendly, and more supportive than the last, all in search of a mattress that'll deliver a reliably restful night's sleep. Today's best mattress models have come a long way from the early days of sweaty memory foam. 

We've seen some incredible new mattresses launching this year. Alongside the big names that have risen to prominence over the past few years (Emma, Eve, Simba and the like), we're seeing more traditional, older brands such as Silentnight upping their game too.

So while judging was tight, we're pleased to announce that the T3 Award 2021 for Best Mattress goes to the Simba Hybrid Pro. This seven-layered design includes a 'super-soft' breathable topper, a natural wool layer to help with heat regulation, then various layers of springs and obpen-cell Simba-Pure foam. The soft top layer gives you something plush and cradling to sink into, but just a bit, before you hit the supportive layers underneath. Our tester found it delivered the perfect balance of comfort and support, as well as impressive temperature regulation, to more than justify its slightly higher price tag. (See more of what we thought in our Simba Hybrid Pro review.)

For the past couple of years, this award has gone to the Emma Original. And don't get us wrong, that's still a superb mattress – it deserves a particular shout-out for managing deliver such comfort and quality at a relatively low price tag. But if you have a little more cash to spend, the Simba Hybrid Pro edges it with its superior temperature regulation and premium feel.

The Best Mattress shortlist

Eve Premium Hybrid

Emma Original

Nectar Memory Foam mattress

Simba Hybrid Pro

Brook + Wilde Elite

Silentnight Studio Original

Simba Hybrid Luxe

• Don't want springs? Explore the word's best memory foam mattresses instead

Best Duvet: Panda The Cloud Duvet

Can a duvet be sumptuous but eco-friendly too? It's a trick Panda has pulled off with its excellent Cloud Bamboo Duvet – the winner of the 2021 T3 Best Duvet Award. It offers everything we want from our bedding. The quality is luxurious, with premium details that help elevate it from the competition, and it'll keep you delightfully cosy and comfy at night. 

Slightly more surprising is that it does all this while also being planet-friendly. The cover and half of the stuffing in the Panda Duvet are made from bamboo. Grown in grown in managed forests, providing high yields per acre, bamboo requires a third less water than cotton to thrive, and there's no need for pesticides, fertilisers or chemicals, either.

That's not at the expense of comfort, either. The outside is silky-soft to touch, and the filling (which mixes 50% bamboo stuffing and 50% nano microfibre) is light yet cosy and malleable. All of which adds up to one of the best duvets we've tried in a while, and a very worthy winner of our T3 2021 Award. Head to our Panda The Cloud Duvet review for more info.  

The Best Duvet shortlist

Silentnight Airmax

Panda The Cloud Bamboo Duvet

Scooms Hungarian Goose Down Duvet

Simba Hybrid Duvet with Stratos

• Here's how to choose the best duvet for allergies 

Best Pillow: Scooms Hungarian Goose Down pillow

Rounding out the bedding section of this year's T3 Awards is the accolade for Best Pillow. Taking the crown for 2021 is the superbly comfortable Scooms Hungarian Goose Down pillow. We've been sleeping on one of these for five months now and it's hands-down the best pillow on the bed (we test a lot of pillows, so that's high praise). It retains its shape remarkably well, manages to feel full get soft at the same time, and rarely needs plumping. The multi-chamber design includes an inner core of 15% down and 85% feather, and an outer chamber of 90% down and 10% feather. All this filling is certified ethically sourced, too – a by-product of the food industry.  

The tightly woven, cotton sateen feels high quality and silky soft, and provides an effective barrier to any stray feathers that might want to make their way into the big wide world. It's also Nomite certified, making it suitable for dust mite allergy sufferers. A worthy winner of the T3 Awards 2021 Best Pillow title. 

Best Pillow shortlist

Panda Bamboo memory foam pillow

Scooms Hungarian Goose Down pillow

REM-Fit 500 Cool Gel Pillow

Simba Hybrid Pillow with Stratos

• See all the T3 Awards 2021 winners