I went ahead and got the Dyson DC25 Animal. I sure hope it doesn't scratch my wood floors. So far it was fun to use on my carpet and did a great job.

It did not scatch my wood floors. Mine has the switch to turn off the brushes and I have had no problems. It is convenient as I can go from carpet to hardwood floors with the push of a button.

karenfe: Come back to let us know if you think it's scratching!

I will go out on a limb and say the folks at Dyson test their products on hardwood before marketing it. Not doing so just doesn't fit their whole shtick. It may surprise you that some folks don't turn off the beater bar when vacuuming hard flooring, which could easily scratch. That would be considered user error. :)

I have the cordless v6 Dyson and it’s scratched all my floors downstairs

I couldn’t figure out what was going on

when u swivel it around the rollers leave a fine scratch . My floors are dark and shows up pretty bad

just installed new floors upstairs , not be using it there

i guess I will take it up with Costco

The Dyson V8 SCRATCHED MY HARDWOOD so bad. This is in my brand new home when we just had the floors refinished. It does fine on carpet or faux hardwood but left deep unsightly scratches on my dark new hardwood.
I tried writing a review on Dyson.com and they did not post it. (Although I was polite in giving a bad review) They emailed me and said, can we help you? I asked why they did not post my review and was ignored. People deserve to know the damage this product does.

I own a Dyson V6 animal and it scratches my hardwood floors! What can I do about this?

mhrngage. I’m not sure what model you have but when I called Dyson they said the upright V8 IS NOT MEANT FOR HARDWOOD. To me that’s crazy, and even crazier is if you want to use it on hardwood you have to purchase the soft attachment separately for $120.

mhrngage oops I see you said you have the V6. Try calling Dyson like I did and complaining, and they should send you the hardwood attachment for free no charge. However, the damage is already done to your floors like mine.

I think I have a DC 10 (yellow), pretty old. I turn the beater brush off and use them on my miles of hardwood all the time. No scratching. If you turn off the beater bar, what is there to scratch? the wheels?

*******The Dyson V8 Upright does not have the option to turn the beater off. Also, even if you were able to, we observed that just dragging the attachment along the floor with the beater off STILL caused scratches in hardwood. Dyson customer service themselves told me the V8 upright is not meant for hardwood.
That is, unless you spent $120 on an additional soft brush attachment sold separately. After complaining, they sent it to me for free. It only cost me ruined hardwood. ******

Update- Dyson has in the last couple of weeks updated their website to reflect that you can purchase the V8 with or without the hardwood attachment. However, they still need to fix their boxes which show the “carpet” attachment (culprit of damage) clearly on hardwood.

My Dyson animal scratched terribly. I love it but it is unusable for this reason - I can't be bothered to change heads or vacuums when going from floor to carpet (this would be every few minutes in my house). So disappointing.

I'm curious to know if anyone has tried the Dyson 'Fluffy' vaccum head and how that goes with hardwood floors. I just spent an arm and leg on my hardwood floor and am very scared of scratching them with a vaccum

following

I have the Dyson V8 with both the carpet head AND the soft fluffy head. I know Dyson advertised at the time I bought the machine you could use the carpet head on both rugs and floors. I tried it on my hardwood floors but it made such a racket I stopped. Since I have primarily wood floors with area rugs here and there I leave the soft head attached to the wand. My strategy is that I clean all the hardwood floors first, then the couch, then switch to the carpet head. The V8 is cordless so it's not a big deal. I could see how doing one room with a traditional vac, changing outlets, doing some more and then repeating would be annoying. It's really not a big deal. For bigger vacuuming jobs I usually use my central vac with Hide a Hose but the V8 has been great for quick zooms around the kitchen and family room during the work week.

Great technique Ocscott. So the Fluffy head DOES NOT scratch hardwood floors right?

Correct - no scratches whatsoever and really keeps the noise down in comparison to when I used the regular motorhead on the floors.

Fantastic info, thanks OcScott

Dyson DC25 scratches floors. As constancefogel mentioned earlier "Also, even if you were able to, we observed that just dragging the attachment along the floor with the beater off STILL caused scratches in hardwood". This vacuum allows you to turn off beater, but the bristles are still protruding and leaving visible scratches on the floor over time.

Hi All,

I ended up purchasing the Dyson V8 Absolute with the fluffy head. We have used it on a daily basis on our expensive hardwood floors and it has not left a scratch. I would highly recommend this vacuum to anyone with the same concerns. Its an expensive vacuum but well worth the investment considering the cost of the floors.

I have a dyson stick vac; it scuffs my floors. It isnt the actual head that does it. Is the two small plastic wheels on articulating ball joint.

I just returned the V8 stick vacuum because it kept scratching my floors, like NYCish said, it isn't the actual head that does it, its the two small plastic wheels on the ball joint. I have dark laminate floors, so each scratch is very apparent. We just purchased a V10 hoping its better..Can anyone tell me which is the fluffy brush for the vacuum? Is it available on the dyson website?

@NYCish & Lizzm1078 Its all about the head that you are using. I researched this heavily before committing. The fluffy head is like a heavy duty paint roller and very soft. There is also a soft velvet like material around the perimeter of the head where it touches the floor. I don't know if it is interchangeble is the newer V10. I bought the upgraded model with it included. I think Dyson have it avail or Parts warehouse is a tad more affordable. Dyson Soft Roller Head

@fine art I’ll have to look into that one. For me, it is these wheels on the back; if they don’t spin properly and stick, it drags on the floor and leaves a scuff. I need to see if the heads are interchangeable. Does the soft roller do a good job of cleaning up debris? I use this after the kids eat (I pick up the large chunks of course) and also cat litter

I’ve attached pics of the problematic area on mine

We are moving into a house that was just gutted;
I’d fall over dead if my dyson kills my new floors

Yes that's the motorhead attachment pictured above. Dyson claims that it can clean hardwood floors but I use the fluffy head attachment on my wood floors because I was concerned about the ball joint scratching my floors. As posted above, the fluffy head does an awesome job on wood floors. It comes standard with the V8 and V10 "Absolute" models but can be purchased after the fact for any of the V8 or V10 machines. I bought mine after the fact with my V8. It was pricey (~$100) but it really makes cleaning hardwood floors much quicker. It also does a much better job picking up dry cereal off the floor.

i have the v7 animal and it definately scratches floor boards,now i have to purchase the soft roller,hopefully it doesnt scratch the floors

I have a V8 animal and does scratches the hardwood floor.

I have the Dyson v7 animal and it’s scratched my brand new hardwood floors so bad. I don’t know what I’m suppose to do. Is getting a different head gonna fix the problem?

So sorry to hear about your floors. The V7 instructions do warn you that the motor head will scratch hard wood. See the comments above about the fluffy head. It can be ordered separately but it runs around $100. If you can return it - you may want to consider doing that and getting the model that comes with the fluffy head if you plan to use it mainly on hardwood floors. I have the V7 and use it mostly on tile. I did buy an adaptor that lets me use my central vac hardwood floor tools as I only use it for occasional quick pick up of cat hair.

Dyson V8 with the Fluffy head is the answer, it’s a great vacuum and worth the investment to look after your floors

I ended up relegating my dyson to the basement where i have LVP and purchased the hardwood floor tool for my miele.

I posted before about my V8 and how the Motorhead nozzle claimed to be bare-floor friendly and was not. I did find the Fluffy head tool to be the best fit for hardwood floors. I recently upgraded to the top of the line V11 and ironically enough, it doesn't even come with the Fluffy Head tool. The Motorhead nozzle on this model has been updated and seems a lot kinder to hardwood floors than the old V7/V8 style heads.

Anyone have experience with the Dyson V11 Animal + from Costco? I love it but am so cautious with my new hardwood floors, I'm watching it like a hawk! :D

My V10 has scratched my hardwood floors quite extensively. I’m not sure what to do about it because I love it otherwise.

As an update. I posted upthread. My old v6 has been relegated to the basement which has LVT flooring. For our upstairs for quick clean ups, I got the v8 absolute which comes with the fluffy head brush for hard flooring. It is a NIGHT and DAY difference. I can use it on the low setting because instead of flinging dried Cheerios or other dried kids food around my floors, it just sucks it up with ease. No scratches on my brand new white oak (now my kids and their match box cars, diggers, toy strollers, that’s another story)
Bottom line. If you get a Dyson and have hard flooring, get the fluffy head brush. Otherwise, don’t get a dyson.

Buy the Fluffy Head tool. I bought one for my V8 and now use it on my V11 too.

Yes exactly, Get the Fluffy head attachment thats the only thing that comes close to my $6k hardwood floors. Well worth the investment

@NYCish and @Fine Art Black & White Photography by Andy Moine and @M H et al

I've searched for Fluffy at dyson many times, can't find anything. Is it the Soft Roller? https://www.dyson.com/support/journey/spare-details.966488-01.245202-01.html

I have the v11 Animal from Costco. As far as I can tell, it's not scratching my beautiful floors (Genuine French Oak from PanTim), but I'm paranoid enough to gently sweep most of the time just in case!

Adding to above comment: this is why Dyson told me a few weeks ago...for what it's worth?

"Thank you for your inquiry. Yes, we do sell a separate attachment for hardwood floors. I have included a link for your reference showing the sale price of the soft roller cleaner-head assembly which is compatible with your V11 Animal. There is a slider knob on the front of the roller head that when opened allows air to enter and makes the roller head easier to push on carpet.

https://www.dyson.com/support/journey/spare-details.966489-12.268893-01.html

Have you experienced scratching of your floors? The design of the Torque eliminates the need for the soft roller-head, but if you prefer that tool because you are concerned about possible scratching, you are welcome to make that purchase using the link above. The cleaner head on the Dyson V11 Torque Drive vacuum features an integrated digital motor which spins the brush bar up to 60 times a second.

It drives stiff nylon bristles deep into carpet to remove dirt, and carbon fiber filaments capture fine dust on hard floors. This vacuum also features three cleaning modes for a variety of household tasks, so you'll have the right balance of power and run time where you need it. The cleaner head will self-adjust to seal in suction no matter which flooring type you are vacuuming."

the V11 does scratch floors even though the sales rep said it's safe for all hard floors. I have bamboo espresso wood floors. For the first year it did not scratch but after a year the ball joint gets rugged and leaves marks on the floor. those marks wipe away. however, the wheels and the other plastic bottom parts of the cleaning head gets rough and does leave permanent scratch marks.

I've reached out to Dyson and their quality department claims there is no design flaw found from my pics and that they are not at fault.

In conclusion if you have dark hardwood floors DO NOT by Dyson vacuums as their cleaning heads have plastic wheels instead of rubber, and plastic ottom parts that touch the floor which is a no no. I'm unfamiliar with the other cleaning head everyone talks about but that cleaning head did not come with my purchase and I got the extended pack.

Yes! Mine is quite new and has scratched all of my floors!!

I have the Dyson Animal V11+ from Costco and cannot be happier. After reading some of these comments, I was scared enough to order the extra ($139!) fluffy head to ensure scratchless cleaning, but I rarely use it since the regular attachment seems to be doing fine on my hardwood floors. I love this vacuum soooo much. It's fun to use and sooo easy to clean.

Bought a V7 and yes scratched our polished floors. Taking the plastic screw out underneath the head your not given a tool, so you pick at it with a knife. It becomes sharp and scratched our floors. Also the two roller wheels at back of head marks floors. Not happy Jan! So had to order a soft roller for $229. Insane. Probably wouldn’t purchase another. And it isn’t a user error, it’s poorly designed. I live in Queensland and non carpeted rooms are common. I wouldn’t recommend if your wanting to cherish your polished floors. I’ve heard people with slate are also in the same boat.

I bought a V11 Outsize with both the carpet and the hardfloor heads. The hardfloor head caused LOTS of scuff marks from the little rubber wheels on the edges of the blue spinner in the back of the head which makes it spin. Then, the little plush strips worn out in less than 6 months, with no option to procure replacements other then a COMPLETE HEAD for 260 Australian dollars. Now that part of the head is causing even deeper scratches. I improvised some soft self-adhesive felts so that I could keep using the product, but they are not washable so I need to keep replacing them. Great product for carpet... Great product for laminate/vinil/non-wood hard floors... Terrible product for wooden and engineered floors. Dyson won't catch me ever again. A few months ago I returned their fan/heater, which was really really bad. But that's another story...

Don't buy Dyson for LVT flooring it scratches the hell out of them and they don't stand behind their products

I went through the same thing - didn't realize the head that comes on the Dyson is for carpets with hard bristles. I purchased the soft roller head for hardwoods and hoping that resolves my issues. I wish it came with a disclaimer because my brand new 20k oak hardwoods having a million micro scratches is like a punch to the gut.

Part No. 966489-08 (for those looking to avoid the headache who want to purchase the soft head)

I know this is an old thread but we have dark floors and the Dyson is also scratching them. Expensive item to get relegated to the garage. My last Dyson purchase.