Laminate flooring is great, because it is low maintenance and easy to clean up. Generally, a daily sweep will do a half-way decent job. But, wouldn’t it be nicer if there was an option to clean your laminate floors in a quick and simple way that reduces the time you have to spend cleaning every day? With the right vacuum you can have quicker and easier cleaning, and knowing the best vacuum for laminate floors will make it even easier.
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Not every vacuum on the market will do a good job on laminate flooring, and some may even damage your floors. We put this guide together to help you know which vacuums are the best, and what to look for in a vacuum that makes it a contender for best vacuum for laminate floors.
Best Vacuums for Laminate Floor
Individual Reviews
Shark Rocket TruePet Vacuum (HV322)
The TruePet is a great vacuum for hardwood floors, especially for homes with furry companions running around. At less than 9 pounds, the vacuum is easy to carry and move around the house. You hold onto it like you would a gallon of milk.
The vacuum is convertible between an upright and a handheld thanks to the motor placement in the handle.
For hardwood floors, the motorized brush head acts like a dust and hair magnet. Plus, the Rocket has a hard floor attachment designed specifically to wipe out debris while being gentle on your hard floors. No worries about scratches on your perfect floor.
What we liked most
The Rocket TruePet comes with several attachments for a whole house clean. While it is especially gentle for laminate floors, the added versatility is a very nice feature.
The versatility extends because the rocket is two vacuums in one. Both the upright feature and handheld configurations let this vac crawl around the tight spaces of your floors to help prevent the build up of dust and hair.
We loved the long reach of the 30-foot power cord that enabled us to reach all over out shop floor without having to stop and locate new plugs.
The Rocket lives up to its name with some seriously powerful suction that is completely capable of handling almost anything that we threw in its path.
What we didn’t like
Since the vacuum is light and small, which makes it easy to maneuver, it also has a small dust bin. This becomes a little bit of an annoyance as we had to empty the bin more frequently than other similar vacuums.
With laminate floors pet hair and dust are easily tossed into the air, so we were disappointed to find that the Rocket TruePet does not have allergen filtration. Would have been a nice feature, but, again, we thin this was left out to accommodate the small size.
What makes the Bissell CrossWave an excellent contender for our list is the integration between vacuum and mop. Any one with hard floors knows that getting the dirt up is only half the battle.
Getting a clean and shiny floor usually requires two different tools, but not with the CrossWave.
On the vacuum side, the Bissell has a microfiber and nylon brush roll that grabs dirt relentlessly so it can be sucked up into the bagless canister that is capable of holding both liquids and solids.
Switch it over to mop mode to easily clean and treat your floors. The CrossWave has a second tank built in to hold cleaning fluids. Together, you have a machine that is capable of both vacuuming and mopping all the laminate floors in your home.
What we liked most
Even though this vacuum is a mop as well as a vacuum, this machine doesn’t lack strong suction. Bissel didn’t cut corners, and made it capable of handling both wet and dry messes with power and efficiency.
The vacuum power packed into the CrossWave makes it great for cleaning up after pets. Hair doesn’t get clogged easily in the bristles, or tubing of the vacuum. Plus, the mop mode is great for cleaning up accidents.
With a machine like this that can easily be difficult and complicated, we liked that the controls are located on handle that made it easy to switch between modes.
Being able to quickly switch from dry vac to wet mop makes getting and whole floor clean fast and easy.
What we didn’t like
This is an upright only, with no attachments or extensions. This limits the effective reach of the CrossWave, and is something we wished was included.
The CrossWave has two tanks that keep clean water and dirty water sperate. But at the end of the job, the dirty water tank feels a bit like handwashing dishes. It’s not as bad if you are just vacuuming, but still takes some effort.
Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional NV356E
The Shark Navigator Lift-Away is another convertible vacuum from the all-star vacuum maker Shark.
This entry converts between a powerful upright for strong surface cleaning, and a canister vac that is great for cleaning under furniture and hard to reach places.
The Navigator comes with the Dust-Away hard floor attachment designed to gently clean you laminate floors. Plus, the anti-allergen seals and HEPA filter keep your allergies under control, and get rid of pesky pet dander. You can also turn off the brush roll to still have sufficient suction without damaging your laminate flooring.
What we liked most
The Navigator is lighter than other similar uprights and canisters that weight closer to 18 pounds. At 13 pounds, its makes it easier to continually use for longer cleaning days.
Even though it is lighter weight, the Navigator doesn’t sacrifice great suction. This vacuum seems almost eager to jump onto the floor, and eat up as much dust as it can.
The long 30-foot cord is a great compliment to the canister function of the vacuum. The combined length not only had us sticking to a single outlet, but also let us get to the corners and crevices behind our furniture.
Unlike the Rocket, the Navigator has allergen filtration. This is a wonderful addition that makes cleaning after pets and an active family easier and more tolerable.
What we didn’t like
While having a smaller brush head is great for getting crevices, the narrow head on the Navigator makes is difficult and inefficient for open floor cleaning.
While the power cord is long, the accessory hose is short and non-stretchable. This limits both the reach and functionality of the canister mode since you have to keep the canister in close proximity.
Hoover FloorMate SpinScrub FH40010B
With the flick of a switch the Hoover Floormate switches between a vacuum, a dry mop, and a wet mop. Each setting builds on the others help you get a complete clean of the laminate floors in your home.
The vacuum has the suction power to clean just about any mess you can create. The built in SpinScrub brush rotates and cleans away stuck in dirt and messes. Click the dry mop to clean the liquid messes, and finish the job with the wet mop.
Two onboard canisters handle the mess in one bottle, and the other holds the cleaning fluid needed to provide a shiny clean. The wide 13-inch head works to create an expansive cleaning area, and putting all the grime in you home well within your reach.
What we liked most
The three modes on the FloorMate create a combo of powerful cleaning. The SpinBrush does a great job of loosening up dirt in the dry and vacuum modes, then prevents set in stains and dirt with the wet mop mode. The mechanical dial on the side makes it easy to switch between cleaning modes.
A concern with a mechanical mop is that you will have water and streaks, but the Hoover doesn’t leave behind fluid and water as you are mopping. Great not having to do the cleaning twice.
The triplicate of cleaning modes is an excellent powerhouse to combat pet hair and dander. The brushes are great at sweeping up hair without getting the hair caught in the bristles and rolls.
What we didn’t like
Even though we didn’t go after this for the mop mode, we were disappointed that the clean water tank is a little small. When switched to the mop it seemed like the fluid ran out much faster than we expected.
The other issues with the tanks is the debris tank that come open rather easily when removed from the vacuum. If we were too hasty to pull out the dump bin we got the chance to re-test the vacuum’s suction.
With a battery that is capable of continuous cleaning for up to 1.5 hours, The Eufy RoboVac 11 is surprisingly effective cleaner for laminate flooring.
This little robot has side brushes, a rolling brush, and a powerful suction motor packed into a slim 3.1-inch-tall frame. Infrared sensors built into the system let the RoboVac 11 hunt dirt around your home, and even sneak under your furniture to get the dirt you can’t see.
In our research we found that the RoboVac 11 is designed and functions best on hard floor surfaces. The powerful suction and brushes that make up this vac tackle all the debris that collects thanks to a busy life. It’s also good to know that the RoboVac isn’t designed to handle liquids. So, this particular vac is good to handle the day to day build up of dirt, dust, and hair.
What we liked most
Getting your house clean doesn’t get much easier than having an entire roomed automatically swept the push of a single button. The onboard sensors help prevent the bot from running into obstacles and getting stuck cleaning one spot.
The RoboVac 11 was surprisingly effective at simulating pet hair mess clean-ups. The bin is larger than other bots we have tested, and even pet hair that got stuck was easy to dislodge.
At under 3.1 inches, the Eufy easily slides under most furniture. Tables, chairs, couches, and shelving all gave up their dust bunnies to this slim sucker.
The design of the brushes and the motor make this bot excellent on laminate flooring. Is is smooth and gentle as it slides around the room cleaning up dirt and dust.
What we didn’t like
You absolutely cannot leave any stray cords and cables in any location that this bot can find. It will destroy them without mercy, and possibly cause damage to the vacuum as well.
Along both sides of the charging station you need to allot about 3-feet on each side, and 6 feet in front in order to allow the bot enough room to find the dock. That’s a ton of space needed, especially for homes with smaller rooms.
iRobot Roomba 870
Our second contender in the robot vac category is the Roomba 870. iRobot is the pioneer of robotic vacuums, and had had a long-standing history of creating top quality vacuums. The 870 has serious upgrades from previous models in the navigation. As it cleans your home, it actively learns the layout so that it can better navigate as it cleans.
Along the sides of Roomba 870 are tangle free brushes designed to grab hair and debris without getting stopped up by twisting and turning hairs. By using iRobot’s Aeroforce technology the 870 creates powerful suction that handles laminate flooring like a pro. We also enjoyed the extensive scheduling that allows this bot to stay on top of daily build up of dirt and dust.
What we liked most
The Roomba 870 is built to stand the test of time. The materials feel solid, which gave us confidence that this vacuum wasn’t going to break down on us anytime soon.
With both the remote and the onboard buttons the 870 is easy to set up and schedule. Once set, the bot sticks to its schedule with high accuracy and reliability, offering daily cleaning of our floors.
We love a vacuum that is designed to remove allergens from the environment. The 870 does a great job of reducing our sneezes, and keeping the air clean.
It’s a little taller than the Eufy, but at 3.5-inches it can still fit under almost all of our furniture to catch dirt and dust bunnies.
What we didn’t like
The dust bin on the Roomba is small. This means that when it’s cleaning every day, we had to make sure to empty it every day.
The sensors are great for learning the layout of a room, but the maneuverability is limited in small spaces, like under a dining chair, which ends up trapping the vacuum.
What to look for in vacuum for laminate floors
A brush roll that won’t damage your floors
Standard vacuums and advanced power vacuums have brush rolls that are made from tough nylon fibers. These are great for digging down into carpets and agitating ground in dirt and hair. When these same tough fibers get onto laminate floors, though, they can wreak havoc on the protective coating, and cause scratches on your beautiful floors.
Strong Suction
Even though your laminate doesn’t hold onto your dirt and animal fur like carpets, you still need considerable suction to really get a good clean. Vacuums with inferior suction power will do a great job of pushing grime around the room, and leave you following the vacuum around with a broom.
A vacuum with strong suction will grab the dust bunnies before they are able to escape. The suction will also allow you to confidently clean up small and large debris. So, if you have kids, as well as pets, that leave larger messes than a few specks of hair. Each of our picks have proven suction power to handle both liquid and solid messes that attack your floor.
Cord length
How far a vacuum can reach is very important to be considered as one of the best vacuums for laminate floors. This has more to do with convenience, but if a vacuum is inconvenient it can’t be the best can it? A vacuum with a 20-30 foot cord is great to cover most floors without having to change plugs, but it isn’t overly long to become a nuisance.
We can also add in battery life under this category. Some vacuums, like our robot entries, are powered by a battery. Battery life needs to be over an hour in this case to make sure you have enough time to get some serious cleaning done.
Reach the hidden places
One of the nice features of a good vacuum is the ability to slide underneath and behind furniture to keep dirt and dust from building up. Whether the vacuum is a slim robot, or a powerful stick vacuum, being able to reach the darkest places will go a long to helping prevent continual build up of dust, dirt, and hair.
One of the best features of a vacuum is ding such a good job that you don’t need it often, and this feature definitely helps contribute to that.
Ability to handle liquids
For homeowners with laminate floors, who also have children and pets, being able to clean liquid messes quickly and effectively is a nice feature to include in a vacuum. We have a couple vacs on our list that include a mop feature which is nice addition to some of our vacs. In either case the ability to effectively clean liquids from your laminate floors helps to provide a quick clean, and prevent water damage to your beautiful laminate floors.
Cleaning up: The best vacuum for laminate floors
We have done some significant research for you to find the best vacuum for laminate floors. Each of the contenders on our list is a solid hero to take on your worst floor messes, and keep your house looking clean and fresh. Overall, though, we had to go with two of the options as better choices than others. One in the upright category, and one in the robot category.
For the uprights, we are going with the Bissel CrossWave. What gave this vacuum the top sopt was the ability for this vacuum to provide a complete floor clean. Whether you have laminate, tile, or hardwood you know that any hard floors need more than just a good vacuuming.
The cross wave not only handles the dry stuff, but also makes sure that when it comes to the heavier messes you can keep your floor shiny and beautiful.
For the robots, we are giving the nod to the Roomba 870. This vacuum was designed to handle daily cleaning of your laminate floors. The scheduling was easy to set up, and, with the exception of some of the tighter spaces, this vac does a great job of automatically cleaning an entire room.
The softer brush roll and tangle-free side brushes keep the 870 moving around the room seeking out and getting rid of our daily dirt build up.
Which you choose, just make sure that you follow our buying guide to prevent damage to your floors, and get a vacuum that will help you maintain gorgeous, shiny laminate floors throughout your home.