Wet Dry Vac Review

Comparing reviews of shop vacuums

Wet dry vacs can handle a wider range of cleanup tasks than regular vacuum cleaners; they are used to vacuum liquids and collect dust and debris in workshops and garages and on jobsites. Note that you'll frequently see wet dry vacs called "shop vacs" in many stores and websites, but the term "shop vac" is actually a trademarked brand name. It's become a little like "Kleenex" and "Xerox" -- a case where a brand name has morphed into a generic term for a whole class of products.

Basic wet dry vacs are useful for general cleanup, but woodworkers and contractors often prefer more expensive pro-grade shop vacuums; most of these are tool-triggered -- they have an outlet you can plug power tools into, and vacuum and tool(s) are activated simultaneously.  

For tests of general-use wet dry vacs (including many Shop-Vac brand products), we found the best review at ConsumerReports.org, where editors test 23 wet dry vacuums ranging in size from 2 to 20 gallons; ratings are based on rigorous objective tests. A review at Popular Mechanics provides more details on some of the same shop vacuums, but it tests just six models, only one of which is a tool-triggered workshop vac.

We found the most recent comparison tests of tool-triggered vacuums at Wood Magazine and Fine Homebuilding. The results of comparison tests are also discussed in reviews in Fine Woodworking, the Journal of Light Construction and American Woodworker.

In addition to these comparisons, we found in-depth reviews of specific Bosch, Festool, Shop-Vac and other brands of wet dry vacs in woodworking publications and at the websites of individual woodworkers. We also studied owner-written reviews published at Amazon.com, HomeDepot.com, Sears.com and several other sites. These owner-written reviews often include details missing from the big comparison tests, along with a longer-term perspective on durability.