How We Test Vacuums

The Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab continually tests all kinds of vacuums, from handheld to robotic to canister, to handheld, to see how they clean carpets. We also test them for pet hair and dirt. They are also tested for how they can remove dirt from hardwood, tile or linoleum floors, as well as how they work along the edges of flooring and their suction. Also, we test their maneuverability, weight, and battery-life for cordless vacuum cleaners. These are our favorite vacuum cleaners to keep hardwood floors dirt- and scratch-free. The best hardwood flooring vacuums are listed below in 2021.

Best Overall Vacuum Cleaner for Hardwood Floors:

The Best Vacuum Cleaner For Hardwood Floors:

Best Bagless Canister vacuum for hardwood floors:

The Best Cordless Vacuum for Hardwood Floors:

Robot Vacuum Cleaner Best for Hardwood Floors.

Best Hardwood Floor Vacuum Cleaner:

Best Cordless 2-in-1 Vacuum Cleaner for Hardwood Floors :

Best Compact-Stick Vacuum for Hardwood Flooring:

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Miele ClassicC1 Pure Suction This vacuum is ideal for hardwood floors. It has the right tools to clean hardwood floors. A decade of hassle-free and excellent cleaning has been enjoyed by one Wirecutter editor.

Amazon: $294*, $299 Abt

A vacuum made for cleaning flat floors is a good choice if you do not plan on using rugs. This is a vacuum that uses suction alone and does not need a brushroll. Miele Classic C1 is our top-rated suction-only vacuum. These canister vacuums by Miele are durable and quiet, as well as offering great filtration. Miele’s Classic C1 Pure Suction model can be found at the lowest price. It has a suction-only cleaning head (no brush roll) with soft bristles around the edges that let it glide smoothly across bare floors. The strong suction allows it to work pretty well on low-pile rugs, too.

Best Vacuums For Hardwood Floors

One of the winners from CR’s floors tests can help extend the life expectancy and beauty of your floors. If you shop through our retailer links, affiliate commissions could be earned. All fees collected go to supporting our non-profit mission.

Which is the best way to maintain hardwood floors? The vacuum industry is responding with specific features for wooden floors and specially designed vacuums.

Frank Rizzi who tests vacuums for Consumer Reports says that if you are only cleaning hardwood floors you may be able use a stick vacuum. “Otherwise, opt for a more powerful vacuum, such as an upright or a canister.” type of vacuum you choose , follow these tips to keep your wood floors looking their best. And if your current vacuum isn’t cutting it, see below for eight vacuums that knock it out of the park in our bare-floor test.

Keep dirt and other grit out of your doors by placing a front mat. To preserve floors, it is a good idea to have a no shoes policy in the indoors.

Protect furniture legs with felt or plastic protection to avoid scratches. Remember to lift the furniture and not slide it when moving them around.

In the kitchen, place a mat in front of the sink and range to avoid wearing out sections of flooring.

A steam mop isn’t recommended for hardwood floors. Brett Miller, Vice President of Education and Certification at the National Wood Flooring Association, says that vaper can be pushed into crevices or cracks and cause cupping.

See our vacuum buying guide, ratings and flooring guide. Consumer Reports 2019 Holiday Gift Guide contains updates about deals, product reviews and insider shopping tips.

Our 7 Top Hardwood Floor Vacuums For 2021

Independently, our editors research and test the products to recommend them. You can read more about us. Purchases made through our links may result in us receiving commissions.

Spruce / Chloe Jeong Hardwood floors will last a lifetime, but need regular maintenance. You can find everything on hard floors including tile, laminate, and wood. Hardwood floors require a vacuum that is specifically designed. While most vacuums come with a brush roll designed to remove dirt from deep in carpet fibers, hardwood floor vacuums will use a gentler approach. Some vacuums for hardwood floors have super-soft bristles while others do not use a brush roll at all. You will also need to ensure the vacuum provides enough suction so dirt and debris are not scattered over larger surfaces.

Regardless of whether you’re shopping for an upright vacuum , an easy-rolling canister vacuum , or a cordless vacuum for hardwood floors, these top options offer plenty of power, efficient operation, and features designed with bare floors in mind.

Our Top Picks Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional at Amazon This pick’s powerful suction captures debris on hardwood floors and has a roller brush that can be turned on for carpeting, too.

Eufy RoboVac 30-C on Eufylife.com

This robot vacuum can roam for up to 100 minutes on bare floors, sucking up dirt and hair without any effort on your part.

Shark Rocket Corded Floating Stick Vacuum – Best Buy

This light-weight pick works extremely well, and it comes with a larger dust cup to handle major spillages.

Amazon Bissell Hardfloor Vacuum Expert Vacuum

The vacuum’s canister is equipped with wheels with felt tread to prevent scratches.

Hardwood Flooring: The Top Vacuums

The following 14 products were reviewed and tested by our editors. The cordless stick vacuum and the robot vac are both great for keeping your floors spotless Terri Williams If you shop through one of our retail links, however, an affiliate commission may be earned.

Although vacuuming can be a great way to make your life easier, it’s not possible for hardwood floors to use any type of vacuum. So we tested numerous models, and spoke to experts about which ones were best.

Paul Henthorn, who owns Slaughterbeck Floors of Campbell in California, says “the vacuum should have soft rubber tires so that scratching or marking does not occur when moving the vacuum across wood floors.” “And power brushes on canister vacuums should be avoided in favor of the soft brush attachments.” What’s wrong with power brushes? Paul states that power brushes can remove finish from floors and the wood fibers. These floors can also be damaged by beater bars.

Because of the weight and ease, we chose to focus on cordless stick vacuums as opposed to heavy corded upright vacuums. They can be used to avoid unnecessary damage to your floor.

We’re also including the best robot vacuums, which are not only lightweight enough that they won’t harm your hardwood floors, but offer an unparalleled level of convenience, including features such as mopping and vacuuming, self-charging, self-emptying, and programmable options.

What Vacuum Type is Best for You?

Paul believes that vacuuming and sweeping hardwood floors is the best method to keep them clean. Vacuuming or sweeping hardwood floors is the best option, because dust/pathogens can travel up and back down in the air. That’s why Diana Rodriguez Zaba, President of ServiceMaster Restoration by Zaba Chicago, Illinois recommends HEPA vacuums. HEPA filters are the best choice for hardwood floors as floors can collect dust, pollen, allergens, and more that could easily be airborne if disturbed. HEPA filters remove pollutants from floors effectively without spreading them to the air and contaminating homes. John Milligan R&D product developer at N-Hance Wood Refinishing Logan says it’s important to determine which type of vacuum you should use. He says robotic vacuums can be used for everyday cleaning. However, it is best to research the options and make sure you are able to learn your floorplan and cover the whole floor during the day.

For heavier cleaning, John recommends stick vacuums above all. John advises sticking to a stick vacuum that is compatible with both carpet and hardwood floors. Also, make sure the attachments are flexible enough that they fit in every space.

At the bottom of the article, we’ve included tips from these experts on how to maintain your floor. But first, these are the best cordless stick and robot vacuums for hardwood floors.

Eight Hardwood Floor Vacuums That We Have Tested

Vacuum Price Type Hardwood Head Type 1. Shark – Apex

$$$$ Convertible Upright Roller + Suction 2. Dyson – V15 Detect $$$$ Cordless Stick Roller + Suction 3. Shark – Rocket HV382 $$ Corded stick roller + suction Kenmore Elite $$$$ Canister Suction Dyson – V11 Torque Head $$$$ Cordless Stick Roller + Suction 6. Dyson – V8 Absolute $$$ Cordless Stick Roller + Suction 7. Eureka – Mighty Mite Pet Lover $ Canister Suction 8. Bissell – Zing $ Caister Suction Our pick for best upright vacuum, it can clean both hardwood and area rug as well as any other we’ve tested. Shark calls it the best corded vacuum. It will work in any home with hardwood flooring.

Shark included every function in their flagship model. The “Powered Lift-Away” design lets you take the weight of the suction motor off the cleaning head for better agility and to fit in tight spaces. Although it is a heavy vacuum, its two-piece construction makes it ideal for stairs.

Because the Apex vacuum is multi-surface, it can be used on hardwood floors as well as pet hair. The Apex also features a Zero-M comb which prevents hair from getting caught in the rollers. Shark vacuums are built with good filters and a sealed air passage. This ensures that your air is clean.

While you can find some of these features on other vacuums as well, the Apex offers everything for less than Dyson’s basic upright vacuum. It is quieter than most full-size uprights.

Shark’s DuoClean rubber rollers will pick up all dirt from hardwood. If your rooms have carpeted floors, then the Apex can switch to different floor types with ease. You will also find excellent air filtration.

In all our tests, the Apex didn’t bog down in anything but the longest shag carpet, and even then it was as good as the best competition.

This design has its downsides. It’s too heavy, at over 17 pounds. The hose is also too short to allow for lift-away mode. It would be great to have the DuoClean Rollers and the powered liftaway system on more economical Shark models, such as our best pick for pet hair and carpet. A three-position thumb switch allows you to set suction power and brush roller speed. Both the area rug settings and those for bare flooring work perfectly. No need for bypass valves and carpet height switches to be fiddled with. You just have to keep vacuuming.

Key takeaways:

For bigger houses with mixed flooring, the Shark – Apex is top of the food chain.

Additional Products That We Have Tested

Dyson v11 Torque Head – This cordless Dyson / V15 Detect option will save you a significant amount of money. V11 represents a significant technological leap in comparison to V10. However, it is very similar to V15 with the Piero sensor/laser detect. V11’s power is identical to V15’s so it will quickly clean up any allergens, dust mites, or other particles. But you’ll never know how much dirt it has actually grabbed from the hardwood floor. A new LCD screen replaced the V10’s. It shows you the time remaining on your battery and the type of vacuuming you have selected.

The Torque Drive head was also a leap forward. The Torque Drive detects the type of flooring you are vacuuming, and switches to the correct mode so that it does the job right. The Torque Drive also gives a burst of power when the foot lever is depressed, which makes the vacuum charge ahead. Although vacuuming was easier with the power rush, we found it to be a little challenging steering the vacuum in our desired direction.

V11 models are one pound heavier and weigh the same as V15. The V11 was slightly lighter than V15 and felt the slight weight increase when we took out the stick to use the vacuum as handheld. The V11 still offers a good option to vacuum hardwood floors. Oddly, the V11 is currently the same price as the V15; however, you can get a completely refurbished one from Dyson for a significantly discounted price.

Dyson V8 Absolutely Dyson Dyson, the award-winning stick vacuum has changed the landscape for cordless vacuum cleaners. Cordless vacuums are heavy, noisy, and ineffective. Dyson took the time to address these issues and created a cordless stick vacuum that has enough power to convince you not only to give up your full-size vacuum, but also made it more affordable.

Even when the motorized head runs, V8 vacuums are quiet. It’s one of the quietest vacuums we’ve tested, but it achieves that with carefully designed noise baffles rather than by giving up airflow like other quiet vacuums.

Excellent air-filter performance meant that V8 actually collected more fine dust then it spits.

It was, you’ll probably know, one of our highest-priced picks when we first tested it. Dyson has since released three other updated models, so it’s now priced competitively with other hardwood-friendly cordless designs like the Shark – ION F80 . HEPA filtering is absent on Shark, but the Shark has a longer battery life. This is because stick vacuums offer quick cleaning.

Even though it’s an older model the V8 has plenty power for hardwood floors. At the time of writing, the V8 is about $200 less than its upgraded “cousins.” If you don’t want to shell out for the pricier new models, the V8 is still a great option for cleaning hardwood floors.

For a house with mostly bare floors to clean, a canister vacuum with a good bare-floor pickup tool works very well. The Eureka – Mighty Mite Pet Lover puts a powerful bag-type vacuum in a compact canister, then adds a good filter and extra tool options to make it just a bit nicer than other budget-priced canister systems.

If you retract the bristles, it can glide along the carpet’s top. The design cannot be used on medium-length carpet unless a bypass valve is opened to allow air to pass through the hose. This tool also doesn’t allow you to scrub dirt from below the carpet.