The Best Vacuums for Hardwood Floors Are Gentle Giants

Featured in this article

Best Overall

Samsung Bespoke Jet Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner w/ Clean Station

Read more

For Pet Parents

Shark Cordless Pet Plus Lightweight Stick Vacuum

Read more

Best Wet/Dry Combo

Dyson V15s Detect Submarine​ Wet-Dry Vacuum

Read more

The right cleaning device can make life infinitely easier, but you can’t use just any old Hoover on delicate surfaces. The best vacuums for hardwood floors won’t scratch or cause damage, so we tested dozens of highly rated models and asked experts to recommend the most ideal model for your home.

“The vacuum should have soft rubber wheels so scratching or marring does not occur when moving and manipulating the vacuum across the wood floors,” explains Paul Henthorn, owner of Slaughterbeck Floors in Campbell, California. “And power brushes on canister vacuums should be avoided in favor of the soft brush attachments.” What’s wrong with power brushes? Henthorn says they can potentially remove the finish and wood fibers from the grain of the floors. Beater bars can also be too abrasive on this type of floor.

Keeping all this, as well as usability, in mind, we focused on bagless, cordless stick vacuums, robovacs, and one worthy upright vacuums for this story. You’ll also find info from experts on how to choose the best one for your home, as well as helpful maintenance tips. But first, browse our favorite picks to clean your floors and keep scratches out of sight.

Best Vacuums for Hardwood Floors, Overall

Samsung Bespoke Jet Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner w/ Clean Station

The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI cordless stick vacuum cleaner actually looks like a work of art, so it’s not only one of the best cordless vacuums (based on our very hands-on experience), but also one of the best-looking. The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI comes in a gorgeous satin black color and has an AI cleaning mode that detects the floor type to adjust suction accordingly. “I’ve had it since May 2022, and the vacuum has held up very well,” contributor Terri Williams says. “This model has more air watts (210W) than any of Samsung’s previous cordless stick vacuums—and it also includes more accessories. The lightweight (six-pound) vacuum is easy to maneuver, and the nozzle includes a dual brush head (a soft one for hard floors and another one with fins for carpets).”

The space-saving clean station charger holds the vacuum when not in use. When docked, the clean station automatically empties the vacuum’s dustbin. There’s also a separate accessory cradle to hold the combination and crevice tools, pet tool, flexible tool, and dust bags. The vacuum itself has strong suction, a dual brush for cleaning both hard floors and carpet, and the battery lasts up to 100 minutes.

For Pet Parents

Shark Cordless Pet Plus Lightweight Stick Vacuum

Williams loves the Shark Pet Plus Lightweight Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner (and also the Shark Rocket Pet Pro) because the floor nozzle has a self-cleaning soft brushroll and PowerFins. Both work together to pick up debris and ensure that no hair gets tangled up in the vacuum. The fins are made of flexible silicone instead of bristles, so it’s easy on hard surfaces, and the LED light on the floor nozzle helps Williams identify more dirt than she probably cares to know about. The Shark Pet Plus uses anti-allergen complete-seal technology and a HEPA filter to keep all of the dust and debris inside of the vacuum. It’s also super easy to empty the dust cup: Just slide the Clean Touch Dirt Ejector lever down to spit out any waste into the trash can. The lightweight vacuum lasts 40 minutes and includes a crevice tool and pet multitool.

Best Wet/Dry Combo

Some people like the idea of one vacuum that suctions and mops hardwood floors—but they’d rather have these functions completely separated rather than integrated into the same machine. If that’s your preference, the Dyson V15 Detect Submarine actually has three swappable cleaner heads. There’s the digital motorbar cleaner head for multifloor use, the fluffy optic cleaner head for hardwood floors, and the submarine wet roller head. But instead of loading water into a water tank on the vacuum, the water is poured directly into (and subsequently contained within) the wet roller head. And since the vacuum has the same articulating head used on Dyson’s other stick vacuums, I found it easy to swivel around furniture legs and reach underneath my couch when mopping. There’s also a drip tray to store the wet roller head on, and the vacuum includes (dry use) accessories such as the combination tool, crevice tool, and hair screw tool.

The Budget Option

Bissell CleanView XR Cordless Vacuum

We tend not to test “cheap” vacuums. Instead, we look for economical choices that are still high-quality items with the features you want. The Bissell CleanView XR fits the bill. It has a tangle-free brush roll to keep hair from getting snarled, and it has three cleaning modes—standard, medium, and turbo—to fit various needs. The LED headlights illuminate dirt in hidden places and the vacuum has swivel steering features, meaning it easily maneuvers around furniture legs. It can easily convert to a handheld model, allowing me to use the crevice tool, combination dusting brush, and upholstery tool. Run time is only 35 minutes—but at this price, you can purchase an additional battery and swap them out.

Best Robot Vacuum

While Yelena Moroz Alpert has historically been a self-professed mop hater, the Narwal made her a believer. With more than double the suction of the average vac (15,000 Pa), the robot vacuum helped her tackle crumbs, pet hair, and other dirt and debris on her hardwood floors. “My floors are now nice and shiny, and I was impressed with the obstacle avoidance to see that it maneuvered around the dining room chairs instead of just jamming into the legs,” she writes in her review.

For Alpert, the physical setup was straightforward, but pairing the vac to the app and mapping out her home required more trial and error. Once she figured it out, however, it was easy to control which rooms were cleaned or avoided during each session. The best overall feature? It’s self-cleaning and self-drying.

“The very best part is that I don’t have to get my hands dirty cleaning the vacuum itself,” Alpert says in her review. “It goes back to the station, which takes care of everything. In fact, the mop pads are air drying as I type this, and all I hear is the sweet hum of a clean house.”

A Luxury Pick

Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo Robot Vacuum & Mop

If you’re looking for a vacuum that truly does everything for you, this is one of the best picks of the bunch. Not only is the robot vacuum itself packed with power and features, but the cleaning station takes care of the grunt work for you—like cleaning the mop pads, emptying the dust bin, and refilling the robot with water.

The best part, though, might be the LiDAR Navigation with 3D Mapping tech, which creates a 3D map of your home to clean rooms with precision, avoiding obstacles and moving efficiently through the space. We love the ease of use. Its smart features make it a set-and-forget appliance that can largely function without your help, keeping your floors clear of dirt and debris while also mopping up spills and tougher stains.

More AD-Approved Vacuums

An upgrade from the LVAC-200, Levoit’s latest vacuum comes with an extended run time (anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes, depending on the power level you use) and an updated cord design to limit tangling. “I love that the display screen tells you exactly how much battery life is left, and I was able to vacuum the entirety of my teeny apartment—around 300 square feet—without even breaking 90% battery life on eco mode,” assistant commerce director Lori Keong shares.

Keong also notes that it arrived in a shockingly small box and was easy to assemble. Her one complaint? Eco mode wasn’t quite as powerful as she’d hoped (it couldn’t suck up a popcorn kernel), but overall, it’s a high-quality, Dyson-esque model without the hefty price tag. “I think it’s a great alternative for anyone who’s on a budget and wants a slightly tech-enhanced vacuum that deconstructs for small space living,” she adds.

Tested and recommended by several AD staffers, the Shark HydroVac MessMaster has received praise for its intuitive design, LED headlights to scan for hidden messes, and ability to maneuver through tight spaces. As senior commerce editor Nashia Baker mentions in her review, “Since my home is covered with tile, this Shark vacuum has been a big help in picking up and scrubbing virtually any mess that makes its way to my floors. I seamlessly navigate it through my home with its narrow, cordless design and pivoting motorhead to get in tight spaces.”

This intuitive wet-dry vacuum nearly clinched the title of Best Overall, and Williams shares that there’s a lot to love about it: It has a self-cleaning rinse system and can pick up anything from coffee grounds to spilled cereal and milk, plus it’ll tackle messes on low-pile area rugs on the aptly named “Area Rug” mode. She only wished it had a longer run time, and would have preferred dual rollers and a self-drying feature.