The right vacuum with the right attachments can do the job. I would suggest investing in one especially if you have more hardwood in your home and its not just your kitchen. Good models from different price ranges that are designed with the right attachments to clean on hardwood are : BISSELL Zing Bagless / Eureka Mighty Mite / Dyson DC39 Multi Floor / Electrolux Sanitaire / Miele S2121 Capri / Miele S8990 UniQ. These models cost from 100$-1500$ so it is up to you and how much you want to invest in a new vacuum for your hardwood floor. Use the right attachments as well. Of course you can also just do what others suggested and simply not use a vacuum.

If the finish on the floor is intact - it is advisable to have flooring specialist to come in - "rough up" the surface & apply a coat of poly (if poly is what was used on the orig finish - this can be done if no oil based products have been used on the floor) I would contact a Hw floor person to advise you - We put HW in kit & were rec to do a coat of poly every 1-2 yrs - this way, a sanding/refinishing is not necessary -

Here is a general primer JJ,books have been written that still leave unanswered questions so keep that in mind and just do the best you can. Spray or sprinkle water on the top to see if it beads. If it does,clean with specialized SILICON REMOVAL product fron the paint store. Do the same on front and sides. If water doesn't bead,wipe the surface with naptha,let dry and sand with 120 grit garnet sandpaper until when you wet a spot with water then emediatly wipe the surface with dry cloth the surface remains damp then eventualy air dries. That test tells you that top coat finish has been sanded away and stain will penitrate wood. Before applying stain wipe off sanding dust with a tack cloth or cotton cloth dampened with thinner that is reccommended to clean stain from brush. From here it's simply a matter of following directions on container to the letter. I suggest you pick up a color wheel from and arttist's supply store and study up on how to use it. That simple little tool will put you light years ahead of most diy painters and decorators. Once you understand the wheel you will refer to it many times in coming years while selecting decorator color combos. What you will use it for here is to select the correct stain color to apply over the existing color to achive the desired resulting color. After a sample stain has dried dont overlook to wet a spot with paint thinner,saliva or the topcoat you plan to use so you can judge the depth of color before doing intire piece. Needles to say,experimenting on a concealed area while trial testing color is helpful. I have good luck getting paint to adheare on laminate surfaces useing primer from big box reccomended for pvc.

rm54, I suggest you go to home depot or a place that sells a wide variety of flooring and look at the options. Look at laminate, engineered hardwood, prefinished hardwood. You'll see a variety of textures. It may help you appreciate the nuances in your unique floor. Sometimes you have to look at things with different eyes and appreciate the character. I am two coats of water based poly away from refinishing my solid red oak floors and I made every mistake in the book. But they don't look that bad. My floors are randomly uneven, dented, scratched and splotchy, but when the first two coats of poly went on, they actually looked nice and on trend. Today I went to Home Depot and touched the wide variety of flooring they had and compared it to mine. I like mine better! I actually think I prefer the random waves and imperfections to a perfectly smooth finished floor. Google "hand scraped wood floors" and look at pictures to see what people are doing and buying. You may learn to like your floors as is.