Vacuum for hardwood

jay22 · Post by **jay22** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 3:01 pm

Looking to replace our existing vacuum and get a new one to clean hardwood floors. Does anyone here has any recommendations? Thanks.

weltschmerz · Post by **weltschmerz** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 3:07 pm

deleted

daveatca · Post by **daveatca** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 3:27 pm

Miele Complete C3 Marin
http://www.mieleusa.com/Product/Details/1142

ComsumerReports says: #1

We own it and the wife LOVES it. For both hardwood and carpet. We are using about 1 bag per 4-6 weeks for a 2400 sqft house with 2 cats.
Quiet

Price is the same everywhere.
We bought locally. Our local store charged $50 less than Amazon and he threw in a spare HEPA filter ($45 value!) and additional tools.

Rodc · Post by **Rodc** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 3:39 pm

daveatca wrote:Miele Complete C3 Marin
http://www.mieleusa.com/Product/Details/1142

ComsumerReports says: #1

We own it and the wife LOVES it. For both hardwood and carpet. We are using about 1 bag per 4-6 weeks for a 2400 sqft house with 2 cats.
Quiet

Price is the same everywhere.
We bought locally. Our local store charged $50 less than Amazon and he threw in a spare HEPA filter ($45 value!) and additional tools.

We have a Miele as well and like it very much. I do not recall the model now but it was one of the one that cost rather less.

That said, if I only had hardwood the Swifter might be all I own or something similar (we use something similar but with a washable cloth head, not disposable on our kitchen hardwood floor)

Kenkat · Post by **Kenkat** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 3:43 pm

We have a Shark Rotator and it has a setting that allows you to run it without the brush agitator which I use on our hardwood floors.

furikake · Post by **furikake** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 3:50 pm

I find that Shark is more efficient on hardwood. So we use a Shark for hardwood, then I use swiffer to sweep and then a wet mop. For carpet, we use our Dyson which is more efficient than Shark but not efficient on hardwood.

TravelGeek · Post by **TravelGeek** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:00 pm

My wife researched this when we got a new house with hardwood floors throughout. We ended up with a Miele Olympus and she loves it. I can look for the exact model if anyone cares.

We also have a Swiffer and a Braava (roomba-style device for hard-surface floors, from the Roomba/iRobot people).

Overall very happy with this combination.

stevewolfe · Post by **stevewolfe** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:02 pm

We use a Swiffer. I bought a pack of microfiber towels from autozone. Cut them in half and they work perfectly. Shake out and launder between uses.

ausgenf · Post by **ausgenf** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:10 pm

I use a Miele vacuum cleaner (C1) with parquet floor brush to keep the floor clean between wet moppings (with a Swiffer)

PatSea · Post by **PatSea** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 5:11 pm

Just bought a Hoover Linx battery powered vacuum for the hardwood. Works great.

cheese_breath · Post by **cheese_breath** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 5:57 pm

Swiffer and never worry about a tangled cord again

Mudpuppy · Post by **Mudpuppy** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 6:05 pm

Any cordless stick-vac will be sufficient for hardwood floors. As many have mentioned, even a Swiffer Sweeper or Swiffer Sweeper Vac works perfectly fine on hardwood floors.

If you have throw rugs however, you might want to get something more powerful for use on them. I have a Shark corded vacuum which has a sweeper head and a brush-roller head. But even it is not quite powerful enough to really get the throw rugs clean. My old $75 bagged Hoover was more effective on the throw rugs, but I can't find belts for it anymore.

So you might want a lightweight stick-vac for the hardwood floors and a cheap, traditional vacuum for the throw rugs (if you have them).

bikechuck · Post by **bikechuck** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:16 pm

PatSea wrote:Just bought a Hoover Linx battery powered vacuum for the hardwood. Works great.

Another vote for the Hoover Linx, one of the best products I have ever purchased. It is great for hardwood floors but also for carpeted stairs.

jay22 · Post by **jay22** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:22 pm

The Dan wrote:
jay22 wrote:Looking to replace our existing vacuum and get a new one to clean hardwood floors. Does anyone here has any recommendations? Thanks.
For hardwood floors, I recommend a Swiffer. It works better than a vacuum in my experience, and is a whole lot quieter. Dry ones are great for daily or weekly collection of dust/debris, and the wet ones are good for the occasional mopping.

http://swiffer.com/en-us/shop-products/sweeping

stevewolfe wrote:We use a Swiffer. I bought a pack of microfiber towels from autozone. Cut them in half and they work perfectly. Shake out and launder between uses.

cheese_breath wrote:Swiffer and never worry about a tangled cord again

I tried using that (not sure if it was swiffer or some other brand) but found that they just scatter the dust away and I have to vacuum after that anyway. Which particular one do you guys use? I suppose I'll give it another shot. Do you use it with a specific solution, or water?

jay22 · Post by **jay22** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:23 pm

TravelGeek wrote:My wife researched this when we got a new house with hardwood floors throughout. We ended up with a Miele Olympus and she loves it. I can look for the exact model if anyone cares.

We also have a Swiffer and a Braava (roomba-style device for hard-surface floors, from the Roomba/iRobot people).

Overall very happy with this combination.

What's the exact model? Thanks!

jay22 · Post by **jay22** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:25 pm

bikechuck wrote:
PatSea wrote:Just bought a Hoover Linx battery powered vacuum for the hardwood. Works great.

Another vote for the Hoover Linx, one of the best products I have ever purchased. It is great for hardwood floors but also for carpeted stairs.

I was looking at it this morning, how is the battery life? Do you have to charge it often?

tomd37 · Post by **tomd37** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 9:22 pm

Another vote for Miele products. We have an upright "Jazz" and a canister (do not know the model name). I do all the vacuuming in the house for my wife who has very limited arm and hand strength. We have hardwood flooring throughout the first floor and carpeting on the second floor. Have a cat litter box in the first floor laundry room and that litter does carry sometimes into other nearby rooms. Personally I prefer the upright Miele Jazz for the hardwood with it set at the most powerful suction level. Its LED headlight picks up things left behind when my wife uses her Swiffer. Rolls very easy on the hardwood and does not make any marks on the hardwood.

tigerdoc93 · Post by **tigerdoc93** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 9:34 pm

Definitely consider a Roomba. It works great on hardwood floors

canderson · Post by **canderson** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 9:42 pm

We have the Dyson DC45 stick and it's a Godsend.

We got the new Dyson Cinetic large vacuum as well and it's better than our former Meile. Plus MUCH easier to maneuver.

protagonist · Post by **protagonist** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 10:28 pm

If you are not too compulsive, get a robot. Like my Mint 5200 (I think it is called a Braava now?)

It mops too.

You have better things to do with your time than pushing a vacuum around.

jsapiandante · Post by **jsapiandante** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 11:07 pm

Wife and I use the Miele C2 Onyx for our house in between mopping. I love it because I no longer need to sweep and it's great for my allergies. It also works well with medium pile carpet for two of our bedrooms. Try not to go the cheap route when it comes to vacuums. You'll forego having to buy a new one every few years. Depending on whether you have pets, you may need to opt for one with a power brush.

jay22 · Post by **jay22** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 12:15 am

tigerdoc93 wrote:Definitely consider a Roomba. It works great on hardwood floors

protagonist wrote:If you are not too compulsive, get a robot. Like my Mint 5200 (I think it is called a Braava now?)

It mops too.

You have better things to do with your time than pushing a vacuum around.

I was thinking about the robotic ones, but I am still not convinced whether it is worth spending $500 on something that will do a substandard(?) job. Which particular model do you use?

califboglehd · Post by **califboglehd** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 12:15 am

Another vote for Hoover Linx, light and powerful. Gave one to my mom as a gift. She has since given 3 or 4 of them as gifts to friends....

jay22 · Post by **jay22** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 12:21 am

califboglehd wrote:Another vote for Hoover Linx, light and powerful. Gave one to my mom as a gift. She has since given 3 or 4 of them as gifts to friends....

How is the battery life on the Linx?

mpowered · Post by **mpowered** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 1:14 am

jay22 wrote:
tigerdoc93 wrote:Definitely consider a Roomba. It works great on hardwood floors

protagonist wrote:If you are not too compulsive, get a robot. Like my Mint 5200 (I think it is called a Braava now?)

It mops too.

You have better things to do with your time than pushing a vacuum around.
I was thinking about the robotic ones, but I am still not convinced whether it is worth spending $500 on something that will do a substandard(?) job. Which particular model do you use?

For hardwoods, any robot vacuum will do just fine, and it'll do it every day. I have a neato botvac and it runs every day on a schedule when I'm out of the house. It docks it self around 90% of the time when the floors are properly prepped (nothing left on the floor for it to get stuck on). I also had a Roomba, which I got rid of because it would NEVER dock itself.

chapter2 · Post by **chapter2** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 1:14 am

I have a 3 year old yellow Dyson that works well on my engineered wood floor. My theory is you want to vacuum all the particles that could potentially be "scratching" your wood floor. I live in a dusty area and I always vacuum first. Then I spray Bona on the wood floor, and wipe with the applicator that was included in the kit.

Mudpuppy · Post by **Mudpuppy** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 2:48 am

mpowered wrote:For hardwoods, any robot vacuum will do just fine, and it'll do it every day. I have a neato botvac and it runs every day on a schedule when I'm out of the house. It docks it self around 90% of the time when the floors are properly prepped (nothing left on the floor for it to get stuck on). I also had a Roomba, which I got rid of because it would NEVER dock itself.

My Roomba is usually good about docking itself, but I don't use it much on the hardwood floors these days. It has too much difficulty with my throw rugs in the hardwood rooms (only two rooms in my house have hardwood).

It however is horrible about docking itself when a pet knocks it off its dock. I have a model where you have to manually turn on the electronic "walls" so it can wander for a while if a pet knocks it off the dock overnight. I found it in the kitchen one morning and under the coffee table another morning.

I do have to say the Neato is more efficient in terms of time, since it maps the space and makes very specific passes to cover the surface area. The Roomba still uses a random wander method, which does still clean things but takes a bit more time.

ClevrChico · Post by **ClevrChico** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 9:17 am

TravelGeek wrote:My wife researched this when we got a new house with hardwood floors throughout. We ended up with a Miele Olympus and she loves it. I can look for the exact model if anyone cares.

We also have a Swiffer and a Braava (roomba-style device for hard-surface floors, from the Roomba/iRobot people).

Overall very happy with this combination.

We have hardwood and a Miele S2 Olympus too. It works great, and I consider it a "buy it for life item". It is very good quality and high performance. The cord retraction and wand storage is genius.

I paid $299 for it in 2010.

Five Scoop · Post by **Five Scoop** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 9:36 am

I'll echo the posters that love their Miele. Have a Miele Olympus and bought the Parquet Twister XL Smooth Floor Brush . The brush is really wide and shortens the time needed to vacuum the floors.

f35phixer · Post by **f35phixer** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 12:04 pm

a rainbow, have had for about 20 years, just use the brush attachment, it's truely amazing what the water shows after vacuuuming a 2500 sq ft house with just two adults weekly. You'd think we were flithy pigs

nordsteve · Post by **nordsteve** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 1:02 pm

Roomba 500 series plus Hoover Mighty Mite. The Roomba is 6 years old and the Mighty Mite is 25 years old.

Roomba gets 90% of the dirt with 10% of the effort. Mine parks itself about half the time, but I find that spending 15 seconds to put it in the right place isn't a big burden.

I've had to replace the power switch on the Mighty Mite, otherwise all original.

The idea of a $1000 manually operated vacuum in 2016 astonishes me.

goodlifer · Post by **goodlifer** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 2:20 pm

I have a little bit of everything in my house. I use an old Dyson DC14 with the hardwood attachment for the wood floors, tile, and the expensive rugs with fringe. So far, it is the best I have used for hardwood, especially picking up cat litter without scratching. Using it without the hardwood attachment doesn't get nearly the same results. The downside is that Dyson has cheap plastic that breaks easily and their replacement parts are expensive. I buy parts on Ebay to save money. I have a Riccar that cleans carpets amazingly well and is shockingly light, but it has no attachments and cleans hardwood only so-so. It is powerful and doesn't scratch, but doesn't get the corners. The roller doesn't stop, either. I plan on seriously looking at Miele when the Riccar breaks. I also want something like a Roomba, but I'm worried about spending the money and having it break too soon. I used to go through vacuums every 18 months or so until I bought the Riccar. I'm also worried that our Maine Coon will use a Roomba as a mobile throne and terrorize the dog, until her fatness breaks it.

I second the use of Bona to clean wood floors!

Mudpuppy · Post by **Mudpuppy** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 2:59 pm

goodlifer wrote:I'm also worried that our Maine Coon will use a Roomba as a mobile throne and terrorize the dog, until her fatness breaks it.

I have several cats. None of them try to ride the Roomba like you see in some online videos. The alpha cat will sometimes "stalk" the Roomba, but he always gives up when it changes directions "unexpectedly". Most of the rest retreat to the top of furniture or to a room where the Roomba isn't being used. I have to wonder if those people with videos of cats riding Roombas have had the Roombas around since the cats were kittens.

protagonist · Post by **protagonist** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 9:14 pm

jay22 wrote: I was thinking about the robotic ones, but I am still not convinced whether it is worth spending $500 on something that will do a substandard(?) job. Which particular model do you use?

I have both a Mint 5200 and a Mint 4200 that I bought a few years back (all hardwood or tile floors), and they didn't cost anywhere near $500. Closer to $100 each. I bought them at significant discounts as I recall....I think because Mint was transitioning into iRobot products. I got one from Walmart online and the other was a "like new unopened" ebay offering. Under iRobot I think the prices are quite a bit higher....I don't think they changed much if anything vs. the Mint.

I find the two almost identical products, though in theory the 5200 is supposed to cover a much larger area. I haven't noticed a huge difference.

"Substandard" is relative. For example, the robots clean and mop under my stove, and the first time I was astounded at the amount of &$%#$$@( that they pulled out from there. I never mopped under my stove that I remember.

In addition, when I let one loose on my gf's floor AFTER she swept and mopped (and she is quite thorough), it still picked up a lot of junk.

That said, they do tend to push junk into corners and are imperfect around the edges. The junk they push into the corners is not much of a problem since they tend to be large enough aggregates to just pick up by hand.

Also, every year or two I find I have to replace something.....a battery or a the plastic thing that holds the cleaning pads (I use them exclusively with Swiffer pads....filling with liquid detergent and then washing the cloths just seems to defeat the purpose of effficiency). The part replacement runs about $30 every year or two.

The Mint is nearly silent which is nice.

My floors are much cleaner now than when I used a conventional broom or vacuum and mop. The reason: it is so easy that I clean my floors much more often. I would never go back. And I am satisfied with 90% clean.

It's also fun to watch. I wish I had a pet to interact with my robots.

exoilman · Post by **exoilman** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 9:54 pm

reference

Chicken lady · Post by **Chicken lady** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:54 pm

Another roomba robot lover here. I don't have a problem with mine docking - I can have it vacuum every day - my floors are a lot cleaner since I switched to the roomba. The corners do not get clean due to the design but then, if you're vacuuming every day, there's not a lot of dust or dirt to accumulate.

I have to pick up throw rugs before vacuuming starts. No carpeting. It's quiet enough for me since I only run the vacuum when I'm out of the house. I have to let it re-dock once for it have enough juice to vacuum the whole house, not a big inconvenience for me.

I"ve been using these since they came on the market, I hate vacuuming so it's definitely worth it for me. The average life has been around 8 years - way cheaper than paying someone to vacuum my house every day.

HIinvestor · Post by **HIinvestor** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 11:45 pm

W'e've had roombas in our home since they were first on the market. We currently have two, one for the living area and the other for the bedrooms. We only have bathmats and hardwood for most of the house and we pick up the bathmats when the Roomba starts up, so it's not a problem. We like having the Roomba programmed to go off M-F at the same time each day. It keeps our floors nice and clean and H is good about cleaning out the tray as needed (mostly daily).

Costco had the Roomba on coupon over the holidays for $299 ($50 off). Sam's Club has a different model that you can't program, but we like the programming ability. There are other places that carry Roomba as well, but we like Costco's willingness to refund your money whenever you want to bring the merchandise back.

We also have dust mops and swifters, but robotic cleaners work more consistently than humans in this house.

4nursebee · Post by **4nursebee** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 3:50 am

Miele to vacuum

Swiffer like thing to mop. I bought mine at a big box hardware store, however, it is not the kind with disposable crap. Mine is real cloth, gets washed in between uses, has lasted years. I had wring it at a sink.

takeshi · Post by **takeshi** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:30 am

daveatca wrote:Miele Complete C3 Marin
http://www.mieleusa.com/Product/Details/1142

For mostly hard floors and some rugs (no carpet) the Miele Complete C3 Alize may be a better fit. We just purchased one and I would highly recommend it to anyone that has the budget and requirements.

daveatca wrote:ComsumerReports says: #1

Be careful relying on broad, sweeping statements like that. Differing requirements may steer one to a different model. Without carpet we have no need for the electro brush one the Marin. The brush on the Alize is smaller, lighter and more maneuverable. Plus the Alize is a bit less (a lot less with my wife's discount).

Miele makes great vacuums but one should carefully consider one's specific needs/wants versus the product lineup. That said, if one finds that requirements change over time one can purchase a new brush. Our Alize has the power connector for powered brushes.

cheese_breath wrote:Swiffer and never worry about a tangled cord again

We do use a Swiffer as well but tangled cords have never been a worry with our vacuums. Be careful with those dichotomies.

jsapiandante wrote:Try not to go the cheap route when it comes to vacuums.

Don't conflate expensive and good or cheap and bad. Price is just price. Carefully consider each product beyond just price tag. Our previous Dyson wasn't cheap. It worked well enough but fell apart in many places. Dyson was great about replacing parts under warranty but after a while it wasn't work it to us to fix. Our Miele is still brand new but we are expecting better durability and life on top of its performance and how quiet it is.

jhighwood · Post by **jhighwood** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 11:41 am

jay22 wrote:Looking to replace our existing vacuum and get a new one to clean hardwood floors. Does anyone here has any recommendations? Thanks.

We use the Hard Floor Expert by Bissell and love it for our hardwoods.
http://www.bissell.com/hard-floor-exper ... acuum-1161
It's easy to carry around and the rotating soft brush makes the floors sparkle. You can tell the difference right away.

bikechuck · Post by **bikechuck** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:35 pm

jay22 wrote:
bikechuck wrote:
PatSea wrote:Just bought a Hoover Linx battery powered vacuum for the hardwood. Works great.

I was looking at it this morning, how is the battery life? Do you have to charge it often?

Battery life is not great. However I can easily do my downstairs approx. 900 square feet (which is where my hardwood is) 2X before having to recharge. That two times will also cover my throw rugs and stairs. Recharging takes a couple of hours or so. It has two settings upper for hardwood and lower for carpet. I have a more expensive corded vacuum for my upstairs carpeted rooms.

Rodc · Post by **Rodc** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:47 pm

Our previous Dyson wasn't cheap. It worked well enough but fell apart in many places. Dyson was great about replacing parts under warranty but after a while it wasn't work it to us to fix.

Cheap seems to have two basic usages: low cost and low quality.

What you really want to avoid is high cost but still cheap (low quality). I know some people love them and I only once used sister-in-law's Dyson but that seemed to be a high cost but still cheap vacuum.

One of the modestly priced Meile's strikes me as a good value for the money (we own two because my wife finds it easier to have one on each floor and I knew better than to argue.

) One we bought some years ago and is a relatively more expensive one though I think the models have changed and it was not top of the line. The new one was more towards the bottom of the line though has a power head and is smaller (both canisters). I like the handle on the older one, she like the newer one as it is smaller and still does a great job - so like so often it is just user preference as to which is "better".

We seemed to only get a few years out of the standard issue Hoovers and Kemores. The Meilies have held up well.

new2bogle · Post by **new2bogle** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:56 pm

takeshi wrote: Don't conflate expensive and good or cheap and bad. Price is just price. Carefully consider each product beyond just price tag. Our previous Dyson wasn't cheap. It worked well enough but fell apart in many places. Dyson was great about replacing parts under warranty but after a while it wasn't work it to us to fix. Our Miele is still brand new but we are expecting better durability and life on top of its performance and how quiet it is.

I completely disagree about the Dyson.

We have both the carpet plug in Dyson and the portable non-carpet Dyson. Both are about 6 years old and go through a lot of abuse. The suction on both is still very good (especially the corded one). The portable one's battery is starting to give way so the charge does not last as long anymore.

I'd recommend Dyson in a heartbeat and if the corded one ever fails will be replaced with another Dyson.

They are both bagless which is very convenient.

SouthernCPA · Post by **SouthernCPA** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 4:42 pm

We have a Roomba that runs daily to battle the hair from our Yellow Lab and that has been a life saver. The Roomba gets the floor pretty clean and we've got to empty the bin on it daily. It basically extends time between deep cleans. When we deep clean we've got a Shark that we use and follow up with Swiffer wet jet.

Leemiller · Post by **Leemiller** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:48 am

For those with robot cleaners and more than one story, can you just use one and take it downstairs as needed? I'm thinking of trying one out. Also, what about behind doors? That is where the dust seems to like it best in our home.

califboglehd · Post by **califboglehd** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:31 am

jay22 wrote:
califboglehd wrote:Another vote for Hoover Linx, light and powerful. Gave one to my mom as a gift. She has since given 3 or 4 of them as gifts to friends....
How is the battery life on the Linx?

We are able to sweep our floors at least twice on a charge. I dont use the brush setting on hardwood. Using the brush on carpet runs it down pretty quickly. Seems well designed and durable.

Majoritay · Post by **Majoritay** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 1:55 pm

I have all hardwood floors, and when our cheap vacuum conked out I just bought a shop vac. They are only $50-$70 and you can get ones on Amazon that come with filters, bags, etc. The only thing you'll need to buy is an attachment to turn it into an inexpensive super powerful reliable vacuum cleaner!

Of course, the convenience depends largely on how big your house is; mine is quite small. But bonus, it also makes for a fantastic way to vacuum out the car!