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| How to choose??... |
The nozzle
This is very important. In fact, it is THE most important factor that you should consider first. Unless you have a lot of hardwood floors and already have a vac that is multi-floor/general vac... you don't have to throw it away to clean your wood floors. There is an especial nozzle for these floors called, a hardwood nozzle, which is especially built to clean subtle hardwood surfaces without making any scratches.
Now with a canister, if by default the vac does not have this type of a nozzle, most of the time you should be able to purchase it separately through the manufacture. Or, if you have an upright with an extension hose that can be used to remove and use different types of nozzle, again, you can look for the appropriate nozzle before throwing away the whole unit and buying a dedicated one.
But, if you have a lot of hardwood or wood floors then it is recommended to go for a vac that is especially built for that purpose.
The Wheels
Other than the hand-held or back-pack vacs, all the other canister and uprights come with wheels for smoother movements. Make sure they're covered with rubber outer surface or something that is gentle enough that won't make any scratches.
Don't use those commercial carpet cleaners!
Commercial or heavy duty dedicated carpet cleaners come with a power nozzle that contains a beater-bar that is especially designed to deep clean carpets and are very dangerous to hardwood (hard bristles, etc). Now, there are few vacs that are "compatible" with wood or hardwood due to their ability to change heights and automatically shut-off the "dangerous" beater-bar on those floors, etc.
But, when the brush-rolls shut off, as you can guess, most of the time it hurts the overall cleaning ability of the vac. Although there are few models that doesn't actually turn off the brushrolls, and rely on the height adjustments while on hardwood. They are not that risky actually, but again, if you have a lot of hardwood, you're always better off with a dedicated vac. Anyway, do not use those power nozzles on your hardwood floors!.
Both dust and pet hair
Not only dust, but if you have a lot of pets, then you need the vac to be able to remove all those pet hair as well. So, make sure the nozzle can do both these tasks at the same time, otherwise, you'll have to use a nozzle for removing dust and another to remove pet hair which, not to say much, will consume a lot of time while cleaning a larger area.
Stick vac or heavy duty ?
This actually depends on your needs. Although if you want an easily carry-able vac and can cope with the fact that they are only capable of doing light-weight "jobs", then stick vacs can do some impressive cleanings nonetheless. But, for cleaning a lot of hardwood with speed and power and better dust/pet hair removing, I highly recommend going for a heavy duty vac.
Vac or a Steamer?
If you have kids or pets and usually end up "receiving" a lot of food spills, etc on your hardwood floors, then you should consider a steam mop or a steamer in general. Although you cannot use chemicals inside steam mops, you'll have to use a chemical manually (always use a dedicated/certified hardwood cleaning chemicals) on the floors and then mop, if you have tough spots.
Bags or Bag-less?
This is a common question. If you have allergies to dust/pet hair, etc... then a bagged vacuum is the best choices since it helps to minimize the actual contact between the user and the dust. They're also better sealed as well. But, remember, there are newer bag-less models that performs as well as the bagged ones nonetheless.
My picks
If you're looking for a vac (no steam) then I highly recommend this Euro Pro Shark NV22.
If you're looking for a hardwood steam mop then - Bissell Deluxe 31N1 and 1867 model are among the best and popular choices nowadays.
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