Craftsman 17742 Review

What the reviewers like:
Reviewers praise the suction on the Craftsman 17742, especially for wet pickup. and agree that it’s a bargain at this price. This Craftsman shop vac can also be used as a blower and has a drain. While it's not the best performing shop vac by a wide margin, reviews say you can't do much better in this price range.

What the reviewers don't like:
Expert reviews say the Craftsman 17742 exhausts more dust than some other shop vacs, and to make matters worse, its exhaust port blows at 140 mph so it often blows around the dust you're trying to vacuum. Owners say this makes it far from ideal for cleaning up areas with a lot of dust or debris, such as woodworking or remodeling shops. Some owners complain that the 10-foot cord is too short, the hose a bit stiff, and that there's no automatic shutoff when vacuuming liquids.

Craftsman 17742 review highlights

In general, reviews call the 9-gallon, 4-hp Craftsman 17742 a bargain. For example, compared with the wall-mounted 5-gallon Ridgid WD5500 Stor 'n Go (*est. $100), the Craftsman 17742 costs less, yet has larger capacity and vacuums liquids better. However, the Craftsman 17742 emits more dust in its exhaust, and it doesn't vacuum dry debris as well as many other shop vacs. For this low price, though, most reviews say you can't do much better.

Consumer Reports includes the Craftsman 17742 in its roundup review testing 23 consumer-level shop vacs, comparing it closely with six other models of similar size. As usual with Consumer Reports, this review is highly credible because of its objective tests and expert ratings. Several owners of the Craftsman 17742 shop vac have reviewed and rated it at Sears.com. These reviews are a useful supplement to Consumer Reports, since they cover varied uses over a longer period of time.

Also see full report: Shop Vacs

*In order of credibility (see our Ratings Criteria).

1. Consumer Reports
>> Details/Subscribe
Wet/Dry Vacuums
Editors of Consumer Reports
Mar. 2007

Consumer Reports includes the Craftsman 17742 in its review of 23 consumer-level shop vacs, comparing it primarily with six other shop vacs of similar size. Each shop vac is put through objective tests then it is assigned a total score, along with separate ratings for wet and dry pickup performance, emissions and ease of use.

2. Sears.com
Craftsman 17742 Reviews
Contributors to Sears.com

Sears now publishes reviews and ratings from users of products sold there. When we visited, only a handful of people had reviewed the Craftsman 17742, but Sears.com could be an increasingly good place to find owner reviews of Craftsman shop vacs.

Also see full report: Shop Vacs