9 Best Vacuum Cleaners For Hardwood Floors [2021 Reviews]

If you have hardwood floors, we recommendations you to try a vacuum with soft roller technology and we sure you will agree that the long awaited problem of vacuuming can damage hardwood floors has finally been solved.

The best vacuums for hardwood floors are those that are lightweight and high-performing, providing a powerful suction of air to make sure that no traces of dirt will be left on the surface. It should not damage the hardwood floor while cleaning it.

During testing, we tended to fall in love with the Shark vacuum cleaner line as Dyson because with the Dyson you have to change out the soft roller head for the motor driven head if you come to a patch of carpet, because the soft roller on the Dyson is simply not capable of being run on carpet, whereas with the Shark Duoclean you just keep vacuuming while fillping a switch on the handle, as it preforms great on carpet as well.

Which Vacuum Cleaner Is Best For Hardwood Floors?

Best Uprights Vacuum For Hardwood Floors Recommendations:

1. Shark APEX AZ1002 DuoClean with Self-Cleaning Brushroll Lift-Away Upright Vacuum

2. Shark HV382 Rocket DuoClean Ultra-Light Corded (Non-Cordless) Bagless Carpet and Hard Floor with Hand Vacuum

Best Cordless Vacuum For Hardwood Floors Recommendations:

1 . Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute Lightweight Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner

2 . Dyson V8 Absolute Cordless Vacuum

3. Shark IONFlex 2X DuoClean Cordless Ultra-Light Stick Vacuum

After a thorough evaluation of some of the top products available on the market, our team came up with a list of recommendations, including the brands and models that are briefly discussed below.

Shark APEX AZ1002 DuoClean with Self-Cleaning Brushroll Lift-Away Upright Vacuum

Shark APEX DuoClean was packed with a ton of features including the Duoclean floor nozzle must-have in homes with many hard floors and the new Zero M technology, it has bright LED lights on the floor nozzle and one on the handle.

It has a noise reduction technology, as well as active glide technology which makes it easier to maneuver. It’s also a completely sealed system with HEPA filtration which is, unfortunately, rarer than it probably should be, as most vacuums out there leak badly even if they do have HEPA filters.

The Duo Clean system shines most on hard floor surfaces as it will pick up all surface dirt regardless if it’s hardwood or tile. It will pick up large debris and fine dust and even sand thanks to the soft roller bar.

If you have hard floors you need a vacuum with a soft roller period. But the Apex is great for carpets as well, you just flip the switch from the hard floor to its low or high pile carpet settings and it reduces the suction, and speeds up the brush roll for the same great performance on carpet.

Dyson V8 Absolute Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner

Dyson V8 Absolute direct-drive cleaner head is 150% more powerful than the V6, and the soft roller cleaner head lifts large debris and fine dust from hardwood floors, leaving a clean and polished look.

With the standard motorhead cleaner head, It did fantastic with all sizes of debris on hardwood floors. However, when vacuuming hard floors with larger debris you really need the Absolute version which comes with the soft brush or Fluffy cleaner head, because the standard motorhead really isn’t built for that. The soft brush is made for hard floors and it does an amazing job with everything from fine dust to large debris.

In low power with the cleaner head attached will net you an average of 33.5 minutes of trigger pressing per battery cycle. So yeah I love the V8 and think it is superior to any cordless I have tested so far with the exception of the V10. I would say that getting the soft brush or fluffy with the V8 Absolute is a must especially if you have hard floors.

Shark Navigator Freestyle Upright Stick Cordless Bagless Vacuum for Carpet, Hard Floor and Pet with XL Dust Cup and 2-Speed Brushroll (SV1106)

Its dust bin is fairly large with an open layout that isn’t prone to clogs and is easy to empty and to deep clean if necessary, it is perfect for cleaning even in large areas and there is no need to remove dirt from the container frequently.

On carpet and hard floors it picked up all the debris fields including fine debris and pet hair with no problems at all, and because of its large funnel gate on the floor nozzle it excelled with large and extra larger debris on both hard floors and carpet which is really important for vacuums of this type to do, since they don’t convert to a handheld or have any kind of hose to pick up large debris, so they need to be able to pick up large debris with just the cleaner head and the Shark Freestyle cordless does that very well.

It has a two-speed brush roll that can work both for carpets and hardwood or bare floors. It also has a powerful battery that can be fully charged within four hours. It has a footswitch that slows the brush and lowers the power for hard floors, which makes transitions easy.

Bissell PowerEdge Pet Hardwood Floor Bagless Cleaner, 81L2A Stick Vacuum

Bissell PowerEdge Pet Hardwood Floor has adjustable suction to accommodate a variety of tasks. It comes with a V-Shaped Foot to help safely clean large and small debris from your hard floors.

And it has a squeegee system with felt treads that won’t scratch surfaces like laminate. Owners praise this quiet canister vacuum for its ability to suck up fine dust and hairs from hardwood floors. It has a compact form factor, and it’s easy to operate. And although there’s no HEPA filter, the dirt bin is very easy to empty.

Shark NV356E S2 Navigator Lift-Away Professional Upright Vacuum

Most people have a combination of rugs and bare floors in their home, so it’s best to get a vacuum that can take care of both, and Shark Navigator NV356E S2 performed very well on hardwood floors—plus area rugs and carpets, too.

We prioritized this adaptability in our search for the overall best vacuums for hardwood floors. We also prioritized value, suction power, reliability, and versatile attachments for corners and crevices.

The Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro vacuum is a great machine for most homes and needs. This machine is designed to be lightweight when you need to carry it and get a deep-down clean at the same time. One of the ways the machine stays light is by allowing itself to “Lift-Away” from the base, by that I mean push a button on the side and it pops off the floor head, becoming a handheld canister.

The most important feature for vacuuming hardwood floors is a spinning brush roll that you can turn off to eliminate any chance of sending big crumbs flying across the room or even damaging the finish on certain types of flooring. On the Navigator Lift-Away, you turn the brush roll off with an easy flick of the power switch located behind the canister and turn it back on just as easily for cleaning carpets.

Bissell Hard Floor Expert Multi-Cyclonic Bagless Canister Vacuum, 1547

Bissell Hard Floor 1547 is designed to clean fine dust that clings to your flat surface floor like hardwood floors, linoleum tiles, ceramic tiles, etc… Some have said they wished it was motorized. If you need a motorized brush for your hardwood floors you have other issues. Maybe a wet mop is a solution to your problems.

The soft brush is supposed to agitate the fine dust on the floor and then suck it into the canister. If users have the hard floor attachment setup on the vacuum, a brush roll will spin, helping to lift dirt and debris as it sucks it up. This process also helps avoid not scratching hardwood floors as the bristles on the brush are soft.

Thanks to two different floor cleaning nozzles and additional cleaning attachments, Bissell 1547 cleans not only bare floors but also low-pile carpets, upholstery, stairs, and other surfaces from the floor to the ceiling. Only weighing in at 9.3 pounds, this Bissell vacuum is easy to move around. Therefore, users have more freedom to relocate the unit between cleanings, making cleaning more areas of the house much simpler.

Eureka WhirlWind Bagless Canister Cleaner NEN110A Lightweight Corded Vacuum for Carpets and Hard Floors

Eureka Whirlwind NEN110A is suitable for bare floors and low- and medium-pile carpets. It is a very affordable, lightweight vacuum cleaner, intended for smaller homes and apartments. This little vacuum has super powerful suction and is really lightweight.

I would only recommend it for hard floors. It has all the hard floors so this vacuum is perfect. I really don’t have to replace the bag very often either, which is surprising since it seems small.

Due to its design, it is very easy to vacuum underneath furniture. Despite this being a cheaper vacuum, the suction is deemed powerful by most users. The hose is super long which is a plus, compare to Dyson, Meile, Rainbow, Hoover, etc, this vacuum has as good of suction as the best of them.

eufy RoboVac 11S (Slim), Robot Vacuum Cleans Hard Floors to Medium-Pile Carpets

The eufy RoboVac 11S is an excellent choice if you want the robot vacuum cleaning ability and advanced features of a Roomba – with a budget under $250.

On hardwood floors the Eufy 11s is that it cleans remarkably well, I was particularly impressed with the Eufys pickup especially for a budget robot vacuum. It has a lot of power, we measured its airflow at 15 cfm on high and 10 cfm on low which was quite a bit more than its main competitor the Deebot N79s and it really showed on things like the crevice pickup test where it did as good or better than robot vacuums twice its price.

It comes to what matters – keeping your floors spotless – many customers say they’d actually prefer the eufy RoboVac 11S over a Roomba any day. It’s that good. In this model, eufy has boosted the suction power to ensure the vacuum can easily pick up dirt and pet hair on hard flooring and low-pile carpeting.

The eufy RoboVac 11S is a quiet and affordable high-powered robot vacuum cleaner that handles all kinds of dirt including pet hair with ease. Great for: Low-pile carpets, Vinyl, Hardwood, Tile, Linoleum and Pet hair. The Eufy 11s is one of the quietest robots I have personally ever tested.

iRobot Roomba E5 Robot Vacuum Ideal for Pet Hair, Carpets, Hard Floors

Is the Roomba good for hardwood floors? The Roomba E5 is an excellent choice if you are looking for a cheaper Roomba vacuum cleaner and hands-free vacuum click go on the unit itself or use the iRobot wifi app to control your robot vacuum, it cleans hardwood floors very well.

With Auto-Adjust Cleaning Head automatically adapts its height to effectively clean carpets & hard floors. The Roomba E5 was capable of cleaning hardwood floors as well as other bare floors like tile, laminate, vinyl, and concrete with ease.

The Roomba E5 uses a 3 stage cleaning system to get remove small or stuck hairs. First, it loosens all debris, lifts it with its edge sweeping brush coming out of the edge of the machine, and lifts it into the dustpan. The 3 stage cleaning is necessary because of how narrow, or hard to pick up hair can be even human hair! This is especially important if you have friends or family that suffer from pet allergies.

Tips For Buying The Best Vacuum Cleaner For Hardwood Floors?

An upright vacuum is a traditional design that is known for being powerful. It typically has more suction power compared to its stick counterparts. It is perfect for thick carpets but not recommended for hardwood floors.

If you are looking for one that is lightweight and versatile, on the other hand, you should opt for a stick vacuum. For the hardwood floor, its cleaning power will be more than enough. The parts can often be detached, and it can transform into a versatile cleaning tool.