The 5 Best Vacuums For Vinyl Plank Floors of 2024, Tested

Read Full Review: Shark Navigator Lift-Away Vacuum Review

Our favorite pick for vinyl floors — but also for other types of flooring — is the Shark Navigator Lift-Away. This machine impressed us during our tests with its incredible suction, durability, and smart design features.

It performed excellently during our cleaning tests on vinyl floors. This Shark was capable to pick up the most common types of debris – from breadcrumbs, cereals to rice grains – on just one pass (or a few tops).

Not only this model is a superstar on vinyl plank floors, but it’s intended for carpets too. Thanks to a brush roll shut-off located on the powerhead, you can easily switch off from bare floor to carpet cleaning.

The bare floor setting won’t send debris across the room – confirmed by our tests. And the carpet cleaning feature blew us away, with an equally strong suction on vinyl and carpets. However, because it’s difficult to move around high-pile carpets, we didn’t select it as one of our best picks for plush carpets.

Still, we didn’t categorize it as a hefty machine. Weighing 12.5 pounds, it’s relatively a lightweight option for an upright. It’s also quieter and easier to handle than other upright options we could test, partially due to its maneuverable swivel head.

This stellar feature made it easy to steer on vinyl floors with less pressure on our wrists.

We also appreciated the detachable pod. Combined with the extra tools, we could clean the hard-to-reach areas in our homes.

And even though it’s one of the most affordable vacuums on the market, the metal parts are made to last a lifetime. If you compare it to the Dyson V11, which is more expensive and has plastic parts, you know you have a top model in your hands.

It’s not perfect, though. We found the 1.2 dry quarts dustbin quite small – still a good fit for small cleaning jobs. And the 25-feet long cord is also on the shorter side.

But these minor flaws shouldn’t prevent you from investing in this Shark Navigator vacuum considering the number of incredible features for such a low price point, in our opinion.

The Dyson V11 is the most ideal stick vacuum to use on vinyl floors out of any stick vacuum cleaners we’ve tested.

Weighing just under 7 pounds, it’s light and maneuvers smoothly on vinyl floors, but in awkward spaces and tight corners too.

Convertible into a comfortable handheld model and combined with its mini motorized brush, we selected it as our best pick for cleaning stairs.

In terms of suction and cleaning power, we found that it rivals expensive models like the Dyson Outsize+. It excelled at picking up small dust and debris on vinyl plank floors. During our test cleaning session, we spread backing soda and flour on the floor. It sucked up 100% of them that other cordless stick models missed.

The three suction modes add to the overall convenience: the eco mode is lower suction whereas the boost is stronger suction. In the middle, there is the auto mode that we find particularly helpful. This mode is capable of triggering increased suction power only when necessary.

Also equipped with an LCD screen showing maintenance reminders and remaining runtime, these innovative features made our cleaning chore almost enjoyable.

What’s more, we loved the Dyson 45 minutes autonomy on a single charge, longer than most similar models.

Like many Dyson models, it has an embarrassing trigger to hold the whole time you’re cleaning. And unless you install the docking station, the vacuum doesn’t stand on its own. Still, these downsides are only design flaws to us that aren’t dealbreakers.

All in all, we think that this vacuum is a great option to clean vinyl floors.

The Tineco Floor One S3 is a decent vacuum mop combo cleaner that we found incredibly convenient to use on vinyl floors.

First, it’s cordless and battery-powered so we didn’t have any cord to wrangle. Second, it did a good job of sucking up debris and dust from various bare floors including luxury vinyl plank floors during our testing sessions.

Since it’s a vacuum mop combo, we challenged it with both dry and wet messes. We scattered ketchup, jam, breadcrumbs, and ground coffee on the vinyl floor. We had to make several back-and-forth passes but it cleaned up every spill.

We didn’t find it as effective as the Bissell Crosswave at removing sticky spots but it’s usually the case when you compare corded and cordless models. We also noticed that going more slowly over spills helps.

A feature we appreciated the most is the ability of the Tineco to run almost automatically. Basically, we just pushed a button and it started mopping and vacuuming instantly.

It’s cordless which means the battery life depleted as we used it. After our cleaning session in our 1000-foot square home, the battery drained only by 15% which is less than many other battery-powered vacs we considered.

Plus, the sensor indicator gives information about the battery status on an LCD screen with a clear percentage of remaining autonomy. Of course, we used the automatic mode which decided for us when to use the max mode. If you run on the max mode the whole time, the battery won’t last that long.

We were also satisfied with its maneuverability. Being cordless, we could vacuum around chairs and table legs more easily than with a corded vacuum cleaner.

But there is a downside we quickly identified. It left streaks on the vinyl plank flooring several times. Still, our testing confirms that this machine is easy to use and powerful on the vinyl floor.

The Bissell Crosswave has everything you should expect from a wet-dry vacuum to clean and wash vinyl floors simultaneously.

Plus, this vacuum mop combo seems to be more durable than its cordless counterparts (it’s not uncommon for battery-powdered models to stop working after a few years only).

Being tied to a power outlet isn’t a situation we treasure, but we forgot about it quite quickly. Our tests revealed that the Bissell CrossWave could clean all kinds of messes, including sticky spots and stuck on grease, from vinyl floors – where other models failed.

The power of this model relies on its incredible suction, which we clearly identified as one of the strongest for this kind of appliance.

It’s also able to suck up medium-sized solid debris such as spaghettis or cheerios where the Tineco Floor One S3 lacks performance.

The machine also let us control how much cleaning solution we wanted to dispense – and most importantly when – thanks to a practical trigger. We’re not the kind of people preferring control over automation but we found it particularly convenient.

We also enjoyed its 12.5 pounds light weight and the two tanks system so dirty water never mixes with clean water.

Speaking of tanks, we valued how easy the clean water tank is easy to fill. The flat bottom avoids to spill water and detergent on the vinyl floor. Instead, we made it sit on our countertop and filled it with the cleaning solution. The informative lines for measuring the water and detergent quantity make the process very clear, too. No guesswork and no mess.

That being said, the 25-foot cord isn’t exactly the longest you could find and the 0.26 gallons bin capacity is on the shortest side. Even if it will contain more dirty water than the Tineco S3, you’ll probably have to empty it several times in one session.

The Miele Classic C1 has been built with bare floors – and vinyl floors – in mind. As the name suggests, this “suction-only” model doesn’t come with a brush roll, more suitable for carpet cleaning.

Instead, it has a TurboTeQ soft bristle-cleaning Floorhead that glided smoothly across vinyl floors during our tests. The Miele brush also features two modes: hard floors and low-pile carpets making it an excellent choice if your home has vinyl plank floors and low-pile rugs.
In our homes, we tested the vacuum cleaner on vinyl flooring of course, but on low-pile carpets, too.

The wide floor head combined with extremely strong and effective suction and 6 different modes from the motor did an excellent job at removing all sorts of messes. No crumbs, pet hair, or dust bunnies resisted this Miele machine, even in one single pass.

Even though the model looks basic (and low-priced), we were impressed by the myriad of other stellar features it offers.

We could automatically rewind the 21-foot cord as soon as we were finished. We also found the 3.75 quarts capacity comfortable and convenient since it’s a bagless model.

The handle and the telescopic extension wand are ergonomics bonuses. And the low-profile, lightweight construction made it easy to maneuver around the living room, under furniture, and into corners. It felt sturdy in our hands, without feeling cumbersome.

A former French Miele employee we interviewed confirmed that the company produces vacuums built to last several decades. Our experience confirms this – since we’re owning a Miele C1 for over 10 years now and it’s still going strong.

Now, it’s a bagless model and a canister vacuum cleaner. This means that the canister may feel heavy to drag, especially on stairs, and you’ll have to buy additional replacement bags. But in our homes, the filter bags last for months, and 6 bags cost less than $20.