Hi my name is Don and I am the author of Best Vacuum for Hardwood Floors.

Firstly I welcome you to my website which I hope you find useful in you search for a new vacuum cleaner.

In a hurry, click on one of the following links: Best Canister Vacuum for Hardwood Floors or Best Upright Vacuum for Hardwood Floors.

Best Vacuum for Hardwood Floors

Before you begin your search I just want to give you a little background information on myself and why I am qualified to provide you with this information.

For the last 20+ years I have worked in retail or hardware stores and from as long ago as I can remember I was always interested in electrical goods and this is where I have focused my attention and am now the ‘go to guy’ in my neighbourhood for advice as well as fixing  these cleaners to ensure they keep on cleaning the way my friends expect them to.

I know what a pain it can be to find a hoover that won’t leave you frustrated by its lack of suction, power, accessories or just ability s0 I have included only those that are the best. I personally will not include those that I think are not good enough to do a great job and keep your hardwood floors in good condition and free from potential marks or scuffs.

Best Vacuum Cleaner for Pet Hair

I know how important it is for pet lovers to have a reliable cleaner too, I have a dog and the hair and mess can be relentless at times. Therefore I also include vacuum cleaners that will do a great job of sucking up pet hair too.

Click on the following link to view the recommended hoovers: Best Vacuum for Pet Hair

The recommendations also state if the cleaners are good for your wooden floors too.

Best Vacuum Cleaner for Carpets and Rugs

Now while this site is primarily focused on finding the best vacuum for hardwood floors it also includes some hoovers that are great on carpets and rugs too. There are some wood floor vacuum cleaners that also do a great job on your carpets, rugs and upholstery and so have provided my recommendations on these too.

You can find a link in the bar on the right or click the following link to go straight to the: Best Vacuum Cleaner for Carpets

Coming Soon to Best Vacuum for Hardwood Floors

I hope you like the site and most importantly find it useful in your search.

Coming soon to best vacuum for hardwood floors dot com will be recommendations for Electrolux vacuum cleaners and the UltraSilencer. It may also include a section on robotic cleaners and notifications so that I can let you know when there are special offers and discounts.

The Hoover WindTunnel T-Series UH70120 is not your ordinary hardwood floor vacuum cleaner, in fact it’s not really a vacuum cleaner for hardwood floors at all but we decided to provide you with some great alternatives if you’re looking for a traditional vacuum cleaner that is great on carpets and picks up pet hair easily too.

Click one the following links if you are specifically looking for the Best Upright Vacuum Cleaner for Hardwood Floors or the Best Canister Vacuum for Hardwood Floors.

It is stylish, packed with accessories and has the power to lift dirt from your carpet you didn’t even now was there. Here’s a couple of consumer reviews that blew us away.

I was embarassed after seeing what this vacuum got out of my rugs and carpets. Apparently I might as well have not been vacuuming the past 10 years. I did a test and used my old vacuum on a rug we just bought 5 months ago, and then used this new Hoover. Vacuumed with the old one, with a brand new bag in it…ok. Vacuumed with the Hoover, OMG!!! Where was all that dirt/dust/hair hiding??? Review paraphrased, read full review here

Hoover WindTunnel T-Series UH70120 Review:

As stated above this vacuum cleaner is not one for hardwood floors but it is a great cleaner for carpets and rugs. It is an upright cleaner that sucks dirt and dust up into the appliance and keeps it there, not only sucking up dust and dirt you can’t see but also minimizing blowback and scatter back on to your floors.

Current owners love the power and results they are seeing with the UH70120, so much so that we were easily able to find hundreds of positive reviewers.

It comes with some great attachments too which we’ll get to shortly so please read on to see why we think this is a great upright vacuum cleaner and for a great price too.

Bagless & HEPA

The WindTunnel T-Series UH70120 is a bagless model that requires very little attention or maintenance and is even very simple to put together requiring just one screw to get going.

This bagless model like most is best emptied outside or submerged into a bin especially if you haven’t used one before. This particular model has a bottom that flips out and if you’re not aware of this and not ready for it then you can easily make a mess.

The UH70120 is also fitted with a HEPA filter which will leave your rooms feeling very clean by picking up particles that other vacuum cleaners cannot, a must have for allergy sufferers. It is also simple to clean rinsing it under running water and the vacuum even has an indicator that lets you know when you need to clean it too.

Power, Noise & Size

This model is a 12 amp upright vacuum cleaner and the power combined with the technology makes it a great appliance for picking up anything and everything lying on your floors. Most reviewers stated that it is lightweight and easily light enough to get up and down the stairs too, at just 23 pounds this will be true for most people but some may struggle due to the size. Its dimensions are 16x12x44 inches.

Here is a review that emphasises the great cleaning power of this hoover:

Picks up so much hidden dirt in our thick carpet, it scared us the first time we looked in the canister!
Review paraphrased, read full review here.

Accessories and Attachments

The WindTunnel T-Series UH70120 is packed with accessories including its constant suction, five position height adjustment and no scuff bumper. Here is the full list that comes at no extra cost:

• Rinse-clean filter and permanent HEPA filter
• Five position height adjustment
• Intuitive fingertip controls
• Extension wand
• Crevice tool for getting right into upholstery
• Upholstery/dusting brush which can be used on drapes, vents and shades
• 13-1/2-inch-wide nozzle
• 8-foot flexible hose
• Complimentary powered hand tool for removing dust, dirt, and pet hair from hard-to-reach places
• 2 year limited warranty

It also has a 27-foot retractable power cord, with quick cord rewind and cord clip located just below the handle to help keep the cord out of the way while cleaning.

Hoover WindTunnel T-Series UH70120 Pros 

This vacuum is good to last more than just a few years and is powerful enough to suck up all the dirt you can see as well as the dirt you can’t. The HEPA filter is not only nice to have but great for allergy sufferers and it comes with so many accessories you will have the right tool at your fingertips for every need.

Hoover WindTunnel T-Series UH70120 Cons

Empting the cannister can be a dirty job, unfortunately this is the case for all bagless vacuum cleaners but in our opinion more  than offsets the cost of bags. See our specific instructions earlier in this article to ensure this is not a dirty task for you.

Also you may find that pet hairs occasionally get stuck in the cup and the only way to get rid of them is to reach in and pull them out, it’s not particularly nice but often a necessity with bagless cleaners and a small price to pay for having exceptionally clean floors.

Click Here to Check Current Discounted Price

Consumer Ratings and Recommendation

70% of consumers love this vacuum cleaner giving it top ratings mainly due to the ease at which it sucks up so much dirt and is flexible to use.

However 16% of consumers gave it their lowest rating which is mainly due to mechanical faults and not understanding that this is not a vacuum for hardwood floors. Note there is a 2 year warranty on this appliance to cover any issue you may potentially have.

That is why we recommend this hoover, it is great at picking up dirt unlike many other machines and at under $100 is a great purchase. Click on the link above to see if the Hoover WindTunnel T-Series UH70120 is currently available at a discounted price!

Best Vacuum for Hardwood Floors

In case you can’t decide which style of vacuum cleaner best suits your needs, here is our quick look at the pros and cons to help you make the right decision for you and your home.

The Canister Vacuum Cleaner

Canister Vacuum cleaner – Pro’s

Canister vacuum cleaners such as the Eureka Mighty Mite tend to be smaller than the uprights, typically in height and sometimes only half as tall making them easier to move around the room and store when not in use. Maneuverability is questionable for some consumers and I will address this when looking at the negatives. For similar performance canister vacuums tend to be lighter too.

One big advantage that canister vacuums do have over the competition is the hose, they do come in different lengths depending on the cleaner but they are very useful for cleaning all types of surfaces such as upholstery, blinds, book shelves and car interiors for example. They also get into the hard to reach places that the upright cannot.

Another pro I really like is that all the tools you need are on the vacuum itself, in one easy and convenient place and obviously move with you from room to room. The tools you can expect to have on board include a dusting brush for dusting lampshades and corners, a crevice brush for doing the edges of flooring and a utility tool which is generally used on upholstery. As I say this makes it very convenient and you don’t have to go back to your closet to pick up whatever tools you made need otherwise.

One clear distinction between these two cleaners is that the motor in the canister is much more powerful than the motor in the upright, even the smallest of canister vacuum cleaners will have a more powerful suction than most upright cleaners. Therefore if you’re planning to clean more than just your carpets or hardwood floors then you’d be better off with a canister vacuum cleaner.

Canister Vacuum cleaner – Cons

Life’s a drag with a canister vacuum cleaner, literally. What tends to happen when a consumer owns one of these is that as you move around the floor the cleaner is dragged or pulled behind you which can have 2 impacts. Firstly the impact on other furniture in your home which has the potential of marking or scratching it and secondly the impact on the hose. Both of these, what I consider minor issues are easy to avoid or control. Basically you wouldn’t purposely hit an upright into your furniture so why anyone would do it with a canister is beyond me, just be careful and there will be no issue. With the second issue I have only put this in my article as I have read this a few times, personally I’ve never had any problems so I guess the message is again, just be careful.

Much more of an issue for some people is the constant bending over, unless you purchase an appliance with a long hose of course but generally speaking due to their nature they will be considerably more bending over when using a canister vacuum compared to an upright.

One other con is that the heads are generally not as sophisticated as those on an upright and if you have different floor types, carpets and hardwood floors, then it is more than likely that you are going to have to change the heads as you move from one room to the next. A small inconvenience yet still still one, but additionally if you purchase a canister vacuum cleaner then you’re going to have to make sure that it can be used on the floor types you have.

The Upright Vacuum Cleaner

Upright vacuum cleaner – Pro’s

Looking at the pro’s for the upright I’ll start with one that I’ve just been talking about which is transitioning. Uprights tend to have easy transition between the beater head, used on carpets and rugs, and suction used on plain or hardwood floors. Most models like the Stick Vacuum cleaner have a switch located on the suction head too which makes for a smooth transition by changing from one type to the other with your foot.

Another pro for this cleaner is the fact that it is upright meaning that you will have to do less bending over while cleaning. Of course while using a hose attachment there will not be too much difference between the two.

The motor on an upright cleaner is actually pulling air in faster, it doesn’t pull as hard but because the air is very fast this also turns the revolving brushes very fast too and hence for carpets usually uprights are better.

Upright vacuum cleaner – Cons

As you can see these cleaners tend not to be as easily maneuverable as the canister cleaners especially if you want to clean in those hard to reach places. Most of the time they are heavier or just harder to manage too especially if you have stairs or different floors to clean. Of course, as already mentioned, not all upright cleaners are big and bulky and weigh about the same as a small elephant. Some are actually very light and sleek and many times it comes down to a choice between tall and thin or short and wide.

It actually is an easy decision when you look at the pros and cons, the choice largely depends on whether you just want to clean floor areas or other areas too such as upholstery or car interiors. And how many obstacles are in your way as well as how and where your cleaner will be stored.

Another option that many people choose is to have a larger vacuum cleaner as their main cleaner and have a smaller, much lighter one for quick tidy-ups or to deal with spills.

Another thing is that the waste disposal varies on most appliances in design, size or shape so is neither a pro or con for either cleaner but just comes down to your choice is – with bag or without.

Upright VS Canister Vacuum Clearner Conclusion

As you can tell the choice boils down to just a few factors and it is now your choice. The last thing to mention before you go in search of the best vacuum cleaner is price.

Traditionally consumers would have paid out a lot more for an upright vacuum however the playing field has levelled somewhat in recent years and you can now easily find equality in price and performance from either model so don’t have any pre-conceptions and choose a model based on what you now know.
Best Vacuum for Hardwood Floors

The Eureka Mighty Mite 3670G canister vacuum seems like a basic, no frills vacuum that has been in our homes since 2008 and is still as popular today. It has sucked its way to being a very popular canister vacuum cleaner for home owners with hardwood floors and pet lovers alike.

It’s small and snug but powerful enough to suck change from a jar, not that I recommend doing this if you want your Eureka Mighty Mite Vacuum to last for many years.

If you’re tired of blowing the dust and dirt around your rooms rather than sucking it up then read on to see why the Eureka Mighty Mite 3670G will be worth the small investment.

Eureka Mighty Mite 3670g Canister Vacuum Review:

Hardwood Floors, Carpets, Rugs and Cars

The Eureka Mighty Mite is a canister vacuum as opposed to an upright vacuum. The main advantage the Eureka vacuum has over uprights, especially on hardwood floors, is that instead of blowing dust and dirt around the floor like some upright vacuums do the attachments work smartly to suck up all the dirt and pet hair you need.

Owners of the Eureka Mighty Mite are mixed on its effectiveness on carpets and rugs, some say it works fine while others say they need to go over the same spot a couple of times to get the job done. However if you’re buying this vacuum cleaner solely for use on hardwood floors or even kitchen and bathroom vinyls then this will have no problem at all.

I always like it when I get a two for one with any product and this vacuum doesn’t disappoint, it makes cleaning the inside of cars simple too. Its thin head and the small accessory heads make it easy to slip down the side of car seats and even underneath them too. No more having to reach down there and put your hand on a sticky sweet or something similar.

Click Here to Check Current Pricing

The Bagless Eureka Mighty Mite

The Eureka Might Mite is a bagless vacuum cleaner, it actually has a triple filtration bag system but not a HEPA filter as some websites have incorrectly stated. HEPA provides a state of the art filter system allowing for cleaner air and is particularly useful for people with allergies. You can read more about HEPA here if you need further information.

When it comes to bagless vacuum cleaners it is a personal choice between extracting the mess and rubbish out with your hands or something else suitable or just taking the bag and putting it in the bin. The Eureka Mighty Might uses size MM bags and are more than big enough to clean the dust, dirt and pet hair from a whole house.

Power, Noise and Size

There has been some confusion over the power as there are 2 almost identical models and some retailers have not displayed the correct detail. The units themselves are the same, with the same accessories and attachments however one of the models, the 3670 or 3670A has a 9 amp motor and this one, the 3670G has a 12 amp motor.

The 3670G costs only $5-$10 more so I don’t know why you would bother with the smaller motor, all the information and links to products on this page relate to the Eureka Mighty Mite 3670G Canister vacuum cleaner.

Noise, noise, noise. Any vacuum you purchase is going to make some noise and Mighty Mite is no different. It’s quite loud but tolerable, not much different from any other vacuum.

The Eureka Might Mite measures just 11 by 8 by 11 inches and weighs less than 9 pounds making it easy to manoeuvre and store. The generous 20ft cord also wraps around the base of the unit making it nice and compact and has a quick release switch for ease of use.

Accessories and Attachments

The Eureka Might Mite comes equipped with 3 attachment tools, a crevice tool, a 10″ floor tool and a triangular shaped brush which is about 2″ wide. The combination tool also doubles up as a 3″ wide brush-less pick up tool. These tools are great for your hardwood floors and stairs as well as other areas of your home.

It also comes with 2 extension wands to do extensive above the floor cleaning which can be used for cleaning cobwebs off ceilings, upholstery, blinds, and lamps  for example.

The Might Mite 3670G is also equipped with a blower port which comes in very handy if you want to blow leaves out of your garage or give the inside of your computer, or underneath the keys a quick dust off (not to mention all the dirt that gets stored there too).

The extension wands are great and also have a lock button to lock in the exact length you require but there is some debate regarding the accessories and attachments it comes with and many people simply want more than just a good vacuum for hardwood floors. If this is the case for you too you can use attachments from previous vacuum cleaners or purchase a specialised attachment to do the job.

Eureka Mighty Mite Pros

• Powerful 12 amp motor
• Cleans up on hardwood floors easily and suck up pet hair too
• Size and shape make it convenient for cleaning the inside of your car
• Small compact and lightweight for ease of use and storage
• Use of bags to collect dust and dirt without the hassle of cleaning out bagless storage systems
• Costs much less than similar competition

Eureka Mighty Mite Cons

• Attachments and accessories are not best suited for all round use although as discussed above this does not impact the vacuums use on hardwood floors and specialist attachments can be purchased if required

Consumer Ratings

82% of consumers gave the Eureka Mighty Mite a definite thumbs up!

The Eureka Mighty Mite 3670 came through with flying colors on all fronts. It produces a powerful vacuum, easily maneuverable, convenient for storing, the noise is not too bad, and a good price. This vacuum cleaner gives an excellent… read more here

I’ve never written a review for a vaccuum cleaner, and couldn’t have imagined ever even wanting to, but am happy to put my voice out there for this one. If you have hardwood floors and are, like I was, tired of chasing after dust/dirt particles that your upright BLOWS around instead of sucking up, try this vac. It’s powerful and makes quick work of what was, before, a major chore. I have… continue reading

Eureka Mighty Mite Price

At the time of writing this review the Eureka Mighty Mite 3670G Canister Vacuum ranges from $60-$80. Many outlets offered this in the $60 range but we found Amazon to have the offer lowest price and with free shipping can make the cost of the Eureka Mighty Mite $10-$15 less than buying elsewhere.

Best Vacuum for Hardwood Floors

When deciding which is the best vacuum for pet hair it is not just the particular cleaner that you need to consider but your environment should also be included in the decision equation too.

8 Things you Must Consider if you Want to Find the Best Vacuum For Pet Hair

1. Do you have a large house, a small apartment or somewhere in between?
2. Are there stairs in your house?
3. Will your cleaner have to have a long cord on it?
4. Will it have to be a lightweight model or will you be able to handle something larger if needs be?
5. Would you like it to be a cyclonic bagless model with high grade filters?
6. Will it be used on just carpets or are there kitchen floors, wooden floors and upholstery that needs to be taken care of ?
7. Are you going to be using it on a commercial scale or is there just one or two small family pets?
8. How much do you want to spend to purchase your new cleaning tool?

All of these small details need to be consider in detail before you even think about your budget if you want to find the best vacuum for pet hair.

Many standard vacuum cleaners can take care of some pet hairs but if you have a problem with getting them removed there are now several vacuum cleaners that are specifically designed to lift pet hairs so they can be sucked up more easily, the Stick vacuum is great on hardwood floors but is it the best for lifting pet hairs? Most vacuums have beater brushes that are rotating to help the process and some have lint removing pads that attract and lift the hair making it easy to remove.

While this might sound ideal, be aware that if you have wooden floors in the house then the beater brushes are not always so kind to these kinds of floors even though manufacturers do try to take all types of surfaces into consideration when designing their latest models. To be honest, it is not the problem it once was a few years back as technology and design keeps improving all the time.

Having decided to invest in a special, best vacuum for pet hair removal and taken into account where it is going to be working the next decision is what type will it be?

Your best vacuum for pet hair could be a large upright cleaner, a lightweight cleaner or a hand held cleaner. There is quite a range of the larger upright vacuum cleaners and your decision will be down to three things:

Best Vacuum for Pet Hair – Before you Buy

How wide do you want the cleaner head to be?
Does it have the attachments you want if you also want to do upholstery too?
How much can you afford to pay?

Lightweight cleaners do not normally have such a wide cleaning head nor does the dust container have such a large capacity. However, manufacturers are putting quite large motors in the lightweight cleaners so their suction power is not so different to their higher priced counterparts. So if you do have to carry your cleaner up and down stairs a lot this type may be the best vacuum for pet hair that you could buy.

The next option is a small handheld vacuum cleaner and some of do make for the best vacuum for pet hair in the right environment. These are mostly employed when a house has a lot of laminate or wooden floors and a mop rather than a vacuum is needed to clean them. The hand held cleaners are really useful for cleaning the upholstery in the house and for stair carpets if there are any. They are also useful when the upright vacuum cleaner does a good job of the carpets but does not have upholstery tools that are up to the job of removing the pet hairs from chairs and sofas. If your pets also travel in your vehicle then the hand held cleaners are ideal for use in automobiles.

All vacuum cleaners work best when their collection canisters are empty. Older types of vacuum cleaners used to have bags to collect the dust, dirt and hairs. You could not see how full they were and it was expensive to keep replacing the bags. Many modern cleaners have clear acrylic containers so you can see when they need emptying. They are detachable so easily emptied and do not require expensive bag replacements.

Manufacturers are constantly changing and improving their models, so even within the different types listed here there may be several models that would qualify for the best vacuum for pet hair.

The stick vacuum cleaner is probably the nearest thing to what the original idea of a floor vacuum cleaner machine should be.

Before the first patent of the first mechanical sweeping machine, back in 1869, the aim was to find something portable that would clean rugs more efficiently than taking them outside and beating the dirt out of them. They already had the sweeping brush. All that was wanted was something that was portable and easy to handle that would do a better job.

Finally, the motorized sweeping brush looks like an overgrown version of its non mechanical predecessor.

Stick Vacuum Finishing Touches

What really gave the finishing touch was the invention of the Lithium Ion battery. This type of battery runs like it is fully charged all the time then suddenly dies. Not like the older batteries that died slowly and lost power as they went. The length of time these rechargeable batteries last for is anything from fifteen to forty five minutes depending on the model. Recharging time varies also. This can be from twelve to twenty four hours. Again depending on make and model.

Of course there are stick vacuum cleaners that do have cords if you prefer to ensure that once you start your cleaning you will have sufficient power available to finish it. Just make sure that when you buy your machine it has the length of cord on that will be acceptable for your needs.

Stick Vacuum Early Problems

The problem the early cleaners had was size and weight. To some degree there are still some stick vacuums cleaners that are a bit on the heavy side for continual use. The cleaning heads do not have wheels so keeping the weight under control is something to be considered. The cleaning heads being in such close contact with the floor does have the advantage of greater suction power to enable better efficiency than many of the full sized wheeled upright vacuum cleaners.

There is another benefit that the stick vacuum cleaners have over their bigger cousins. They are a lot quieter. Upright vacuum cleaners, and even more so cylinder cleaners, generally have big powerful motors to enable them to obtain a decent cleaning standard. The lighter stick models with their close contact suction and short distances from floor to dirt canister do not need such big noisy motors. It would only add to the weight problem if they did.

The dirt canister on a stick vacuum cleaner obviously has to be pretty small. As they are not usually doing the heavy work a big upright or cylinder vacuum has to do this is not usually a problem. I should perhaps mention that there are two types. With or without a bag. There are arguments for both. The bagless ones cost less to maintain as replacements are not needed. However, they can be messy to empty so care has to be taken when emptying them to not to spill the dirt that has just been cleaned up. The bags are self sealing and not at all messy to replace.

Stick Vacuum Verdict

Stick vacuum cleaners are good for all floor types though some work better than others for some surfaces even on hardwood floors.

The final consideration when choosing a stick cleaner is price. The price range for these types of cleaner range from around $40 right up to $300. With that price range you can guess that there are many options to choose from.

The original concept was just a mechanical cleaning machine but modern technology and materials have made what was just a simple idea into a reality with many variations and choices for the stick vacuum.

The question is will an upright vacuum cleaner or a cylinder vacuum cleaner be best for using on hardwood floors?

Since the first patent on a portable electric vacuum cleaner in 1908 things have developed a bit.

Unfortunately, they still have not developed to the stage where just one appliance will efficiently do everything you need it to do. In fact, vacuum cleaners have now been developed to do individual specific jobs very well. However, manufacturers still want to claim that nearly every model produced will do just about everything you need. In this article we will look at one of those specific needs and see how the different types of vacuum cleaners stack up to each other.

Things You Must Consider When Choosing A Vacuum For Hardwood Floors

Usually the first thing to consider when choosing a vacuum cleaner is will it suck the dirt up? The biggest enemies of hardwood floors are sand, grit and dust which all grind the surface away. So in this instance the first question is “Does the cleaner have nice big soft rubber wheels that don’t help to grind the dirt into the floor?” That’s before we even get around to switching it on!  Many cleaners have hard plastic wheels and are quite heavy. Not good for use on polished wood floors.

Of course if the floor area you are cleaning is quite small then there are some small cylinder vacuum cleaners that you can carry over your shoulder on a sling and never even come into contact with the floor at all.

Now we get around to switching on the vacuum cleaners.

First thing we notice is that despite the size of their motors, bigger does not always mean better suction.

All cleaners are fitted with some form of filtration and sometimes the route of the airways combined with the strength of the filters negates the extra power of their motors. The straighter the air pathway results in more suction usually being achieved. Usually this means cylinder models have better suction as their air path is straight through. Also, cylinder models do not have beaters to stir up the dirt and have to rely solely on their suction power to enable cleaning. Which means they have to have good suction to operate at all.

Talking of air paths. There was one upright model tested that sucked up air from the floor then blew out the front of the cleaner. Presumably this was so the operator didn’t get blasted by the exiting air. Probably ok for use on carpets where the dirt was sticking to the floor but on hardwood floors what happened was that it blew the dust, grit and animal hair out of the way and around the room rather than attract it under the cleaner to be sucked up.

As it turned out this air turbulence was quite a problem for many upright cleaners on hardwood floors.

As you may well know, all upright cleaners have a rotating sweeper bar to help lift the dirt etc. As this bar rotates at great speed it creates turbulence all around the suction intake area under the cleaner head. On carpets this is a good and helpful thing. However, on hardwood, and all hard surfaced floors, the turbulence created often blew the dust and other objects away from the cleaner’s suction intake area. There was nothing to provide resistance on the slippery polished surfaces that could stop objects being blown away.

Don’t get beat up by a beater bar!

Above all other considerations is the beater bar on upright models of vacuum cleaner that is their biggest downfall when being used on hardwood floors. It is pretty obvious that one wrong twist or something lodged in that spinning beater bar is going to cause some damage to a wooden floor. Scratches at the least and I’ve heard of some taking big gouges out of the floor. That is even those models advertised as being suitable for wooden floors when clearly they are not.

Manufacturers have of course also recognised this problem and some have done something about it.

There are two things that it is possible to do. One is a lever or setting that lifts the beater bar so it is not in such close contact with the floor. The other is to have some form of mechanism that disengages the drive to the beater bar and stops it rotating. In some models both of theses options are available.

If the bar is lifted but not stopped from rotating it would still be possible for it to pick something up and wrap around the bar with the end still beating the floor. I can just imagine what the end of a broken necklace would do to the floor it was thrashing.

It is sounding more and more like it’s a straightforward choice of going for a cylinder model over an upright model. Well, it might be but then a whole new box of choices opens up. Large, medium or small models? With pet hair attachments or are they not necessary? What about hose length or cord length?

Do you need one with a cord at all? There are battery models of both cylinder and uprights or what are known as stick vacuum cleaners. If you go for a battery operated model will the battery last long enough for the job you have to do? Will the cylinder hold enough dust and debris for the job? Choices choices!

Best Vacuum Cleaner for Hardwood Floors Conclusion!

So, in conclusion of whether to go for an upright vacuum cleaner or cylinder vacuum cleaner for hardwood floors I think I’d pretty well go for a cylinder model most times. There are some uprights that could do the job reasonably well and would be suitable if you have mostly carpets and only a small area of hardwood but when there are reasonable sized areas of hardwood that need vacuuming then I’d personally choose a cylinder model.

Welcome to Best Vacuum for Hardwood Floors, details coming soon