What’s the best vacuum set–up for hardwood flooring with some scattered area rugs?

For this we recommend a canister vacuum with a floor tool and another attachment to properly clean your area rugs. You do not need to get an electric power brush canister because your amount of carpet surface does not warrant you spending that type of money. Instead purchase a vacuum that can really deep clean your hardwoods, with a tool or function to adequately clean your area rugs.

What vacuum is needed for my house that has 50/50 carpet to hardwood flooring?

Please take a look at canister vacuums with an electrical power head and a floor tool attachment. You will find a couple of different options when searching electric power heads. The one you need is dependent on what type of carpeting your home has. High, plush and thick carpets need the more expensive height adjusting models, where low pile and thinner carpets can be cleaned with lower price single height power heads. For your flooring tool needs, this is mostly going to rely on personal preference. Wheels, cleaning width and bristle type are all options to consider when floor tool shopping. After you have decided on the correct canister model to fit your needs you can then go from your mixed flooring styles with the simple change the flooring attachment.

What if I love upright vacuums but have mixed flooring in my home?

Yes, you can use an upright vacuum on mixed flooring. We do not recommend it because it cannot do as thorough of a job on the hard surface flooring type. If you are set on an upright vacuum model than make sure it has a brush roll on / off switch. This function allows users to vacuum their hard surface flooring using straight suction only. With a spinning brush roll on hard surfaces, dust and debris tend to get moved around by the wind generated by the fast spinning part. Also there is always the concern that the brush roll can damage some sensitive hard wood surfaces.

Floor combination heads: their pros and cons on mixed flooring

Many brands offer floor tools that have duel hard flooring and carpet functions. Often times these functions are controlled by a switch that activates the different cleaning style the tool possesses. Commonly on the hard flooring setting, bristles are pushed out of the bottom of the tool, providing ideal hard floor cleaning solutions. On the carpet and rug function the bristles contract inward sending a smooth velvet or felt edge outward. This allows the tool to easily slide across rugs and carpets. These tools are great for some users that have certain style carpeting or area rugs. User’s with larger surface areas or higher pile carpeting will want to avoid these tools and opt for a electric power head featuring a spinning brush roll.

Canister vacuums provide customers with cleaning versatility

In our expert opinion canister vacuums usually provide users with the ability to clean mixed surface flooring with a higher level than their upright vacuum counterparts. Made for hard flooring, canister vacuums can also be outfitted with electric power heads that make them equally as efficient on carpeting. Upright vacuums, while superior on carpeting can never achieve the level of precision a canister vacuum can on hard flooring. For this reason alone we recommend customers with mixed flooring take a serious look some canister vacuum options offered below.