Best Multi-Surface Vacuum Cleaners

Although very similar to Water Filtration Vacuum Cleaners, the Bissell Big Green Complete 7700 has the distinction of being the only canister vacuum on our list. By fully utilizing the strengths of a canister vacuum with few of the weaknesses, this product proves to outperform in many categories.

Utilizing both HEPA filtration as well as water filtration, the Big Green can pick up wet and dry messes simultaneously. This product also deep cleans carpet, washes hardwood, and has no issues picking up pet hair. The canister design also makes it simple to swap out attachments and move under low-clearance furniture without much hassle.

The Big Green also heats the water it uses to clean your carpets, which can leave them smelling fresh and clean. Likewise, the attachments and suction power make this one of the best products for picking up dog and cat hair.

Not all is perfect with the Big Green, however. Due to the water filtration as well as the canister design, moving the Big Green throughout the home is going to take a significant amount of effort. Likewise, there’s no real dedicated vacuum feature for simple vacuum cleaning, which makes this more of a carpet cleaner than a multi-surface vacuum at times. Still, if you have a smaller stick or upright vacuum cleaner to supplement the Big Green’s weakness, its strengths are some of the strongest across the board.

Dyson’s V8 Absolute Cordless Stick vacuum seems to circumvent all of the previous problems with this type of vacuum and boasts some ridiculously powerful suction power. Using a battery that only cleans when it needs to, the V8 can last up to 40 minutes and can recharge in under 4 hours. While it comes with a powerful brush roll for carpet cleaning, one of the primary selling points is Dyson’s proprietary soft roller head, which makes cleaning hardwood floors simple and doesn’t use damaging brush roll fibers.

The Dyson V8 also comes with several attachments that function with the vacuum in its handheld setting. By ejecting the brush roll and tubing, you can take advantage of the vacuum’s light weight and pick up debris in corners, upholstery, countertops, and more. The lack of hose does make this corner cleaning more difficult, however, and also limits the model’s multi-surface capability.

Likewise, Dyson products tend to run on the more expensive side. The larger and more powerful V10 is perfect to larger homes, for instance, but will cost a fair amount more. The batteries also cannot be swapped out, so if your V8 dies on the job, you’ll need to wait four hours before picking work back up. All of this in mind, however, the Dyson V8 is still a powerful vacuum with a dedicated following for some very good reasons. Plus, a motorized pet tool and cyclonic debris ejector rounds out the feature set and proves that there’s more to this stick vacuum than meets the eye.

Other vacuums might boast different functionality, but perhaps no vacuum on the market looks and functions quite like the Bissell CrossWave. The CrossWave is an eclectic mix of a wet/dry shop vacuum cleaner in a stick vacuum’s body. It uses a unique brush that’s designed to gently clean hardwood floors, pull out deep-seeded dirt in carpet, or simply operate as a vacuum cleaner. To transfer between different flooring, the CrossWave uses a simple switch and transfers all of its mess into an easy-to-remove water bin. Simply dump out the contents into the sink or the trash and keep moving to the next floor.

If we’re talking specifically about the multi-surface cleaning of floors, perhaps there’s no need to look beyond this product. The cleaning and vacuuming functionality cannot be beaten, but unfortunately, this seems to come at the cost of above-ground functionality. There are no hoses, attachments, or tools to speak of when it comes to the CrossWave, so you’ll need to supplement with a handheld or stick vacuum cleaner when it comes to tight spots and furniture. Still, the affordable cost combined with unique design makes the Bissell CrossWave our top recommendation for an affordable multi-surface vacuum cleaner. There are few vacuums like the CrossWave and arguably none that could provide a unique feature set at this price point.

Building off of their highly successful Lift-Away brand, Shark chose to merge their Lift-Away technology with the DuoClean to produce an upright vacuum designed to tackle messes on any level of your home. Using this DuoClean technology, you can easily maneuver the vacuum from carpets to hardwood. The secondary soft brush, much like the soft brush on the Dyson V8, cleans your hardwood floors without risking their long-term vitality.

The Lift-Away mode is also a great feature, which allows users to lift the product from the floor brushes and carry the canister and motor with them as they clean staircases, upholstery, and more. Using the vacuum in this mode can be a little unwieldy, but the additional power brush and attachments can make this mode more than worth it. Beyond this, the DuoClean Lift-Away also comes with Shark’s proprietary filtration that’s said to provide 10x better filtration than HEPA standards. With a 7-year Limited warranty, you might be able to put this claim to the test. Either way, the number of pet tools and DuoClean functionality makes this a valuable purchase for pet owners.

The under appliance wand is unique to this product and can make getting under larger appliances like fridges and stoves much easier. Unfortunately, no amount of attachments can change the lack of wet/dry capability on this product, but much like with the Dyson V8, the focus is on attachments over this capability. The Shark APEX DuoClean Lift-Away is a top of the line product at a middle-tier price—and while its status as best multi-surface vacuum is debatable, its claim as the best Shark vacuum is secure.