Hardwood floors look their best when they are clean, dirt-free, and washed. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case — especially if you have kids or pets that are adding dust bunnies and footprints to the hardwood every day.
That’s why robot vacuums are the ideal solution: These robovacs can be scheduled to provide regular, reliable cleaning, and many of them even have mop modes and other tricks that can help take care of hardwood flooring without you needing to lift a finger. Let’s take a look at our favorite models for the job.
Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI
While Deebot may not be the first name you think of when it comes to robovacs, this Ozmo model is one of the best hard-floor vacs we’ve ever seen, combining vacuuming and mopping in one device that’s equipped with detailed laser mapping, plus artificial intelligence (A.I.) software that can detect and avoid objects as the bot works. The app allows you to program specific areas or zones, which is perfect if you have hardwood that merges into carpet and only want to clean/mop the wood portion — it even has a cam so you can get a livestream of what the bot sees as it works.
The battery for the Ozmo T8 offers up to three hours of runtime before it needs to recharge, while the water tank can handle 2,000 square feet of mopping when full. Users will also find multiple options to control cleaning times, suction power, and water flow level to get cleaning exactly how they prefer. However, you do have to pay a higher amount for all these features, so check your budget and our other picks if you want to save more money.
Bissell SpinWave
The SpinWave is another vac that combines vacuuming and mopping services in one device but at a significantly more affordable price than our Deebot pick. On the vacuum side, it can provide powerful suction and dual spinning edge brushes that are ideal for cleaning hard flooring right up to the walls. When it’s time to mop, you can switch to rotating mop pads and a floor cleaner for a session of scrubbing (Bissell includes its own hardwood formula with the bot to make things easier).
While it’s not as smart as some robovacs, the SpinWave does have a sensor to avoid carpet or rugs. The battery has enough power for 130 minutes of cleaning before needing to be recharged, which should be sufficient for the average home.
iRobot Roomba 675
There are a lot of Roombas out there, and most of the newer models are great picks for your hardwood flooring if you are interested in suction only and don’t care as much about mopping. However, Roombas can also quickly grow expensive over time. The Roomba 675 is a pleasant compromise of performance and price, a powerful robovac that can handle any type of flooring you throw at it with its patented three-stage cleaning system and dual multi-surface brushes that will keep crumbs and dust bunnies off your hardwood.
It also has a set of sensors to keep from bumping into objects and an auto-adjusting cleaner head that will allow the Roomba to transition from hardwood to carpet without missing a beat. There’s even Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility for voice commands and a dirt sensor so the vac knows when there’s a serious mess around.
Shark AI Vacmop
This innovative robot vacuum offers its vacuuming and mopping capabilities in two different modes based on what you have in mind and can offer 100 scrubs per minute with sonic mopping, all while navigating with built-in sensors and plotted rows to avoid missing anything.
The sensors and app also allow you to make sure the bot avoids carpets or rugs while it works … although the patented brushroll also does a good job of cleaning those. The Vacmop is billed as a particularly good vac for pet hair, as the brushroll is designed to rid itself of any hair tangles as it works.
Eufy RoboVac 11S
If you have your eye on a hardwood robot vacuum, but you aren’t interested in spending several hundred dollars for one, this Eufy model is an excellent budget option that offers important basics in an affordable — and stylish — package. The hardwood vac includes a dirt sensor that can increase the suction power for a few seconds to make sure all debris gets picked up, a set of 10 infrared sensors for avoiding obstacles, and drop sensing to help avoid falls down stairs or similar accidents. Three side brushes help make sure no dust or cobwebs can escape cleaning, while the replaceable internal filter helps keep dust from escaping the unit.
The RoboVac 11S is also smart enough to automatically recharge when necessary, while the battery can power 100 minutes of hardwood cleaning time. You have several app-based options for cleaning modes based on your goals.
Roborock E4
This impressive Roborock vac offers 2,000Pa of suction force, stronger than most of the models on our list, making it a good choice if you want a vac that can pick up larger debris (think spilled kibble or other small objects). It also includes a mopping function (recently upgraded in size by nearly 30%) that can adjust water flow based on your app controls, allowing for more water usage to clean up serious mud tracks or stains when necessary.
The Roborock E4 app also allows you to schedule cleanings, switch between a few different modes, and even review a cleaning map after a session that shows you everywhere the bot went while it was working. The robovac also includes the traditional set of sensors to help avoid obstacles, along with automatic recharging that will still allow the vac to remember where it was in a cleaning session and begin where it left off.
If you feel like expanding your search to include regular vacuums, be sure to stop by our list of the best vacuum cleaners overall, too.
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