22 Best Vacuum for Hardwood Floors Options | Dyson, Tineco, Shark, and more

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In addition, the Tineco Pure One uses iLoop Smart Sensor Technology to automatically adjust the suction power when it detects invisible dust and debris. However, the voice prompts and animation are helpful for first-time users. The vacuum’s technology also separates dust and air to avoid suction loss and pre-filter clogging, and uses LED headlights on the brush to see into corners and under furniture. An anti-tangle roller brush and five-stage HEPA filtration system are other handy features. The vacuum also has three attachments, including the mini-power brush, two-in-one dust brush, and crevice tool—which can be used on couches and other upholstered items. The freestanding charging base neatly holds the vacuum and accessories.

Who enjoys cleaning individual vacuum components? I love the Shark Pet Plus Lightweight Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner (and also the Shark Rocket Pet Pro) because the floor nozzle has a self-cleaning brushroll and PowerFins. The soft brushroll and PowerFins work together to pick up debris and ensure that no hair gets tangled up in the vacuum. The fins are made of flexible silicone instead of bristles, so it’s easy on hard surfaces, and the LED light on the floor nozzle helps me find more dirt than I would care to know about. The Shark Pet Plus uses anti-allergen complete-seal technology and a HEPA filter to keep all of the dust and debris inside of the vacuum. It’s super easy to empty the dust cup: Just slide the Clean Touch Dirt Ejector lever down and the trash comes out. The lightweight vacuum lasts 40 minutes and includes a crevice tool and pet multitool.

Most of the cordless stick vacuums on our list can clean both hardwoods (and other hard floors) as well as carpets. However, I particularly like the Dreametech R20 because it has a soft roller brush as well as a multi-surface brush that can be used on both carpets and hard floors.

Auto dirt detection determines the dirt level and automatically boosts power and suction as needed, and the LED lights on the brush roller can illuminate dirt in dimly-lit areas. Attachments can be added to the extension wand to clean high areas, such as ceiling fans, or used to clean upholstery and the 90 minute runtime lets me swap out the anti-tangle brushes and finish cleaning my home before I need to recharge the vacuum. When not in use, the vac and accessories can be stored in the wall-hanging storage mount.

We tend not to test “cheap” vacuums. Instead, we look for economical choices that are still high-quality items with the features you want. The Bissell CleanView XR fits the bill. It has a tangle-free brushroll to keep hair from getting snarled, and it has three cleaning modes—standard, medium, and turbo—to fit various needs. The LED headlights illuminate dirt in hidden places and the vacuum has swivel steering features, meaning it easily maneuvers around furniture legs. It can easily convert to a handheld model, allowing me to use the crevice tool, combination dusting brush, and upholstery tool. Run time is only 35 minutes—but at this price, you can purchase an additional battery and swap them out.

The Shark Wandavac Vacuum is quite slim, which makes it ideal for tight spaces, like cleaning the floor space in between my appliances and in the corners of rooms. The filtration technology grabs everything from dust to larger objects. And because it’s so compact, I can set it practically anywhere to charge. The Wandavac is also available in a variety of colors, including blue, green, navy, graphite, cove, and rose gold.

The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI cordless stick vacuum cleaner actually looks like a work of art, so it’s not only one of the best cordless vacuums (based on our very hands-on experience), but also one of the best-looking. The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI comes in a gorgeous satin black color and has an AI cleaning mode that detects the floor time and adjusts suction accordingly. The space-saving clean station charger holds the vacuum when not in use, and when docked, the clean station automatically empties the vacuum’s dustbin. There’s also a separate accessory cradle to hold the combination and crevice tools, pet tool, flexible tool, and dust bags. The vacuum itself has strong suction, a dual brush for cleaning both hard floors and carpet, and the battery lasts up to 100 minutes.

The LG Cordless A9 Kompressor is our choice for the best all around cordless stick vacuum. However, we think the LG Cord Zero All-in-One Auto Empty Cordless Stick Vacuum has the best storage, charging, and self-emptying features. The vacuum has many of the same cool features as the A9 Kompressor, such as the telescopic wand, power nozzle for both hardwood floors and carpets, 2-in-1 combination tool, and crevice tool. It also has a washable cyclone and filters, power mop nozzle, and can be easily transformed into a handheld vac. However, this model also includes a tower that holds not only the vacuum, but also all of the attachments. And my favorite feature is the auto-empty feature. When I place the stick vacuum cleaner on the dock, and press auto empty, the debris goes into a disposable bag so I never have to touch the bin’s contents. The battery can last up to 120 minutes.

Cordless stick vacuums that both vacuum and mop are becoming more popular, but the Roborock Dyad Pro 5-in-1 is ahead of the curve. It vacuums and mops hardwood floors at the same time, using dual motors and intense suction. The vacuum also has two water tanks to separate the clean water coming out of the machine from the dirty water being collected. The vacuum can be used with water alone, or there’s an option to add Roborock’s floor cleaner solution. The vacuum even has a floor drying mode for cleaning up water from the bathroom floor. Self-cleaning mode makes cleaning even easier: After placing the vacuum cleaner on the dock and activating the self-clean function, it cleans the rollers so I don’t have to, and then dries them. The Roborock Dyad has a 35-minute battery life and is compatible with voice alerts. At the time of publication, it was also the only “true” wet/dry cordless vacuum that can also be converted to a handheld and used with the motorized mini-brush, crevice tool, and dusting brush.

The Dreame R20 isn’t necessarily the most economical choice at $500. However, it’s hundreds of dollars less than competitors with similar features. For starters, the stylish, mountable design makes it look more expensive than it actually is. The vacuum cleaner also has a 90-minute battery life and uses LED optic technology to shine a light in dark spaces. Since it has interchangeable brush heads, I tend to choose the soft roller when vacuuming hardwoods. Here’s something else I found impressive: Accessories include a motorized brush, wide combination tool, and crevice nozzle, but the vacuum also has a flexible adapter. This allows me to curve the attachments to reach into awkward places.

It takes considerably longer to clean the hardwood floors in a large home. However, the Dyson Gen5 Outsize is designed to make the process quicker and easier. The digital motorbar cleaner head on this model is 25% wider than on some of Dyson’s other cordless stick vacuums. Although I don’t have a large home, the wider cleaner head allows me to cover more space, which results in faster vacuuming (and it has detangling vanes to stop hair from getting wrapped around it). However, most of the time I’m using the regular-size fluffy optic cleaner head, which includes an angled light blade to reveal invisible dust. And since the Dyson Gen5 Outsize also has a larger vacuum bin, I never have to stop and empty it. Dyson also includes two swappable batteries. Each one lasts for 70 minutes, which provides a total of 140 minutes of battery life. In addition, the vacuum can convert to a handheld to use with the built-in dusting tool and the crevice tool.

I instantly fell in love with the Mach V1 Ultra cordless stick vacuum, because it can vacuum, mop, and steam hardwood floors at the same time (read the full Mach 1 Ultra review). But believe it or not, the best feature is not that it can vacuum my floor, that I can choose between mopping or steam cleaning, or the fact that I can clean wet and dry messes at the same time. The best feature isn’t even the cool animated tutorial with voice prompts—it’s the self-cleaning system. After putting the vacuum cleaner on the base, it will wash, disinfect, and sterilize the rolling brush, tube, and vacuum body—then dry itself.

Some people like the idea of one vacuum that vacuums and mops hardwood floors—but they’d rather have these functions completely separated. If that’s your preference, the Dyson V15 Detect Submarine actually has three swappable cleaner heads. There’s the digital motorbar cleaner head for multi floor use, the fluffy optic cleaner head for hardwood floors, and the submarine wet roller head. But instead of loading water into a water tank on the vacuum, the water is poured directly into (and subsequently contained within) the wet roller head. And since the vacuum has the same articulating head used on Dyson’s other stick vacuums, I found it easy to swivel around furniture legs and reach underneath furniture when mopping. There’s also a drip tray to store the wet roller head on, and the vacuum includes (dry use) accessories, such as the combination tool, crevice tool, and hair screw tool.

Meg Kernahan, senior manager of commerce partnerships here at Condé Nast, has an Electrolux Ergorapido Stick Pet vacuum and she loves it. Meg has a dog who sheds like crazy and a toddler who loves to make a mess—she says her floors have seen better days. “I use this vacuum daily to quickly clean up food scraps after dinner,” she tells me. “I love how the head pivots smoothly and responsively around tight turns underneath a high chair and into nooks and crannies below kitchen cabinets.” Meg has also swapped her broom for this vacuum to pick up dog hair. “The head features a light that clearly shows where attention is needed—sometimes the dog hair blends in with the floor, and this ensures I never miss a spot.” She also loves that the vacuum is lightweight and stores upright on a sleek charger. The vacuum has a runtime of 48 minutes and includes a short crevice tool and a small dusting brush.

We don’t usually include upright vacuums on this list since they’re much heavier than stick vacuums and can damage hardwoods. However, the Shark Stratus is our favorite upright vacuum (it’s also our favorite corded choice as well). The Shark Stratus uses a dual roller system that includes rubbery power fins to capture dust, working in concert with a soft roller to polish floors. And when the pod is detached, the vacuum is low enough to fit under furniture. It’s also versatile enough to be used with the dusting brush, pet crevice tool, and self-cleaning pet power brush to clean the ceiling and upholstered areas.

Robot Vacuums

The Sharp IQ Self-Empty Base Robot Vacuum has everything I wanted—and more—when searching for the best vacuums for hardwood floors. For starters, I can go a month without having to empty it; I don’t, but I could. That’s because the robot empties itself into the base, and it can hold 30 days of dirt. The beauty of robot vacuums is that they don’t require much human interaction except for mapping your home and emptying the vacuum. But Sharp eliminates the latter task for a very long time. It even has a self-cleaning brushroll to ensure that pet hair won’t get tangled in it. And when the robot vac needs to recharge, it does that on its own as well, and then picks up cleaning where it left off. Since the robot uses IQ navigation, it cleans in an orderly row-by-row fashion, instead or zigzagging all over the place. After I mapped my home, I was able to schedule cleanings via my iPhone. The robot vac can also be activated using Alexa or Google Assistant. The battery lasts over 90 minutes.

Back when there were only a handful of robots that could vacuum and mop, we thought the Roborock S7 was the best robot vacuum money could buy. The company continues to set the standard with the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra. The vacuum has strong suction and a sonic mopping system, so it can remove even dried stains and dirt. My favorite feature is the two-way video that lets me see what’s happening at home when I’m away (and you could even use it to view and talk to your pets). The camera also serves to identify objects on the floor and avoid them—in addition to avoiding carpets. The Roborock S7 Max V Ultra automatically empties dust into the dock (and holds up to seven weeks of dust), and it also automatically cleans the brushes, washes the mop, and refills the water tank. Battery runtime is 180 minutes.

One criticism of robot vacuums is that their round shape makes it impossible to clean in corners. The Deebot X2 Omni Robot Vacuum is the solution to that problem: The square-shaped robot can boldly go where other robot vacs can’t, eliminating dust and mopping in corners and along walls. Using an intelligent mopping system, it can distinguish between carpet and hard floors and lift the mop accordingly. The vacuum cleaner can also lift itself to cross thresholds and recognize and avoid obstacles on the floor. And it’s self-emptying—the mopping pads clean themselves (with hot water) and then are auto-dried.

The Eufy X8 Pro Robotic Vacuum is designed, among other things, to be a pet hair magnet. It does this by using twin-turbine suction technology to capture hair wherever it may be, helped along by the roller brush that’s able to uncover hair (and other debris) hiding in cracks and tiles. The roller brush also unsnarls hair automatically—so you don’t have to do it yourself. I like that it uses AI to create a map of my home, which results in a highly efficient cleaning process that also avoids obstacles in the floor. The vacuum comes with a self-empty station that can hold roughly 45 days worth of debris in an antibacterial dust bag.

If you’re looking for a more economical choice for the best vacuums for hardwood floors, consider the Ultenic D5S Pro Robot Vacuum. It pleasantly surprised me for more than one reason. For starters, it has a simultaneous mopping function that effectively dispenses water, and it can distinguish between carpets and hard floors to adjust suction power accordingly. In addition, the robot vac runs for 120 minutes and will return to the charging dock when low, then continue cleaning where it left off. The Ultenic D5S also creates accurate maps and allows me to set no-go zones. The robot vac can be used controlled via the Ultenic app, and also through Alexa and Google Home.

The iRobot Roomba Combo j7+ makes it easy to clean up behind pets. That’s because it uses smart scrub technology, which means that it can scrub in both back and forth motions, and it applies 1.6 pounds of pressure to remove paw prints and other messes created by your beloved pets. It’s intelligent enough to recognize carpet and lift the mopping pads accordingly, so you don’t have to stop and change cleaning modes. Obstacle avoidance and dirt detect technology allow the robot vacuum to provide more functionality, and it can be used with your smartphone and paired with Alexa and Google Assistant for voice commands.

What type of vacuum is right for your home?

Paul says the best way to maintain hardwood flooring is by vacuuming or sweeping them. “Vacuuming is optimal, as sweeping makes the dust/pathogens go up in the air, only to come back down.”