Best Vacuum For Hardwood Floors: 2018 Reviews and Guide

By Cindy, Updated Jun 07 2018

If you need to purchase a new vacuum cleaner, and you have hardwood floors in your home, the choices can be confusing and make it difficult to know which product is the best vacuum for hardwood floors.

I've done the research for you and looked at the details and information for the top 10 vacuums made for homes with hard floors. Read on and find out about the options you have for buying a vacuum that works for you!

With carpeting, all the dust, dirt tracked in, food crumbs, and other debris, sinks into the pile of the carpet and hides between the fibers. Your carpets are just as dirty as your flat surface floors, but the dirt is mostly unseen. Hardwood floors have no mercy; showing each particle of dirt. We found a lot of good information on the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional upright vacuum and it's built in "lift away" hand held canister feature that allows you to reach tight spots or areas above the floor level. At only 14 pounds, it's lightweight but powerful and safe for your hardwood flooring.

Read our expert reviews to make an informed purchase and buy the best vacuum to clean your hardwood floors!

Our Top Ten Products Reviews

Why Are Hardwood Floors Difficult to Keep Clean?

Hardwood floors are a beautiful addition to your home and create an outstanding look for your interior design. They're stylish, durable, and long lasting. Hardwood floors also add value to your home. Although they feel cleaner than carpeting because you can 'see' the dirt, dust and debris show up every day causing you to vacuum. Vacuuming hardwood floors ends up being a frequent part of your cleaning chores, so you want the best vacuum that will pick up all the dirt, dust, and crumbs in one cleaning.

It's inevitable that hardwood floors will show dirt more often, but the right vacuum can make keeping these beautiful floors cleaner longer.

How to Keep Hardwood Floors Clean?

There are many cleaning methods to use on hardwood floors. These include having floor mats at all entry doors, and using an occasional hardwood floor polish to remove scuffs and restore shine. A damp mopping is good to remove built up dust and to clean any spills that may have been missed. More importantly, a frequent vacuuming is essential to remove any dirt, pebbles, or particles that could scratch your wood floor by foot traffic grinding them into the wood.

Many households still prefer hardwood flooring and Floor Covering News, an online and print floor industry magazine, reports that industrial floor manufacturing experts anticipate a growth in hardwood flooring in the 6%-8% range for 2017. The majority of this hike is the number of hardwood floors installed in single family homes and high rise buildings. With all these homes having hardwood floors, vacuum manufactures are creating better vacuums for flat surface flooring then we had years ago.

Vacuums targeted to be best for hardwood floors have certain characteristics. They need to have plenty of suction, a high enough nozzle and vacuum housing to not scratch the wood floors, and be able to still pick up dirt and dust efficiently. We will talk more about the specific traits for hardwood floor vacuums next. There are many choices so we've reviewed the vacuums here to help you decide on the right vacuum to get the job done efficiently and in the least amount of time.

If you want the ultimatey hands-free cleaning, a robotic vacuum is a great choice. We loved the adaptable levels on the ECOVAC DEEBOT N79 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner and found it to have all the bells and whistles you need. It includes a remote and an app for your smart phone to control cleaning schedules. If you want to buy a vacuum that makes cleaning easier, this vacuum does the work for you!

Characteristics of Vacuums for Hardwood Floors

Vacuums for wooden floors should either not have rolling brushes at all, or have the ability to switch from the brush to a nozzle made for wood floors. Brushes that roll or spin are great for carpeting, but can cause scratches on wood floors. Many vacuums have accessories or ways to switch off the brush and prevent it from spinning.

The wheels on your vacuum are also important. Wheels made from metal or hard plastic can scratch wood floors or even cause a deep indent. A good hardwood floor vacuum will have rubber wheels and even wheels with extra rubber padding. Always check the wheels on your vacuum before using it on your wood floors.

A vacuum that's lightweight makes vacuuming floors fast and easy, gliding effortlessly over the wood surface. There should be plenty of suction so you don't have to put pressure on the vacuum and chance it coming into contact with the wood surface. This too can cause damage to the flooring.

Good suction is a must with any vacuum and should allow you to make vacuuming a breeze so you won't mind doing it more often. Keeping up with the dirt on your hardwood floors makes it easier each time and leaves you with a clean home.

Check out the DirtDevil Power Air Corded Bagless Stick Vacuum for Hard Floors. It's a corded, light weight vacuum and boasts its 'Cyclonic Filtration' made to get through any mess on your wood floor with its constant, powerful suction. It weighs less than 7 pounds and has an extra long 20 foot cord to go from room to room. This vacuum is so easy to use and efficient; you'll want to vacuum every day! It's a great choice!

Buying the Vacuum That Works for Hardwood Floors and Other Types of Hard Surfaces

Depending on what types of floors you have in your home or your business offices, you may want to shop more for a multi-surface vacuum, a vacuum for carpeting, or a vacuum that works well on all hard flooring. If you have mostly hardwood, combined with linoleum, vinyl, tile, marble, and other hard surfaces, you'd only need a vacuum that caters to these floor types. If parts of your home have carpeting, an all around vacuum that handles flat surfaces and carpeting is more appropriate.

With flat flooring, a vacuum that picks up dust and dirt and then, washes and dries your floors is a great option! The Hoover FloorMate Deluxe Hard Floor Cleaner accomplishes both these tasks. If your entire home or office has hard surface flooring, this Hoover vacuum and floor cleaner is the answer. The tank holds 32 ounces of water making it last longer between refills, and it keeps dirty water separate from the clean water. This well put together vacuum does it all in one pass making cleaning hardwood floors easy! Grab this all-in-one hard floor vacuum to streamline cleaning!

Pets and Allergies Present a Challenge That Needs a Great Vacuum For

When you have pets I your home, hair finds its way into every corner and under every hiding place. Some pet hair is fine and even gets caught up in the air in your home and settles on tabletops, ledges, and furniture. A vacuum that can pick up pet hair and dander and still protect your hardwood floors from damage must have great suction, and the ability to reach into crevices and tight spaces. It also needs to have a removable attachment to vacuum up pet hair on furniture and other surfaces.

I like the BISSELL PowerEdge Pet Hardwood Floor Bagless Stick Vacuum for its V shaped nozzle that corrals pet hair and dander into its innovative shape. The edges also push any hair that may be along wall and furniture edges into the center to be sure you can pick up all the hair. It swivels too making it easy to go around corners, couches, chairs, and other furniture. There are no attachments to stop and change and its bagless making it simple to use several times a week to keep up with stubborn pet hair. If you have pets, this vacuum is a must!

The other consideration for buying a vacuum for hardwood and other flat surface flooring is allergens. People coming into your home carry allergens from outside on their clothes and under their shoes and pets naturally have allergens that some people react to. Allergies can week havoc on your health so choosing a vacuum with not only great suction, but a HEPA filter system that's easy to clean and replace is a good option.

The Deik Vacuum Cleaner, 2 in 1 Cordless Vacuum has one of the highest geometric average pickup capabilities removing the finest particles of dust and allergens over other hard floor vacuums. It's designed with a HEPA filter that includes a sponge to lock in tiny particles that would normally be circulated back into the air in your home. This advanced HEPA filtration system does a great job keeping allergens and bacteria out of your air!

Keeping Your Home Clean Can Be Fast and Easy!

With all these great choices for cleaning your hardwood floors, you're bound to find one that works for you. Whether you prefer a canister vacuum, an upright, a lightweight stick vacuum, or the convenience of a robotic vacuum, our reviews will help you decide on the right vacuum. We're glad you visited and hope you found the information you needed.

The best vacuums for hardwood floors are listed here and with today's growing technology and contemporary design, vacuuming with the right vacuum is affordable and efficient!

FAQs

Why should I buy vacuums for hardwood floors?

Hardwood floors make your house look beautiful, but a normal vacuum can scratch up the beauty in seconds. The best hardwood floor vacuum are light weight and compact so the floor remains unscathed and clean. They are specifically made to keep your hardwood floor clean and undamaged.

Should I consider the weight while buying vacuum cleaner for hardwood floors?

Yes, the lighter the vacuum cleaner the easier it is to handle while cleaning the hardwood floor. However, some vacuum cleaners skip out on the required features to get less weight so keep an eye out on the additional information given

Can I clean the carpet and the hardwood floor continuously?

Many vacuums for hardwood floors have adjustable height. While transitioning from the floor to the carpet, the change in height will help you considerably. However, carpets need a higher suction power to be properly cleaned so don’t expect perfect results while vacuuming the carpets.