The best vacuum for hardwood floors is an essential purchase if you’ve rejected carpet in favor of more solid flooring, and want to ensure that it keeps on looking good for years on end. Hardwood floors are a lot easier to maintain than carpeting simply because they don’t absorb dust and dirt the way that carpet does, but they still need regular cleaning, and it pays to pick the right vacuum.
Not all of the best vacuum cleaners are a good choice if you have hardwood floors. Many feature bristles on their brushrolls that’ll eventually scratch up your shiny flooring, while running heavier upright vacuums over your hard floor regularly can be similarly damaging. The ideal vacuum for hardwood floors is something relatively lightweight with a soft brushroll, and it doesn’t need to pack a huge amount of suction because it’s not having to suck dust out of a deep carpet pile. (Our guide to how to clean a hardwood floor is worth checking out if you’re not sure how a vacuum fits in in the first place.)
We’ve picked out five great vacuums for hard floors, with options for most requirements and budgets. Each one has been put through its paces by one of our expert reviewers, and we’ll explain exactly what’s so good about every model, not to mention pointing out reasons why it might not be right for you. Got all that? Then read on to discover the best vacuums for hardwood floors.
The quick list
1. Shark Detect Pro Cordless
Best overall
The Shark Detect Pro Cordless might fall short on suction compared with other options, but on hard floors it’ll clean up a treat. It’s flexible enough to reach anywhere and it’ll even empty its own bin.
Best premium
With a Fluffy Optic floorhead designed specifically for hard floors, plus laser illumination, incredible suction and a battery that lasts for ages, this high-end Dyson is an outstanding choice if you can stretch to the higher price.
3. Shark Stratos Corded Stick
Best budget
The power cord on this nicely-priced Shark might put some off, but if you can cope with being tethered to a power outlet you’ll be rewarded with versatility, lots of power and fresh-smelling floors.
4. Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni
Best robot
For minimum-effort upkeep of your hardwood floor, consider splashing out on this capable robovac. It’ll not only vacuum your floors but mop them too, while you get on with other things.
Best for pet hair
The Samsung Jet 85 might not look very exciting but it’s light, maneuverable and perfect for picking up pet hair, and while it’s not so good on carpet it’s brilliant at leaving hard floors spotless.
The best vacuum for hardwood floors in 2024 – as chosen by experts
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Best vacuum for hardwood floors overall
We rate the Shark Detect Pro Cordless as the best cordless vacuum, and while this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s also the best vacuum for hardwood floors, it performs equally well on hard floors and carpet. This makes it an excellent choice regardless of whether you have exclusively hardwood floors or a combination of hard floors, carpets and rugs.
The Detect Pro Cordless automatically adjusts its power depending on the floor type its cleaning, so it won’t miss a thing on hard floors, and its LED headlights mean that you can easily spot areas that need particular attention (note they are much less bright than those on the Dyson at #2). Our reviewer found that the Detect Pro Cordless did a good job of cleaning edges and corners, and was pleased to noted that its flexible wand made it easy to get under furniture where dust, hair and debris tend to gather if you have mostly hard flooring.
Another welcome feature with the Shark Detect Pro Cordless is the optional auto-emptying base station, freeing you from the never-pleasant task of emptying its dustbin yourself; instead you’ll simply have to deal with a more convenient dustbag every few weeks.
It’s worth noting, though, that for all its benefits, the Detect Pro Cordless won’t give you the sheer suction power of a corded vac, but that matters a lot less on hard floors than it would on carpet. It’s also a little light on attachments with just a crevice tool included with the base model, and no dedicated hard floor floorhead as is included with the pricier Dyson (#2).
Read our full Shark Detect Pro Cordless vacuum cleaner review
Best premium vacuum for hardwood floors
The Gen5detect is Dyson’s most technologically advanced vacuum cleaner, which also means that it’s the most expensive stick vacuum in the lineup. But if you have a bigger budget, the best vacuum for hardwood floors is undoubtedly the Dyson Gen5detect.
What matters is the fact that the Gen5detect excels at cleaning hard floors, and that’s largely thanks to its purpose-built Fluffy Optic cleaner floorhead. This floorhead features a super-soft, washable brushroll that gets right up close to your hardwood floors without scratching them up, and also packs laser illumination to help you spot dust and dirt that you might otherwise miss. This, combined with exceptional suction power, makes the Dyson Gen5detect an absolute whizz on hardwood floors.
In our review we also found that the Gen5detect is quite heavy and rather awkward to use in handheld mode, and while it has a lot of fancy features, including real-time monitoring of what it’s picking up via its LCD screen, you might find it all a little overkill if all you want is something to keep your floors clean. In which case there are other options that clean as well for a lower price. The model down is also well worth considering for hardwood floors – read about it in our Dyson V15 Detect review or see what you’re sacrificing for the (slightly) lower price tag in our Dyson Gen5detect vs V15 Detect comparison.
Read our full Dyson Gen5detect review
Best cheap vacuum for hardwood floors
While cordless vacuum cleaners seem to have become the de facto standard these days, if you want maximum suction at the lowest price then a corded model is the way to go. What you lose in cordless freedom you’ll gain in power (as well as never having to worry about the battery dying mid-clean), and you’ll also find that the lack of a built-in battery makes a corded model lighter and more maneuverable. And if you want an affordable option that excels on hardwood floors, we’d recommend the Shark Stratos Corded Stick vacuum (sold as the Shark Stratos Corded Stick Pet Pro in the UK).
Its LED-lit floorhead features two brushrolls – one with bristles and a soft fabric one for hard floors – and the Shark Stratos Corded will run in either carpet or hard floor mode to give you optimum results on any floor type. Our reviewer was seriously impressed by the vacuum’s power and how well it picked up everything from fine dust to larger debris, and was equally delighted by the Stratos’ odor-neutralizer technology, which left his floors feeling and smelling a lot more fresh than he expected.
The Shark Stratos Corded’s modular design means it can work as a stick vac and as a handheld, and it’s light enough to use comfortably in any configuration. The only real downside is its small dust canister that’s quite fiddly to detach, something you’ll have to do a lot over the course of a deep clean.
Read our full Shark Stratos Corded stick vacuum review
Best robot vacuum for hardwood floors
A robot vacuum can be a real time-saver for staying on top of cleaning with next-to-no effort required from you. They almost always have less suction than manual vacuums, and are designed for staying on top of regular, light cleaning rather than deep cleans, but that typically won’t be an issue for hard floors, which tend to be undemanding to clean. Our best robot vacuum guide has all our favorites, but for the purposes of this roundup, the Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni is our top pick for hardwood floors.
It delivers reliably good vacuuming but can also mop, meaning you can take care of more demanding cleaning tasks. Some mopping robots can sling a lot of water around (which is bad news if your floors are real hardwood rather than wood effect), and the quality of mopping can be variable, but on test we found the Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni consistently did a good job.
Our reviewer noted that it’s not very often that you’ll find a robot that both vacuums and mops well, but the Deebot T20 Omni does just that. Not only does it pick up all manner of dirt and debris in an orderly fashion, it also mops evenly without leaving streaks or pools of water, thanks to a pair of mopping pads that both spin and apply downward pressure. They’ll also lift off the floor when not in use, and the Deebot T20 Omni’s base station will even wash them using hot water so you’ll be sure they’re not simply spreading dirt about.
Make no mistake, the Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni is an expensive option and it won’t do everything for you; it’s not amazing at cleaning edges, which means you’ll occasionally have to get out a full size vac for a proper deep clean, and washing the mop pads generates a lot of dirty water that you’ll have to empty regularly. You’ll struggle to find a robot vac that does a better job on hardwood floors, though.
Read our full Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni robot vacuum and mop review
Best vacuum for hardwood floors and pet hair
If you share your home with a lot of pets, keeping on top of all that loose hair is a constant struggle, and the Samsung Jet 85 is the best vacuum for hardwood floors that copes well with pet hair. We reviewed the Pet version of the this vacuum, which comes with a mini motorized pet tool for removing fur from furniture, but what you need to know about if you’re cleaning hardwood floors is the Complete version, which features a cleaning head designed for hard floors.
The Samsung Jet 85 delivers a whole lot of suction; in fact our reviewer found that its maximum Jet mode was so powerful that you’d be hard pushed to find any real use for it. In its less powerful modes it did an excellent job of picking up all manner of dirt on hard floors, although it struggled with finer detritus on carpets. The Jet 85 is nicely maneuverable, too, and gets under furniture smoothly; it works just as well in handheld mode, too. It also features a five-step filtration system that’s good news for allergy sufferers, and its well-sized dustbin is easy to remove and empty without having to fish bits out with your fingers.
The Samsung Jet 85 is available in the UK but not in the US. If you’re in the US, the Samsung Jet 75 offers comparable performance at a similar price.
Read our full Samsung Jet 85 Pet vacuum cleaner review
How to choose the best vacuum for hardwood floors
While the Shark Detect Pro Cordless at #1 in our list might be the best vacuum for hardwood floors overall, it might not necessarily be the best option for you. To choose a vacuum that’ll give you the best results, you’ll need to think about a few things.
Firstly, consider just what type of hardwood floor you have. If you have solid wood flooring that isn’t coated or sealed, you’ll need to treat it gently, and that means choosing a lightweight stick vacuum with a soft brushroll. If you have wood-look flooring or coated/sealed wood, you can afford to use a larger upright model, which also means you’ll benefit from extra suction and a larger bin capacity.
Secondly, think about how much of your flooring is hardwood and how much is carpet or rugs. It’s likely you’ll have at least some carpet in your home, in which case you’ll need a vacuum that can clean well on all surfaces; most vacs have adjustable floor settings and some will automatically change power settings depending on floor type.
Finally, look at how well each vacuum cleans around edges. While on carpet, dirt, hair and dust tends to stay where it is, when you have hard floors it tends to gather along edges, so you need a vacuum with strong edge performance. Another place all the dirt tends to accumulate is under furniture, so make sure you pick a vac that’s flexible enough to clean beneath your sofa.
Is vacuuming good for hardwood floors?
Keeping your hardwood floor clean is definitely a great way to ensure that it looks good and lasts a long time, but is vacuuming the best way to do that? As our guide to how to clean a hardwood floor explains, the ideal way to keep a hardwood floor clean is to sweep it daily with a soft broom or a dry microfiber mop to see off dust, and to vacuum it more thoroughly on a weekly basis.
Picking the right vacuum means that you’re highly unlikely to scratch or damage your hardwood floor while cleaning it, and all of our picks will keep things spotless without ruining your hard floor’s surface. So go ahead and vacuum (but also think about occasionally mopping and, less often, polishing your hardwood floor so that it looks even better).
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jim.mccauley@futurenet.com (Jim McCauley)
