Okay, so the first vacuum that’s best for hardwood floors that I’ve found is the Electrolux EL6985A. This is a fantastic vacuum that’s gotten nothing but rave reviews from most people who have used them on hardwood flooring. This is actually a canister type vacuum that is also an upright. While upright vacuums aren’t always the best to use on a hardwood floor, in this case it’s actually a solid choice. You can actually retract the cleaning brush so that it doesn’t scratch the floor, and with only 9 amps of power, it’s not going to cause any damage to the floor itself. It has a good assortment of attachments, including a 6 foot hose that has a 3 foot telescoping tube for easy cleaning of your hardwood floor. These attachments are important because even though the vacuum will work fine on hardwood, even the rolling motion over the floor can scratch it. Use these attachments as much as possible; your floor will thank you. This is a pretty expensive vacuum, coming in with a price tag of $299.99. It’s a little much, but if you really want to keep your floor clean it’s a good investment.

The next vacuum that’s best for hardwood floors is the Dirt Devil Breeze. Unlike the Electrolux this vacuum doesn’t actually have bags (nice not to keep having to buy those!). This features a 12 amp power system that’s slightly more powerful than the Electrolux, and also has rotating bristles that are designed not to damage your hardwood flooring. I would be a little careful with this, however.

While it’s supposed to not scratch your floor, you should really try it on a hidden area before using it on the rest of your floor. If nothing else, at least use the attachments that come with it instead of the bristles before you really know that it won’t do damage. This is much cheaper than the Electrolux as well, pricing in at $154. This is also a great budget vacuum that shouldn’t scratch your hardwood floors.

Shopping:

Bissell Flip-It Bare Floor Cleaner, 5200

Hoover FloorMate Spinscrub 800 Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner with Tools, H3060

iRobot 53501 Roomba 500 Series Vacuum Cleaning Robot with Self-Charging Home Base

Neato XV-11 All Floor Robotic Vacuum System

1 & 1/4 inches DELUXE FLOOR BRUSH for most vacuums

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Alright, so what’s up with this? How can a vacuum actually scratch a hardwood or vinyl floor? Well, it’s simple really: The rotating brush on the bottom can be made of substances that don’t really work well with wood. Any of these brushes made out of plastic or vinyl will probably scratch the wood, so make sure before you do any vacuuming that you go ahead and take a feel first. If they feel rough to the touch, you may definitely consider getting a separate vacuum for your hardwood floor and keeping that one in the closet until it’s time to clean the carpets. You don’t want to take that risk on an expensive floor.

So, what should you look for in a vacuum that’s meant to be used on a hardwood floor? You should look for a couple things: First, you should look for a vacuum that has softer bristles. Sometimes you can find higher-end vacuum cleaners that will have brushes made out of a material that feels a little nicer to the touch. You can try using one of these on an unseen area of your hardwood floor (if you have such an area) before going ahead and using it on the rest of it. That’s probably the best “bandaid” fix to this. If you’re really serious about not causing your floor any damage, you should look for a vacuum cleaner that has a way to pull the brush roller up off the floor.

These are pretty common these days, and can be found in low- and high-end vacuums. If you’re going to use your vacuum cleaner on any sort of had surface such as wood or certain types of tile, you need to invest in one of these. We discussed the Eureka Boss vacuum in one of our last posts, if you remember. That vacuum does have that capability, so check it out if you want to save a lot of money on your repair costs. The Eureka costs $150, which is much less than what you’d spend on a new floor!

Hopefully this post has helped you decide whether or not your vacuum cleaner can be used on hardwood floors. If in doubt, consult the manual.

Shopping:

Swiffer SweeperVac Starter Kit

1 & 1/4 inches DELUXE FLOOR BRUSH for most vacuums

DELUXE HARD FLOOR BRUSH, fits MIELE and BOSCH canister vacuums.

Hoover H3000 Floor Mate Hard-Floor Cleaner

Neato XV-11 All Floor Robotic Vacuum System

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Okay, so drumroll please. Based on online reviews, we think the best vacuum for the job is the Eureka Boss SmartVac 4870MZ. This is based on a survey done by consumersearch.com, which put to the test 36 different types of vacuums on both carpet and hard wood. This vacuum outperformed all of the other vacuums in its class and became the #1 finisher. That’s pretty good, right? Well, let’s talk about some of the pros and cons.

Some of the pros of the Eureka Boss SmartVac are pretty standard for any high-end vacuum. Its performance was impeccable in tests; it was quick to pick up dirt, grime, and pet hair without a hitch, which can’t be said about every other type of vacuum reviewed (most barely made it through the first round!). Especially noted was its ability to pick up pet hair and dander. If you’re allergic to animals (I know I am), a solid vacuum such as this is going to go a long way to ensuring that you’ll go allergy-free for the entire season. Another great thing reviewed about this Eureka is that it’s got a wide variety of on-board attachments. If you need to be able to get into a corner, suck up dirt on the ceiling (hey, things can get up there ), or just make sure your stairs are clean, this probably has just the attachment to make it happen. Most vacuums come with just one or two; this comes with more.

Another thing heralded about this hardwood and carpet vacuum is that it’s quiet. While most vacuums its size will scare the cat and make the dog turn into a crazy animal, this one probably won’t. This is important also if you have a small child in the house; while he or she is sleeping, you can still get some housework done. That helps out!

Even the best vacuum for hardwood floors has its down sides: It’s heavy. At 21 pounds it may be a bit difficult to take up and down the stairs. Have no fear, though: We think that even with this weight, its pros outweigh the cons.

Shopping:

Bissell 1867 Steam Mop Bare Floor Steam Cleaner

Bona Hardwood Floor Mop Bundle Kit, 1 Replacement Microplus Pads, 1 Refill Cartridge Stone, Tile, and Laminate Floor Cleaning, Qualifies For !

Eureka 4870MZ Boss Smart-Vac Upright HEPA Vacuum Cleaner

Eureka 4870GZ Boss Smart-Vac Upright Vacuum

Eureka 4870 Boss SmartVac Upright Vacuum - Radiant Red

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I want to get started on the right foot, so I want to start out with some of the vacuums I think will be best suited for your new hardwood floors (after all, if you’ve had these floors for quite some time you probably wouldn’t be reading this site ):

The Eureka 96D is a great hardwood vacuum from the reviews we’ve read on the subject. It’s an upright vacuum, so there’s no crawling around on the floor or lugging it around on your back. This is pretty common though for floor cleaning with household vacuums so that shouldn’t be any surprise. What people really love about this Eureka is that it’s very lightweight; it weighs in at less than five pounds so you don’t need to be worrying about hurting your back or having trouble making tight turns around in your kitchen or dining room. That’s probably one of the biggest concerns, so you know you’re covered there.

The other great thing about the 96D is that it’s more or less a rotating brush design. The motorized brushes at the bottom of the vacuum lift dirt and sediment up off the floor and move it into the vacuum itself. When it’s time to clean out the bag, you just toss out the old one and put in a new one. Simple as that. The only real downside to this vacuum is that it’s not a “wet/dry” system. Many hardwood floor vacuums have a wet mode that allow you to really scrub deep down before you sweep away the dirt. However, for $36 this isn’t such a bad deal. Before you get started you can usually just mop your floors to get the dirt up, let it dry, then use this Eureka vacuum. Either way, it’s still a solid buy.

Shopping:

Swiffer SweeperVac Starter Kit

1 & 1/4 inches DELUXE FLOOR BRUSH for most vacuums

Hoover H3000 Floor Mate Hard-Floor Cleaner

Neato XV-11 All Floor Robotic Vacuum System

Electrolux vacuum filter pack for Eureka 430 series

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