Do you and you hardwood floors love your stick vacuum?

June 21, 2024 12:16 PM

Without question, the regular household chore I loathe above all others is vacuuming. I have a Miele canister vac, and some combination of the noise, the cord, the canister inevitably rolling over, lugging the thing around my apartment, make this my most dreaded cleaning task. So I'm thinking of getting a quieter, cordless stick vacuum.

As with everything, online searching only leads to confusion. One place, like the Wirecutter, says X is the best, another review site says Y. So thought I'd try here. Do you have a light, quiet stick vac you recommend that works well on hardwood floors?

posted by swheatie to Home & Garden (23 answers total)

I have a Dyson V8 that does a decent job.
posted by rd45 at 12:34 PM on June 21

I *love* my Dyson stick vacuum (I think it's a V7, so not the newest model). Yes, it was expensive. Yes, it was worth it. It's light, it's doesn't roar like a jet engine, and it cleans my hardwood floors very well.
posted by pleasant_confusion at 12:36 PM on June 21 [1 favorite]

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a stick vac. Like you I have a miele cannister, the dang thing is tippy, I find myself dragging it around on its side a lot of the time.

So I thought we'd get a cheap one first, to see if I liked it. We have a Kenmore Elite Stick Vacuum and it was something like $150. We have a charger wallmount thing for it in the laundry room, centrally located in the house so it's VERY simple and quick to undock it, turn it on and vacuum up the mess.

The battery life is not perfect, I can get through two rooms before I need to charge. I do use the miele for deeper cleaning, partly because the extra tools onboard mean I can do baseboards & cobwebs and corners better. But for every day (and I often use it more than three or four times a week), it's been a game changer with dustbunnies and kitchen crumbs.

It is not "quiet" but the frequency of the sound it emits is better for me than the miele.

I would caution if you have folks with long hair in your household though. After my niece's visit earlier this year, I did have to detangle the head when it started making a weird noise.
posted by typetive at 12:52 PM on June 21

On the cheaper side I just got a Hoover HFX Pet (upgrading from a Hoover H-Free 100) and the thing's quite magic on both hardwood, tile and rugs. Deals well with my long hair too and was around $200 on sale. Great dirt-expelling mechanism too, like pumping a shotgun. Much quieter than any of my previous vacuums and the battery lasts for around 30 minutes of active cleaning.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 12:56 PM on June 21

Response by poster: Looks like the Dyson V8 is on sale right now, or they've simply lowered the price, so it's slightly more affordable.
posted by swheatie at 12:58 PM on June 21

The Tineco Pure one S11 cordless vacuum is great. I recommend it without reservation. We’ve had ours for three years now. Using a corded vac was such a chore, we hardly ever got it out. This one has been a joy.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 1:24 PM on June 21 [2 favorites]

I haven't been impressed with the batteries on the Dyson stick vacuums. The V6 is probably no longer even offered but that was the model I had. The battery on my unit had to be replaced after six months - fortunately while it was still under warranty. The second battery failed after about another 13 or 14 months, when it was no longer covered by the warranty, and so it sits in my closet in hopes that I will someday order a replacement, except that shippers are touchy about accepting lithium ion batteries to my location because of possible combustion issues and ground shipping is not an option where I live.

Anyway, it wasn't particularly cheap and I expected to be able to get more than a year per battery out of it. By contrast, before the Dyson went on sale and I decided to treat myself to an upgrade, I had a small battery-powered Black & Decker unit. That's now 7-8 years old, still holds a charge, and I used it about 15 minutes ago to suck up the hemlock needles that follow me into the house every time I go in or out.
posted by Nerd of the North at 1:46 PM on June 21 [1 favorite]

Another recommendation for the Dyson V8. When I lived in an apartment, it was totally sufficient to vacuum the whole place, even carpet, and it's been the most effective and reliable vacuum I've ever owned (except for corded Dysons). In a larger house, and now that the battery has gone through about 10 years of recharge cycles, I only use it for small area cleanup, but it's still going strong and has never needed anything beyond cleaning the filters in the sink. I would absolutely recommend one without hesitation, especially if you can get it on sale.
posted by duien at 1:53 PM on June 21

Yup, another hardwood floor haver / Dyson stick vac user. I have whatever one Costco sells. I used to have a Miele canister vac and loved it, but grudgingly acknowledge that the stick is easier to move around and that I'm more likely to actually grab it. The battery seems fine, and emptying the dust collector thing isn't as bad as I thought it would be.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:17 PM on June 21

I have a Dyson V8 as well. It's an older model which may explain the current price point. I do keep a regular upright vacuum as well, which seems to do a better job on our area rugs.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 2:18 PM on June 21

I have the Miele one. I like it more than I thought I would. I can’t clean the whole house before the battery dies though.
posted by jeffamaphone at 2:23 PM on June 21

Response by poster: So many voices for the Dyson V8, so I'm leaning towered that. The wirecutter, for what it's worth, picked a slightly pricier Dyson model -- it's lighter and more nimble, according to them. But I think the V8 will seem like enough of an upgrade from my frustrating canister that I'll be happy.
posted by swheatie at 2:25 PM on June 21

The freedom of cordless vacuuming is life-changing. We have a Dyson stick, maybe the v8, and it's been wonderful. It works great on all our hard floors. Only complaint, like a canister vac, is that they don't stand up on their own. If you want to set it down, you must find just the right place to balance it.
posted by hydra77 at 3:45 PM on June 21 [2 favorites]

So many voices for the Dyson V8, so I'm leaning towered that. The wirecutter, for what it's worth, picked a slightly pricier Dyson model -- it's lighter and more nimble, according to them. But I think the V8 will seem like enough of an upgrade from my frustrating canister that I'll be happy.

We found that on Dyson's website they sometimes have refurbished models on significant discount. The stock seems inconsistent so you may need to be patient, but we got the V15 for the sale price of the 8 that way and so far, it hasn't given us any issues and is really quite light and powerful.
posted by openhearted at 4:14 PM on June 21

I got the Dyson V15 after years of hard use of the Dyson V7 and honestly I might like the V7 more (i assume the V8 is similar). The V15 is a little clunkier when using as a handheld and finicky about clogging because of pet hair. The v15 does have a longer battery life, but I dont know if its worth the tradeoff.

Cordless is life changing, I do the entire house w my headphones on noise canceling and cant hear any motor noise-glorious
posted by zara at 4:15 PM on June 21

FWIW, there are a lot of adapters out there now that allow you to rig up your Dyson stick vac with the same rechargable battery that you use on a cordless drill or other similar devices. I haven't done it myself yet, but the next time I have to replace my Dyson's battery (I've had to do it once since I got it 6? 7? years ago) but I'm going to get one of the adaptors that will let me run it off a DeWalt battery, since I've already got a bunch of those kicking around.
posted by pleasant_confusion at 5:08 PM on June 21

Omg I had a Miele canister vacuum and switched to a Dyson stick vac and I swear to God I love that thing like a pet. I would happily replace it every few years if necessary in exchange for a life of not being infuriated by my vacuum cleaner, but I've had it for three and a half so far and it's fine.
posted by HotToddy at 5:14 PM on June 21 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks so much, everyone. This has been so helpful. Clearly, this purchase is going to change my life!
posted by swheatie at 6:34 PM on June 21 [1 favorite]

Get the cordless stick! The vacuum cleaner you use the most often is the one that will keep your place the cleanest. Vacuum experts, online forums and subreddits will extol the virtues of canister vacs with bags. But in my opinion, those are a giant pain in the ass to use.

Maybe they will last longer. Maybe they will filter the air better. Maybe they will have more powerful suction. But I tend to NEVER use mine as it's just an awkward, annoying thing to schlepp around.

Cordless stick vacs work great on hardwood floors!
posted by SoberHighland at 11:42 AM on June 22

As a minor point: jim dyson is a loathsome billionaire who bankrolled brexit and then moved his company HQ from the UK to singapore. Dyson is still privately owned by him and his family.


posted by lalochezia at 3:29 PM on June 22 [3 favorites]

I got the Electrolux ErgoRapido which was recommended by somebody on here, it's neat because it's a stick vacuum that also functions as a handheld. BUT I don't love it for our hardwood floors, because there's no way to turn off the roller brush and half the time it just kicks things across the floor. Like, every time I vacuum barefoot there are little things hitting me in the feet.
posted by ropeladder at 4:36 PM on June 22

Also want to chime in that the Dyson V6 I own, which has seen light use, has unacceptable battery issues. I replaced it with a third party battery after the original would refuse to hold a charge and now the replacement battery (which is less than a year old) has started having issues when running on higher speeds or with the roller attachment on carpet. I'd have a really hard time recommending them regardless of how well they perform as a vacuum.
posted by Aleyn at 10:33 PM on June 22

I just got a Dyson Omni-glide and I love it. Had a V8 stick before, that’s a “real” vacuum, and is louder and heavier.

The omni-glide is more like an electric broom. Lightweight, quieter, quick to use. It does have a shorter battery life (20min) and small bin, but you’ll use it more frequently so the cleaning will be faster and less crumbs, right?

The reviews are accurate that it’s almost worthless on carpet - it is definitely optimized for hard floors.
posted by jpeacock at 8:18 AM on June 23