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Reviewed / Getty Images / South_agency
Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.
Learn more about our product testing
The Shark Apex is a workhorse of a vacuum. It has powerful suction and plenty of features, but it's loud and heavy. Read More
The iRobot Roomba j7+ boasts excellent navigation, forward-thinking smart features, and good cleaning performance. Read More
The V11 has powerful cleaning, great battery life, and unique features that set it apart from all other cordless vacuums: an LCD screen and an automatic suction adjustment. Read More
The Shark Apex ZS362 is a lightweight vacuum that's perfect for hardwood floors. Read More
The Eufy G30 Edge is an all-around robot vacuum. It proved to have average cleaning performance and quick cycle times. Read More
Like granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors are a timeless classic in the home. However, as nice as it looks, hardwood flooring is much more temperamental than carpet when it comes to caring for and cleaning it.
We’re constantly testing new models of all types of vacuums, from cordless vacuums to robotic ones, to find ones that are worth your time and money. Among other things, we specifically test each vacuum for its ability to pick up debris and dirt off hardwood flooring without being too rough on it. If you’re looking for a true all-in-one vacuum, we suggest our winner, the Shark Apex AZ1002 (available at Amazon) . It brings power and versatility while also being gentle.
We think most people will fall in love with the Shark Apex AZ1002
We found the light that helps the j7+ navigate to be intrusive at times.
Excellent navigation
Easy storage
Good cleaning performance
Loud
The Dyson V11 Torque Drive is a good buy for those who demand excellence.
Powerful suction
Excellent UI
Expensive
Fast cleaning cycles
Barrier Included
Average dirt pickup
Poor cleaning in tight spaces
Lightweight
Powerful for size
No attachments
I’m Jon Chan, the Senior Lab Technician at Reviewed. It’s my job to test and write about products ranging from coolers to laundry detergents. Along with my colleague Kyle Hamilton, we tested all the vacuums in this guide.
Even though vacuum cleaners aren’t the big metal boxes that we usually test in our appliance lab—such as refrigerators, washers, dryers, dishwashers, or ranges—we still test them in such a way so that we can have both reproducible performance data and information that will be useful to our readers. We assess on the performance, features, and usability of each vacuum cleaner.
Our testing focused on debris when testing on hardwood floors
We start by evaluating how well each vacuum cleans different types of dirt from different types of floors. We clean four types of mess: our homemade “dirt” made from sieved sand and baby powder, piles of pet hair, rice grains, and raw macaroni. To evaluate across different floors, we test on high pile carpet, low pile carpet, and a linoleum floor surface.
We also think it’s important to see how a vacuum cleaner performs in difficult circumstances. For instance, we create a fake border by laying a 2x4 board down on the carpet, then sprinkle baby powder. We then test to see whether the vacuum can pick up all of the baby powder without leaving a strip of white dust next to the wood.
Additionally, we also test how easy it is for the vacuum cleaner to clean dirt or dust bunnies that have collected under furniture. We have a wooden dowel that we suspend at different heights, and we push the vacuum under it until it stops to simulate how far it can reach under a piece of furniture.
These tests help us determine how easy to maneuver a vacuum is and how well it will perform on all of the surfaces, nooks, and crannies in your home.
We chose laminate wood for our testing platform.
General vacuum tests serve us well, but for this buying guide, we also built a special platform in our lab to simulate hardwood flooring. We built our test floor out of laminate wood flooring, because of its ubiquity in American homes and because it was easy to replace any boards that became scuffed or scratched.
We focused our tests on finding and cleaning debris on this surface.
Features like LED lights are more important on vacuums you plan on using mostly on hardwood.
Of course, there’s more to the vacuuming experience than just removing dirt. That’s why we also consider each vacuum’s noise level, attachments, cord length, weight, dirt capacity, warranty, mobility, battery life (if it’s a cordless, robot, or handheld vacuum), and overall user experience. Vacuums that succeed at cleaning up a lot of dirt/debris and at ease of use wind up at the top of our ranking system.
Unlike carpet, hardwood floors typically have a finish on their surface that protects them—but it can also get damaged over time. There are additional unique flooring materials like teak and bamboo (technically a grass) that are much more fragile than other wood floors.
When vacuuming hardwood flooring, you want an easy-to-move model that has variable suction and soft bristles.
Bare floors can also be much more textured than carpet. For example, wood floors can have cracks, odd spaces, or be patterned like parquet floors. In these cases, a good vacuum for a hardwood floor needs to have mini brushes and crevice tools to clean out the gaps.
Jonathan Chan currently serves as the Lab Manager at Reviewed. If you clean with it, it's likely that Jon oversees its testing. Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company's efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. He thinks he's a pretty big deal. In the pursuit of data, he's plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Jon demands you have a nice day.
Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.
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