Best Vacuum for Hardwood Floors?

14 years ago

I am curious as to what vacuum GW'ers would recommend for hardwood floors?

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topie

14 years ago

I looked a good vacuum for hardwood floors, and after much research decided on the Hoover WindTunnel bagged vacuum cleaner.

Having gone through a lot of vacuums over the years, we were really looking for a vacuum that was good on hardwood floors, and that didn't lose suction. I must say, the Hoover WindTunnel has an extreme amount of suction. We've had ours about a year or so, and the suction is still incredible. I actually have to be careful while using it, in order to make sure that there are no loose items lying around the floor that may be sucked into the vacuum cleaner. For instance, the vacuum shredded a sneaker lace when I vacuumed too close to a pair of sneakers. I also have to be careful with any floor-length drapery to be sure it does not get sucked up into the vacuum while vacuuming near it.

It really works great on our old hardwood floors. We have space in between the planks of our flooring, and this vacuum actually sucks up various kinds of dirt and stuff that gets stuck in the spaces in between the floorboards.

My only complaint about this particular model of vacuum cleaner is that it is too powerful for certain cleaning activities, such as vacuuming small area rugs with a sewn edge. It's great on large carpets, but we have shredded the edges of a couple of small area rugs with this vacuum, because the suction is so intense. Luckily the area rugs were inexpensive and easily replaced. It's possible this occurred because I had the cleaning level set on "low", and it may not shred area rug edges if I had it on the "high" or "deep carpet" setting. Hard to say.

The vacuum is fairly light as far as upright, bagged vacuums go, and can be carried up and down stairs with relative ease if you are a person of average strength.

On the websites where I researched this vacuum cleaner, one thing some people reported about it is that the vacuum sort of moves by itself ever so slightly, and they found this slightly disorienting at first. I actually kind of like this aspect to the vacuum, because it makes vacuuming easier for me.

It also has a "dirt finder" feature that supposedly turns on a green light when the floor is clean, and a few people complained about this feature on the websites I researched, saying that they vacuumed the floor a million times and the green light still didn't go on. I usually just ignore the "dirt finder" feature; I can pretty much tell when the floor is clean enough to my liking based on how it feels and looks.

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Comments (9)

geguymw
14 years ago
If your are vacuuming floors, and do not have carpeting to vacuum, a suction-only canister vacuum will works well. There are not alot of requirements. You want to decide what features work for you. A quieter vacuum will be more comfortable to use in a room without carpeting.
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Oooh! I've been trying to find a good hard floor vacuum for years and I've finally found one! I use the healthy home by bisell and you can turn off the rolling brush for hard floors so it doesn't scratch or kick around bigger pieces of dirt or small objects! It has nice big rubber wheels on it that won't scratch (especially pergo/laminate) floors. I had a home in Cali with dark walnut colored pergo flooring and my old vacuum ganged up with a little rock one day and made a long scratch right by the doorway. Not even furniture pens or polish was absorbed to hide it. Really sad when that happened. So I was determined never to vacuum a hardwood floor again after that. Until now. I love this vacuum and it has all the attachments with a hand held rotating brush handle (great for pet hair on furniture and the car-golden retrievers grow 10 new hairs for every 1 they shed). I'm also obsessed with having a clean vacuum so I can literally take apart the canister and wash it! After every use, I go out to the garage and vacuum my vacuum with the shopvac! It's a bit on the pricey side and it comes with some chemicals for dust mites and germs but I would never use or recommend using chemicals in the home or out. I do however, clean my carpets about every other month with an organic cleaner that kills germs and has a light scent. Carpet cleaners are full of very harmful chemicals and I have two asthmatics at home and a lovely dog(remember the hairy beast I mentioned?) So this works great. I love having a clean house. It's one of my favorite pastimes! That's my story and I'm sticking to it! JoAnn
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geguymw
14 years ago
The OP is asking for a vacuum for hardwood floors, so why would you recommend a Hoover Tempo upright for a person who presumably only had floors? There is no need for an upright vacuum cleaner, that has a belted brushroll,for hardwood floors. I can see it if the person has carpeting and floors to vacuum. Also, there is no brushroll on/off switch.

Using a suction-only vacuum is easy to use on floor. Having a floor attachment, at the end of the wand, makes vacuuming around the floor easy and quicker than an upright. The floor brush can move in between table legs and furniture without having to move anything. The floor brush can get under beds whereas the upright cannot, unless you have a high-sitting mattress set. The floor brush requires about 2-3" of clearance and the Tempo requires about 8".

If anyone cringes at the thought of pulling around a canister vacuum cleaner, there is a solution. If you only have floors to vacuum, look at a medium to full sized stick vacuum. I do not recommend those "toy-like" stick vacs.

Going from expensive to cheap, you have Sebo, Lindhaus, Miele,Emer, Simplicity and Riccar. There are a few others.
fabbric
14 years ago
I heart my Miele for my hardwood floors. You can adjust the suction for furniture and drapes. Only downside is the bags are a bit small but they still manage to hold a lot until the suction indicator goes completely red.
jannie
14 years ago
For hardwood floors, I can recommend the Eureka Bagless "Boss".My daughter hasne and it works great, very fast and easy to use. It's basically what I'd call a Stick-Vac. Perfect for hardwood floors and areaugs. Not powerful suction, but it quickly does the job.
bgibi
13 years ago
I love my Miele cannister vac. Great suction, swivel head to get everywhere. Lightweight, extra tools. Rubber wheels. Love it!
lizbeth-gardener
13 years ago
We just moved into a house with about all hardwood and tile one year ago. After much research, we bought a Meile canister and would highly recommend it. It is the best vacuum I have ever owned. It has a swivel head that will lay almost flat to get under beds and furniture. It has rubber wheels and is very easy to pull around behind you. It has many nice features. You might want to go to a shop that sells some of the Meile, Riccar, Sebo, etc. and try them out. HTH
lizbeth-gardener
13 years ago
Sorry for not noticing the OP date--don't know why these get pulled up so much later!
musicteacher
11 years ago
We bought a Hoover professional grade vaccum (cannister) that you "wear" with waist belt and or shoulder strap. Had to order from a janitorial supply. Read the reviews. It has a very long cord so I can do most of the house without moving the plug, and several attachments for dusting, couches, etc. It was cheap, around $100 maybe less, and gets the job done fast. The only downside is that after a couple of vaccuming days you have to emply the small dust bag by hand. Yukky. There are disposable bags but they are expensive. I still use my upright with the beater bars for the area rugs though.

Best Vacuum for Hardwood Floors?

topie

Comments (9)

geguymw

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