Australian homes feature an impressive variety of flooring, from traditional hardwood to modern vinyl planks, natural stone to synthetic carpets. Each floor type has unique characteristics that affect how it should be cleaned. Using the right techniques and vacuum settings for each surface ensures optimal cleaning while protecting your floors from damage.
Understanding Your Vacuum's Settings
Before diving into specific floor types, it's worth understanding what your vacuum's settings actually do:
Suction Power Modes
Higher suction isn't always better. On some surfaces, excessive suction can make the vacuum harder to push, scatter debris, or even damage delicate flooring. Most vacuums offer two to three power levels for a reason.
Brush Roll Options
Motorised brush rolls agitate floor surfaces to lift embedded debris. This is essential for carpet but can scratch some hard floors. Many vacuums allow you to disable the brush roll or offer separate hard floor heads with soft rollers.
Some premium vacuums automatically detect floor type and adjust suction and brush roll speed accordingly. This technology simplifies cleaning homes with mixed flooring and helps preserve battery life.
Hardwood Floors
Timber floors are beautiful but require careful cleaning to maintain their finish and prevent scratches.
Recommended Settings
- Suction: Low to medium (eco mode usually sufficient)
- Brush roll: Soft roller or brush roll disabled
- Attachment: Dedicated hard floor head if available
Technique Tips
Vacuum with the grain of the wood when possible. This helps collect debris from between floorboards. Use gentle, controlled movements; there's no need to apply pressure as suction does the work.
Be particularly careful around unsealed or distressed wood finishes. These surfaces may have raised grain that could catch on stiff brush bristles.
Avoid using motorised brush rolls with stiff bristles on hardwood. They can create fine scratches that accumulate over time, dulling the floor's finish.
Tile and Stone Floors
Ceramic tiles, porcelain, slate, and marble are durable surfaces, but grout lines require attention.
Recommended Settings
- Suction: Medium to high
- Brush roll: Soft roller or gentle motorised head
- Attachment: Hard floor head or standard floorhead
Technique Tips
Pay special attention to grout lines where dust and debris accumulate. Make passes in multiple directions to pick up debris from recessed grout. For textured tiles, slightly higher suction helps extract debris from the uneven surface.
Natural stone like marble and slate can be sensitive to scratching despite their hardness. Use soft roller attachments and avoid dragging grit across the surface.
Laminate Flooring
Laminate is generally durable but the top wear layer can be damaged by harsh treatment.
Recommended Settings
- Suction: Low to medium
- Brush roll: Soft roller or disabled
- Attachment: Hard floor head
Technique Tips
Treat laminate similarly to hardwood. The main concern is preventing scratches to the decorative layer. Ensure there's no grit on the vacuum's wheels or base that could drag across the surface.
Pay attention to gaps between planks where dust can accumulate. Some laminate installations have more noticeable gaps than others.
Vinyl and Linoleum
These resilient flooring types are forgiving and easy to clean.
Recommended Settings
- Suction: Low to medium
- Brush roll: Any setting works; soft roller ideal
- Attachment: Standard or hard floor head
Technique Tips
Vinyl luxury plank (LVP) flooring is particularly popular in Australian homes. It's quite resistant to scratching but benefits from regular cleaning to prevent grit from accumulating. Clean textured vinyl with slightly higher suction to reach into the pattern.
Low-Pile Carpet
Berber, commercial-grade, and other low-pile carpets are common in Australian homes.
Recommended Settings
- Suction: Medium to high
- Brush roll: Motorised, medium speed
- Attachment: Main floorhead with motorised brush
Technique Tips
Make slow, deliberate passes to allow the brush roll to agitate fibres. Overlap each pass by about one-third. For heavily trafficked areas, make passes in multiple directions to lift flattened fibres and extract embedded debris.
- Slow passes clean better than fast ones
- Overlap each pass for complete coverage
- Vacuum high-traffic areas more frequently
- Change direction periodically for deeper cleaning
Medium to High-Pile Carpet
Plush, shag, and deep-pile carpets require more attention and power.
Recommended Settings
- Suction: High or boost mode
- Brush roll: Motorised, full speed
- Attachment: Main floorhead; height-adjustable if available
Technique Tips
Higher suction and aggressive brush action are necessary to reach debris buried deep in pile. If your vacuum has adjustable height settings, raise the floorhead for very thick carpet to prevent the vacuum from becoming hard to push.
For shag carpets, reduce brush roll speed if possible to prevent tangling fibres. Very long pile may need gentler treatment to avoid damage.
Area Rugs
Area rugs often require different treatment than wall-to-wall carpet, especially delicate or valuable pieces.
Standard Rugs
Most machine-made area rugs can be vacuumed like carpet. Use the same settings as you would for similar pile height. Pay attention to rug edges where they meet hard floors; this junction often accumulates debris.
Delicate or Antique Rugs
Reduce suction to prevent pulling at fibres. Consider using an upholstery attachment with gentle suction rather than the main floorhead. For very valuable rugs, consult a rug specialist about appropriate cleaning methods.
Rug Movement
Strong suction can cause lightweight rugs to bunch or move. Use lower suction settings or hold the rug's edge with your foot while vacuuming. Non-slip rug pads help keep rugs in place during cleaning.
Mixed Flooring Transitions
Most Australian homes have multiple floor types. Transitioning between them efficiently saves time and battery.
Automatic Adjustment
If your vacuum has floor-detection technology, it will adjust settings automatically as you move between surfaces. This is the most convenient option and helps preserve battery life.
Manual Adjustment
Without auto-detection, develop a logical cleaning path that minimises transitions. Clean all hard floors first on one setting, then switch settings for carpeted areas. This is more efficient than constantly adjusting between surfaces.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using maximum suction everywhere: Wastes battery and isn't necessary for hard floors
- Rushing: Fast passes miss embedded debris, especially on carpet
- Ignoring floor type: What works on tile may scratch hardwood
- Skipping edges and corners: These areas often need attention with crevice tools
- Not checking the brush roll: Tangled hair reduces effectiveness on all surfaces
For comprehensive vacuum care that maintains optimal performance on all floor types, see our Maintenance Guide.