Wet & Dry Vacuums

Wet & Dry Vacuums

A wet and dry vacuum exists for the jobs that would destroy an ordinary machine: a burst washing machine hose, a flooded utility, a blocked gutter, sawdust in a workshop or the footwell of a car after a wet week. Tank capacity in litres is the headline figure and the one that matters most, because a twenty litre drum lets you keep going where a small one has you outside emptying it. Suction on these is measured in air watts or water lift rather than the wattage on the box, and water lift is the number that tells you whether the machine will actually pull standing water. Check what changes between wet and dry use, since most models want the paper or cloth filter removed and a foam sleeve fitted before they touch liquid, and running one wet with the dry filter in place is the usual way they get ruined. A blower outlet is worth having and costs nothing extra on most units, as it clears leaves from a garage or a driveway far faster than sweeping. Cordless versions run off the same battery platform as the rest of a tool range, which suits a van or a site where there is no socket, while corded drums give longer working time for a garage that has power.

Karcher covers most of this range through the WD series, from the compact WD 3 up to the larger WD 4 and WD 5 drums. DeWalt supplies the cordless XR and FlexVolt units that share batteries with the wider tool range, and Einhell the mid sized corded drums. Dreame approaches it differently with the H12 and H14 Pro, cordless wet and dry floor washers built for kitchen spills rather than workshops, and Charles covers the heavy duty commercial end. Household machines are in Vacuum Cleaners.

Workshop and garage machines are reduced on a different cycle to household vacuums, moving with the DIY and tool promotions rather than the seasonal ones. Prices are live all year, so see what is reduced now on vacuum cleaners on sale.