What Is a Brushless Vacuum?

Many types of vacuum cleaners are on the market, including traditional upright and canister versions, bagless or dirt bag models, and vacuums with special features like edge cleaning and height adjustment control, cyclone suction or traditional suction, and a variety of tools and accessories. One less common type of cleaner is a brushless vacuum, which is unlike most traditional vacuums with a brush roll in the vacuum head.

A brushless vacuum cleaner is one that pulls dirt directly into the cleaner. Most vacuum cleaners have a rotating brush roll, over which the air is suctioned. This brush roll is absent in a brushless vacuum, and air enters directly into a dirt chamber instead.

The motor on a brushless vacuum cleaner comes in two types – with or without a sensor. Models with this feature have a magnetic sensor that notifies the electronics in the vacuum when to operate. Models without a sensor use a powerful processor to sense the rotor position and operate accordingly.

Some brushless vacuum cleaners have a head that is shaped differently than most traditional vacuum cleaners. For instance, the Bissell brushless vacuum cleaner has a V-shaped head to pick up both large and fine debris without the use of a rotating brush. The dirt is then pulled into a container that can be removed from the vacuum and emptied into a waste bin.

A brushless vacuum cleaner is best used in homes with hard floors such as wood, tile or laminate flooring, or in areas with delicate carpeting or rugs that may be damaged by the brush on a traditional vacuum cleaner. Carpets with low pile may also benefit from the lack of a brush roll. In homes where the carpet is standard, medium pile or the vacuum will not be used on hard floors, a traditional vacuum may be best.