Best Vacuum For Hardwood Floors 2012

Finding the best vacuum for hardwood floors can be tricky – so many different vacuums claim to be able to clean hardwood floors, but the truth of the matter is that many of them don’t. However, if you find the right hardwood floor vacuum cleaner then you can essentially say goodbye to your broom and dustpan forever. In order to help save you some research time, we have put together our list of best vacuums for hardwood floors, which we update yearly (or more often if new models come out mid-year).

Miele S Series Vacuums
	You don’t find a specific Miele model here for a reason – all Miele S canister vacuums, from the S2 to the S5, are great for hardwood floor cleaning. This is not to say there are not advantages with purchasing the more expensive S5, but the truth is that you may not need all that power and can end up saving over $500 AND get everything you need to vacuum your hardwood floors. Basically, if all you need is a hardwood floor vacuum cleaner, then you are fine going with the S2; however, if you need a vacuum that can do both carpet and hardwood flooring then you will want to either look more towards the S5. *Click here to read our Miele S5 Capricorn review *Click here to read our Miele S4 Vacuum Review *Click here to read our Miele S2 vacuum review
Sebo Airbelt D4
	Sebo is one of the most popular brands of vacuums for both high end commercial and residential use, and the quality of their vacuum cleaners warrants it. With the Airbelt D4 you get great power, ease of use, and top notch filtration. In addition, Sebo has some great tools for hardwood floor vacuuming that you will appreciate greatly. You will also appreciate the 40 foot power cord, full 360-degree swiveling hose connection, and the ability to get under things as low as 3.5 inches. You really can’t go wrong with the Sebo Airbelt D4. *Our Review Coming Soon!
Dyson DC25 All Floors Vacuum
	The Dyson DC25 All Floors claims the title ‘All Floors’ for a reason – it does great on both deep, thick carpeting and delicate hard wood floors. While canister vacuums tradionally dominate the hardwood, Dyson has built a model that can compete when it comes to vacuuming your kitchen floor. No, it’s not as easy to use as the Miele or the Sebo canisters (getting under chairs, tables, etc.), but it still does a great job. The suction power is amazing – it really picks up even the smallest dirt particle. In addition, because the beater bar turns off when the vacuum is in the hardwood setting you don’t have to worry about scratching your nice floor or blowing dust everywhere. And, with the Dyson power you can easily transition from your hard floor to the living room with no problem. However, there is one downside – because the head lowers so close to the ground you will find it difficult to pick up larger things such as cheerios. For us that’s not a huge deal since you can always use the extension wand, but it is something to remember. *Click here to read our Dyson DC25 All Floors Vacuum Review

How We Choose The Best Vacuum For Hardwood Floors

In deciding which vacuums to rate the highest, we look at the following:

1) Is the model designed specifically to be used on hardwood floors. This is simply a preliminary check – if the model is designed for floors then is passes and moves onto the next tests / checks. And we don’t just take the manufactures sticker on the box as proof that it was really designed properly for using on hard flooring. There are many vacuums we’ve seen that say they are ‘all-floors’ type models, but when you put them on a nice wood floor they scratch and scuff, simply blow dirt around, and damage the floor because the wheels are not designed properly – in other words they are regular vacuums that manufacturers try to sell as something they are not. These vacuums don’t even pass the first check.

Other things we look for in determining the design of the model are:

-Ability to turn of the beater brush. Yes, some vacuums do a decent job even though they don’t have that ability, but they just don’t do as good as they can. Mainly, this is because in order to not scratch your floor the vacuum head is lifted higher than it should be, making it harder for the vacuum to be able to suck up the small dirt and debris while also having the bigger particles being blown out by the beater bar that is still rotating.

-Ability to adjust the height settings (for upright vacuums). As is the case with the Dyson DC25, we wish we could ajust the head higher for some jobs, and then lower for others. Unfortunately, most of the time we find that with uprights you have to give with one or the other – either the vacuum lifts up so the beater bar doesn’t damage anything, or the head adjusts just slightly too low to be able to pick up larger debris (like the cheerios).

2) Suction Power. There is no use in buying a vacuum that doens’t have enough power to suck up the finer particles and dust on a kitchen floor or entryway. Any vacuum that makes our list is sure to have more than enough power to get any job done. However, we don’t just look at the watts used or what you see on the sticker on the outside of the box – again we test the models to make sure that the design enables the airflow to work properly. You can have the most powerful motor put in the worst designed vacuum and you would get horrible air flow and thus horrible suction power.

3) Ease of Use. We rate all our vacuums according to how easy to use they are, but when looking at hardwood floor vacuums we concentrate on the specifics/issues that most people would look at before purchasing. We looks at:

-Ability to vacuum around and under small objects (chairs, tables, decorations, etc.). Whether you are vacuuming your kitchen floor or your entry way, you want to be able to vacuum as much as possible. If the vacuum is not able to maneuver easiliy, or if the head is too big to get under things that causes a problem – a problem you want to avoid in looking for the best hardwood floor vacuum cleaner for your money.

4) Filtration. We always like to see that a vacuum is not polluting your home with pathagens and other air-born dust particles. We like certified HEPA filters and well-designed models that are also sealed to prevent spilling of dust back into the air. This is especially important with the hard wood areas. Typically people have other wood furniture that needs to be dusted routinly, and it’s extremely annoying to have to dust after you vacuum because your vac doesn’t do a good job of sealing in that dust.

5) Durability. A good vacuum should last a very long time, should be cleaned easily, and have a good warranty that you can trust in case anything happens. This is one of the main reasons we love Miele and Sebo so much. Not only are their models built like tanks, but their warranties are top notch in terms of both coverage and duration.