You can trust your home to the best vacuums for hardwood floors, which are specially designed to clean thoroughly yet gently.
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Best Vacuums for Hardwood Floors of 2025, According to Cleaning Pros
Updated on Sep. 17, 2024
Hardwood floors have unparalleled beauty and come in a variety of patterns and materials ranging from solid wood to engineered wood. But their uniqueness isn’t limited to aesthetics. Hardwood floors also need a different type of vacuum cleaner compared to carpeted flooring. According to our experts, the best vacuums for hardwood floors avoid causing damage to the hardwood finish.
“I recommend vacuums with hard floor settings and brush rolls that can be turned off or adjusted,” says Adam Moore, owner and operator at Paradise Home Cleaning. He recommends Shark, Bissell and Dyson. “In addition to a hard floor setting and an adjustable or turn-off brush roll, look for strong suction power, and a low weight—which means less likelihood of damaging the finish.”
As a general rule, we chose vacuum cleaners with soft or padded brush heads. “This is an important feature to ensure no scratching or scuffing will occur on the floors,” advises Kathy Cohoon, operations manager at Two Maids. Based on their advice, we chose a variety of dependable vacuum cleaners in various categories, to easily select the best hardwood floor vacuum for each individual’s needs.
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Best overall
LG CordZero Kompressor
The LG CordZero Kompressor Cordless Stick Vacuum is simply the best hardwood floor vacuum. The included hard floor nozzle has a fluffy roller for use on hardwoods and other types of hard floors and is soft enough to allay any concerns of scratches. There’s also a separate, easily-swappable power carpet nozzle for use on carpets. The vacuum has a suction power of 160W, and three power modes: normal, power and turbo, to help select the right mode for the floor.
The telescopic wand adjusts up to 9.5 inches, which makes it a good choice for users of various heights. Easily vacuum drapes and other high places with the telescopic wand. And it transforms into a handheld vacuum—and includes a crevice for corners and tight spaces, a 2-in-1 combination tool that works as either a brush or hard nozzle and a power mini tool for use in the car or on furniture.
Another useful feature is the Kompressor lever. By simply pressing it, all the debris in the dustbin compresses to make room for more dirt. The five-step filtration system consists of a pre-filter, fine dust filter, two cyclones and a metal dust filter. Battery life is another notable feature. The vacuum cleaner comes with two swappable batteries, each lasting 60 minutes, for a total of 120 minutes, which is an exceptionally long time for a stick vacuum.
Pros
- Dedicated hard floor nozzle
- Telescopic wand
- Converts to handheld
- Two nozzles and three tools
- Two swappable batteries
- Convenient self-standing storage
Cons
- No LED floor lights
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Best budget
Black+Decker PowerSeries+ 20V Max
For budget-conscious consumers, the Black+Decker Cordless Vacuum Cleaner does an excellent job for the price. The multisurface floorhead works on both hardwood and carpet, and the anti-tangle brush bar keeps hair from getting wrapped around it. Also, the auto-sense feature detects the type of floor and automatically adjusts suction as needed. Using cyclonic filtration, the vacuum keeps from clogging the filter, so the vacuum continues to work properly.
It’s easy to see into dark areas with the LED floorhead lights, so no dirt escapes the view. The vacuum has a 44-minute runtime before it needs to recharge, and it stands upright to store it out of the way. Also, the dustbin empties with the touch of a button, and the washable filter is easy to maintain. In addition, the vacuum cleaner converts to a handheld version with a crevice tool to vacuum tight spaces and on stairs and furniture.
Pros
- Self-standing
- LED floorhead lights
- Anti-tangle brush bar
- Over 2,100 five-star ratings on Amazon
Cons
- Doesn’t have a dedicated hard floor nozzle
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Best upright
Dyson Ball Animal 3
The Dyson Ball Animal 3 looks like a heavy (albeit, stylish) upright vacuum cleaner. However, the futuristic-looking ball provides ergonomic steering that maneuvers the best hardwood floor vacuum cleaner—even when reaching forgotten corners. There are three different types of suction modes (up to 290AW), and the third one works best for hardwood floors and ground-in dirt.
Also, the motor bar cleaning head includes hair removal vanes to prevent tangles, and the convenient control on the top turns off the brush bar when vacuuming hard floors. The wand and combination tool (brush and wide nozzle) clean high places, like ceiling fans, while the 15-ft of hose stretch keeps the vacuum in one place while using the wand to clean farther away. There’s also a stair tool for convenient carpet cleaning on the stairs.
Avoid allergens being released back into the air with the whole-machine filtration system that traps particles inside, and the dust bin (which includes a washable filter) that ejects dust with the touch of a button.
Pros
- Detangling vanes on the cleaner head
- Wand/long-reach hose
- Three suction modes
- Cleans every floor type
Cons
- On the heavier side with a weight of 38 pounds
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Best robot
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra
If you’d prefer to have a robot vacuum clean the hardwood floors, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is the king of set-it-and-forget-it. It uses two rubber brushes to eliminate tangles and 6000PA suction power on both hard floors and carpets. However, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra does more than just vacuum floors.
It also has a dual sonic mopping system that scrubs hard floors 3,000 times every minute, but the pads are gentle enough that they won’t harm hardwoods. After mapping the home, the robot vacuum cleaner recognizes and avoids obstacles and places where it might get stuck. And there’s no need to empty the robot’s dust bin since it does this itself—and holds seven weeks of debris.
It returns to the dock to refill with water when mopping floors, and when finished, the vacuum both washes and dries the mop. Control the robot vacuum using the app and a smartphone, but it also works with Alexa, Google Home and Siri Shortcuts.
Pros
- Vacuums and mops
- Control via smartphone or voice
- Self-empty, self-clean, self-dry
- Almost 4,000 ratings, averaging 4.5 stars on Amazon
Cons
- Very expensive
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Best wet/dry
Bissell Crosswave HydroSteam
Vacuum, mop, and steam hardwood floors at the same time with the Bissell Crosswave HydroSteam. The multi-surface brush roll cleans hardwoods, tile and laminate. It also has LED headlights to clean dark spaces and under furniture. In addition, there are three cleaning modes: hard floor, steam wash and area rug.
The best hardwood floor vacuum like this one comes with cleaning formula, pet formula and also a hard floor sanitizing formula. The sanitizer feature is designed to remove 99.9% of bacteria and provide a more thorough cleaning on sticky and built-in messes. The vacuum has two tanks: one for clean water and another one for dirty water/debris.
Pros
- Vacuums, washes and steam cleans
- Self-cleaning
- Tangle-free brush roll
- LED headlights
Cons
- Doesn’t have a dedicated hard floor nozzle
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Best cordless
Tineco Pure One S15 Pet EX
The Tineco Pure One S15 Pet EX is our choice for the best hardwood floor vacuum cleaner sans the pesky cord. The anti-tangle brush keeps hair from wrapping around it, while the LED headlight brush shines while cleaning under furniture and in dark places. The vacuum filters airborne allergens with a five-stage filtration system that includes two cyclones, a pre-filter, a HEPA filter and a washable mesh filter.
The LCD screen provides icons and a color-coded ring to distinguish between detected debris and clean debris. This is also where the user selects manual, auto or max mode on the vacuum, which has two 40-minute swappable batteries for a total 80-minute runtime. By connecting to the Tineco App, easily view the cleaning progress and battery levels, and adjust any settings.
Accessories include a 2-in-1 dusting brush, mini power brush and crevice tool, which provide more functionality to reach areas up high and also clean in tight spaces. Also, easily store the vacuum with the self-standing charging base.
Pros
- Anti-tangle brush
- Self-standing
- Hair cleaning tool
- Over 700 Amazon ratings with a 4.2-star average
Cons
- No dedicated hard floor nozzle
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Best for pets
Shark Rotator Lift-Away
