A canister vacuum will be the best for your floors. They always come with a hard floor attachment.

Not sure "how gentle" you need, but I have just recently found my Roomba in a box. (Man, I hate moving) I had to order her some new filters, and well, she is BACK! I have all hardwood on the first floor, and it is like having hired help.

Just got to get the pooch back into "move out of way" mode. The roomba hit her the first day out. She forgot that Roomba is the boss.

In fact, I'm going to go start her (Roomba, not the dog) up right now. I need to find the remote control so I can program her to run automatically!

I picked up a Hoover Floor Mate because I'd read it was fantastic for getting up drywall dust. It's also made for wood floors, both vacuuming and washing.

I would love a Roomba, but haven't been able to afford one. I'm stalking it, though, and the sites that carry it for some kind of sale or coupon.

I also use my shop vac for big dirt and the cracks. I'm going to pick up a portable DeWalt shop vac, because it's much easier for quick things. Loved my electrician's when he left it!

Glad to hear you love your Roomba, Bee. I've seriously been considering one!

I have a Dyson digital slim that my DH gave me a few years ago and I never had a place to keep it charged. I made sure there was a good spot for it in the kitchen and I am very thankful! Gotta love that thing. I pop it out at least once a day and do a quick once over on the floors.

Very handy, but doesn't take the place of a good deep cleaning once a week or so.

Christine--do you keep your eye on Woot? That's where ours came from. I had also scored a Scooba from a consignment shop. It was BRAND new, never used for under $100. I sold it when we got rid of the vinyl floor in the last house.

Here is a link that might be useful: Woot, daily deals. Sometimes a

If you can, get a central vac with a hide a hose. Nothing heavy to drag around and my hose is 50 ft. Sucks right back into the wall. Love it.

Thanks for great suggestions. I was planning on trying to find a canister that wouldn't scratch the floors. I want something that isn't too heavy and on the smaller side. Several of my friends have the little blue canister from Sears but they are no longer making that model. Have heard good things about it.
Does the Rumba bump into the furniture or baseboards? I am so paranoid about scratches on all my nice new wood. I also wondered if it might fall down my open stairway? Would I have to block it off?

In all seriousness, I think the toenails on the 2 big dogs will do more damage than any canister vac will. Ask me how I know . . .

Whatever you do, don't get a Eureeka Quick-Up, despite all the glowing reviews on Amazon. It totally sucks at picking up pet hair (har, har).

I thought the answer for me was the Dyson digital, maybe it's not, maybe it's the Roomba? Is it really, really good for pet hair?

I love my Shark Navigator. It has technology similar to a Dyson. A switch takes it from carpet to bare floor. I think now it's even better, because it can become like a canister (I saw a recent infomercial). It also sucks up dog hair like crazy. The problem is that you have to keep emptying the cup as you vacuum, it fills so quickly. I do use it on the hardwoods.

I have a Kenmore Progressive canister from Sears. It has a powered brush head for carpets, but you can either turn off the power to that head, or swap it out to a hard floor attachment for hard floors (we have tile and cork). It has been great.

My roomba bumps into things and then turns around. I have not seen any marks from it. It has a bumper. It does not fall down stairs, it just knows where the edge is.

If you did decide to try one, I'd look at places with great return policies--like Costco (if they sell them).

Bee, do you have any area rugs in your kitchen or all hardwood? Wondering how the roomba works with area rugs.

I really like my Miele stick vacuum for hardwood floors. It's light and I don't have to worry about a canister behind me bumping into the floor molding corners. It also has a fairly long cord which makes it even easier to use.

I used to LOVE my electrolux canister. They invented them and they also have the most suction power.

HOWEVER I got so sick of having to go back and move the darn canister part stuck on something I was ready to throw it out the window and drive over it with my truck. Back and forth, back and forth (stop me)!

I'd do something along the lines of an upright, every time.
Then, there's the iRobot and Roomba. Thanks, beekeeper's wife! Never knew about that site.

I have a Dyson DC37 Animal Canister (the purple one) that works very well on our wood, tile, area rugs, and carpeted stairs. I have two dogs and one is double-coated so maybe she counts as two dogs?? I couldn't believe I was spending *that much* on a vacuum but it's really worked out well.

On the hardwood, there's a trigger to stop the brush beater since the dog hair just sucks right up. The beater sure works well to get the dog hair off of the tile and area rugs though some of the smaller and lighter rugs have to have the suction eased off as they try to climb inside the vac. If all you have is hardwood, then perhaps you would be fine with the DC37 non-Animal that has a different floorbrush without a beater bar at all. It's less expensive too.

The canister follows around very well. I hadn't had a canister for decades and was skeptical about this one but it heels better than my dogs. I love *not* having an upright to lift around for stairs etc.

The Roomba does sound lovely and a friend swears by hers, though I think it would creep me out a little in a Twilight Zone kinda way when I'd forget about it and then catch a glimpse of it. But that's just me.

cheers

I bought the Dyson stick cordess vacuum.
http://www.sears.com/dyson-dc35-digital-slim-multi-floor-vacuum-cleaner/p-02039401000P?prdNo=7&blockNo=7&blockType=G7
I does a really nice job on the hardwood in the kitchen which is what I specifically wanted it for. I do not use it on carpet. I needed something that would fit under the toekicks on the cabinets. I like that it has a 2yr parts and labor warranty on it. I think it's still a lot of $ to put out for it though. I did find it on sale at Sears and then waited for Family and Friends night for additional savings. We mounted it it the broom closet. A charge lasts about 15 min. I can do the kitchen, dining area, hallway and stairs in that time.

I'm another big proponent of Roomba. LOVE her. Although she's a bit older now and needs a new battery, so I've been debating about going to a newer model (mine is about 5 years old). We had mostly carpet in our old house and she hasn't come out to play with our hardwood...reminds me that I REALLY need to decide if I want to purchase a battery or get a new model so that Roomba goes back to doing her job.

BTW, every once in a while you still need to run a regular vac to get in the corners and so on. I have a Sears canister vac that does a fabulous job for that.

I am late to respond, but wanted to mention that we were seeking a cannister vac for the same reason. After researching to death, we ended up with a Simplicity cannister vac.We had never heard of them before a friend that cleans houses told us about them. They are sold by independent vacuum sales shops vs. big box stores, which is one of the things that we liked. We have the Jesse model and got it for about $420. We also liked the Miehle but were concerned about the price for parts and the cost was more.

Here is a link that might be useful: Simplicity Cannister Vacs

Now that I have two cats with white fur, my wood floors are covered in it. How does a Roomba work when there are area rugs? My three bedrooms have carpet (ugh) and I don't need a Roomba in there. I'd love to get one, but wonder if my cats will end up hopping on board and riding all around the house.

WOW, again, thanks everyone for such wonderful input! Guess I need to just go out and check them all out.
LOL, Cavimum...I know you are right. I'm hoping not to freak when I see that first scratch. We are very diligent about nails and do weekly mani/pedis with the dremmel. But, they do have very large thick nails, so it is just going to happen I'm sure.

I needed a vac that would clean both wood and tile as well as pick up copious amounts of dog hair (think dog hair tumbleweeds, not dust bunnies but dust elephants). I went through many vacs of various prices, and one day when I needed to clean the floors, but the latest vacuum was broken (again), I used the small shop vac that I kept in the garage. My little $25 shop vac works better than any vacuum I've ever owned from the most expensive Dyson to the cheapest "pet" Eureka.

While I do have my eye on the pretty red Miele cannister vac, my shop vac from Lowe's works better than anything I've ever used. Moral of the story: before you go out and spend the big bucks, check out the shop vac - the smallest model that's so super easy to carry, doesn't use bags (just pop the top, empty, and shake the filter), has a variety of attachments, and cleans like crazy.

We installed wood floors 6 weeks ago & after a week of dust mopping & then carefully dragging out my Sebo upright to suck up the pile of dog hair, I got a Bissell Pet Edge for $49. It is wonderful & light, but it is plug in. I am really afraid they don't actually make these anymore, this model has rubber things on the bottom as opposed to brush things. I have all wood & ceramic tile & it works great. Even does Ok on my two low pile area rugs. I only bring the Sebo out once a week for these. HTH

I use my Oreck on the hardwoods, doesn't hurt them at all. I also use this huge Norwex swifter type thing in between. It comes with it's own swivel handle that is really great. It's a microfiber type of cover that velcros to it. It also has a cover that is meant for getting wet and I mop with that after vacuuming. Really takes the dust off and the dog hair with two big dogs in the house it's priority 1.

bee - what kind or type of Roomba do you have? Is there a model or name? Does it also do carpet, or do you need a different one for carpet? Thanks!!