Finding The Best Vacuum Cleaner For Hardwood in 2023

Hardwood floors are always high in-demand, and that’s why you always find a growing trend of hardwood vacuums being marketed to you left and right.

Hardwood FloorThere are so many different styles and models being introduced into the market each year that finding the best one for your home is becoming a long, tedious, and complicated task.

With so many choices available, it’s more important now than ever to understand what makes a vacuum “the best” for cleaning a hardwood floor.

Saving You Money

How do you find a great hardwood floor vacuum without spending more than you need to?

What are the features to look for, and what should you try to avoid?

These are some of the questions that will be answered in this article.

The goal is to help you find the best vacuum that’s specially designed for wood floors, without overspending, or regretting your choice afterwards.

Buying a Vacuum Cleaner Specifically For Hardwood?

Miele S2121 Hardwood VacuumBefore you even start looking at all the great vacuums available, you need to understand that vacuums are not only created differently in terms of quality, but also in terms of its purpose.

To get the most value out of your time and money, you need to avoid the countless hours that most people will spend researching “top rated vacuum cleaners” only to find out that it’s not even a hardwood vacuum.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that most of these highly rated vacuums got their high ratings because they work great as a general purpose cleaner. They do an excellent job cleaning carpets, but many of them are not designed with hardwood floors in mind.

Choosing a machine that’s not specifically designed for hardwood cleaning, can carry a real risk of damaging your valuable floor.

So, before you dive into your research and start looking at a bunch of customer reviews, make sure what you are looking at is actually suitable for hardwood floor surfaces.

Features to Look For in a Hardwood Vacuum

If there are no specific mentions anywhere in the description, you’ll want to check to see if it meets the following criteria:

  • No beater brushes – Check the head of the vacuum for any rotator brushes, which are usually covered with thick bristles. You want to avoid vacuums that have beater brushes because they are designed to dig into carpet fibers, and this can cause serious damage to a hardwood floor. There are some models that come with an on/off switch, which is nice, if you can remember to turn it off each time before you use it.
  • Rubber or felt stripe padding – This feature is a great way to ensure that the machine will not cause any accidental scratching.
  • Strong suction power – Having a strong suction strength is not only useful for carpeting, but also for hard surfaces where small particles can become engrained into the cracks.
  • Lightweight and compact – When it comes to delicate wood surfaces, you want to find a cleaner that’s preferably lightweight and compact. It’s not 100{13d535ddeae1a90f42b9ff1586906b2be87669b7e44aacb62d19711cfd014a97} necessary depending on the other features and aspects, but it does make it a lot easier to maneuver and reduces the risk of causing accidental scratches and scuff marks.

Picking Your Style

It goes without saying, but vacuums come in many different types and styles. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before buying:

There are a lot of canister, stick, backpack and handheld vacuum models that are considered lightweight vacuum cleaners. They tend to be favorites among hardwood floor owners because of the convenience, maneuverability, and ease of use that it provides.

Regardless of which vacuum type you choose to go with, the important thing is to make sure that it’s hardwood-friendly, and meets as many of the above mentioned criteria as possible. The last thing you want is to end up hating your vacuum cleaner because it destroyed your precious hardwood floor.

Price

No matter what you’re purchasing, price is something that almost always needs to be considered.

For many people, price is usually a determining factor. If you’re low on cash, or on a fixed budget, you can still purchase the best vacuum within a given price range once you know what features to look for.

There are many powerful and efficient vacuums offered at a number of different price points.

On the other hand, if you don’t have a budget limit, then by all means, go a little crazy. Just bare in mind that buying the most expensive vacuum outright doesn’t necessarily mean you are getting the best that money can buy.

Price is not the ultimate determining factor of quality when it comes to vacuum cleaners.

Should You Buy Online or at a Local Store?

There are pros and cons to both approaches.

Buying locally usually means you don’t pay any shipping charges, and you also get to physically touch it before buying.

Buying online can mean better availability, bigger discounts, better overall pricing, and the convenience of having it sent right to your doorstep.

To help get you started, here’s a quick comparison chart of the top 3 vacuums for hardwood floor based on customer ratings and reviews in 2023:

Top 3 Best Hardwood Floor Vacuum (Classic & New) Comparison Chart 2023:

 Top 3 Hardwood Vacuums
Overall Rating
(1 - 10)
PricePowerPerformanceWeightFeaturesCustomer Feedback
BISSELL Hard Floor Expert 1161BISSELL Hard Floor Expert 1161
9.2

9.5

8

9

10

9.5

9

Miele C1 Compact Canister Vacuum		Miele Compact C1 Pure Suction (S2121 Olympus)

9.1


7.5


9.5


10


10


8.5


9
Hoover Cyclonic Stick SH20030Hoover Corded Cyclonic SH20030
8.3

10

6.5

8

10

7

8

*Click on any vacuum cleaner above to see customer feedback reviews and price on Amazon.com