Best Vacuum For Car Detailing - TESTED Ridged vs Shop Vac vs Armor All vs Vacmaster
We wanted to find the best vacuum for car detailing so we took seven of the best-selling
portable wet/dry vacuums and put them through a ton of tests. and this video will show
the results so links in the description and let's get started we took into account all the
portable wet/dry vacuums and put them through a ton of tests. and this video will show
the results so links in the description and let's get started we took into account all the
aspects important for Auto Detailers like power specs attachments cord and hose length
build quality and price and gave them scores so we could determine the best overall vacuum
but to be fair I'm going to break this competition down into two categories.
build quality and price and gave them scores so we could determine the best overall vacuum
but to be fair I'm going to break this competition down into two categories.
The first will be the ultraportable category; these are the cheaper less powerful shop backs
with a smaller capacity.
with a smaller capacity.
The second category will be the slightly bigger more powerful vacuums that are a little higher
quality and the best overall winner will probably come from one of these three.
quality and the best overall winner will probably come from one of these three.
Let's start with a smaller or budget category. We tested their suction and their airflow at both
the base and at the end of the hose, we added up all three numbers and got these results.
You can see that Stanley was the most powerful with the shop back all-around easy coming
in second.
.
The water test pretty much mirrored these results with the only anomaly
being that the shop vac was slightly slower than the others despite having better power than
most.
the base and at the end of the hose, we added up all three numbers and got these results.
You can see that Stanley was the most powerful with the shop back all-around easy coming
in second.
The water test pretty much mirrored these results with the only anomaly
being that the shop vac was slightly slower than the others despite having better power than
most.
The armor-all had a better showing than I was expecting here as well. The embedded sand
tests also bore out the power test with the Stanley coming in first and the shop vac all around
the easy second, some of the other issues important for car detailing is the hose and cord
length. Here the shop vac all around was far and away better than the others with a much
longer power cord and a longer hose with the armor-all coming in second with attachments
.
tests also bore out the power test with the Stanley coming in first and the shop vac all around
the easy second, some of the other issues important for car detailing is the hose and cord
length. Here the shop vac all around was far and away better than the others with a much
longer power cord and a longer hose with the armor-all coming in second with attachments
The vac masters in the Stanley were not that great having only a couple of attachments that
aren't even that helpful for auto detailing. The armor-all was good with several smaller
attachments and a nice auto detailing attachment. though unpracticed, the armor-all detailing
attachment wasn't that great but the shop vac was the best with not only all the tools you
would need for car detailing but also two extension wands and a pretty nice floor head which
is adjustable for carpets and hard floors for build quality again the shop back in the armor all
were the best with the Stanley and vac master seeming pretty cheaply made. So when you
factor all that in and score it the shop back all-around easily comes out on top with the armor
all coming right behind it in second place
.
I should mention that if you go with a ShopBack easy, I would also recommend buying the
dry filter separately, it comes with a wet filter for water vacuuming and a bag for dry vacuuming.
If you don't want to use the bag you'll need the drive filters which I will link along with the shop
back below. Now with the premium vacuums which aren't all that much more expensive,
than the budget vacuums but they are more powerful and slightly bigger but still portable.
We tested the rigid four-gallon five horsepower 503 one three which seems to be the same as
the wd-40 70 except for the color and the attachments. The vac master
aren't even that helpful for auto detailing. The armor-all was good with several smaller
attachments and a nice auto detailing attachment. though unpracticed, the armor-all detailing
attachment wasn't that great but the shop vac was the best with not only all the tools you
would need for car detailing but also two extension wands and a pretty nice floor head which
is adjustable for carpets and hard floors for build quality again the shop back in the armor all
were the best with the Stanley and vac master seeming pretty cheaply made. So when you
factor all that in and score it the shop back all-around easily comes out on top with the armor
all coming right behind it in second place
I should mention that if you go with a ShopBack easy, I would also recommend buying the
dry filter separately, it comes with a wet filter for water vacuuming and a bag for dry vacuuming.
If you don't want to use the bag you'll need the drive filters which I will link along with the shop
back below. Now with the premium vacuums which aren't all that much more expensive,
than the budget vacuums but they are more powerful and slightly bigger but still portable.
We tested the rigid four-gallon five horsepower 503 one three which seems to be the same as
the wd-40 70 except for the color and the attachments. The vac master
5-gallon beast series and the shop vac all around Plus which is the larger version of the winner
of the budget competition
.
So with the premium suction and airflow tests I was blown away these air phone numbers are
super high like higher than any regular vacuum cleaner on the market high but I suppose that's
par for the course with premium shop backs but they do require some explanation, the rigid had
higher airflow at the base with a vac master beast coming in second but the vac master had
higher airflow at the hose.
of the budget competition
So with the premium suction and airflow tests I was blown away these air phone numbers are
super high like higher than any regular vacuum cleaner on the market high but I suppose that's
par for the course with premium shop backs but they do require some explanation, the rigid had
higher airflow at the base with a vac master beast coming in second but the vac master had
higher airflow at the hose.
Which is probably just due to the rigid having a longer hose. Thus a longer distance for
the air to travel but the vac master has quite a lot more suction at 88 inches of water lift and
suction is much more important with wet/dry vacs than it is with regular vacuums. So when you
add it all together the vac master beast is the most powerful which was also evident from the
water test where it got the fastest time of all the vacuums at one gallon in 1.16 seconds.
It was also seen in the embedded sand test where it did better than all the others we tested with
cord length and hose lengths the rigid one by having the longest cord at 20 feet and the longest
hose at 8 feet.
the air to travel but the vac master has quite a lot more suction at 88 inches of water lift and
suction is much more important with wet/dry vacs than it is with regular vacuums. So when you
add it all together the vac master beast is the most powerful which was also evident from the
water test where it got the fastest time of all the vacuums at one gallon in 1.16 seconds.
It was also seen in the embedded sand test where it did better than all the others we tested with
cord length and hose lengths the rigid one by having the longest cord at 20 feet and the longest
hose at 8 feet.
Though the vac master and shop vac wore right behind it, so it was close as far as build quality
the rigid again won by a nose even though the vac master was also very well built.
It was mainly because the hose on the rigid is built like a tank though to be fair the vac master
had a pretty good hose too, just not as good as the rigid, as far as attachments the shop vac
one with the same basic tools that came with a budget version but between the two front
runners the vac master won in a landslide with a lot of excellent tools for auto detailing
.
the rigid again won by a nose even though the vac master was also very well built.
It was mainly because the hose on the rigid is built like a tank though to be fair the vac master
had a pretty good hose too, just not as good as the rigid, as far as attachments the shop vac
one with the same basic tools that came with a budget version but between the two front
runners the vac master won in a landslide with a lot of excellent tools for auto detailing
While the rigid only came with one tool, which is a great auto detailing tool but still just one tool.
That being said, with the rigid you have the option of getting what is widely considered to be the
best toolset in the industry, the rigid seven-piece premium car cleaning accessory kit which
works with any size rigid shop-vac.
That being said, with the rigid you have the option of getting what is widely considered to be the
best toolset in the industry, the rigid seven-piece premium car cleaning accessory kit which
works with any size rigid shop-vac.
It does cost more money and you do get extremely good tools right out of the box with the vac
master, so factoring in the current list prices and scoring all these results the vac master wins
the best vacuum for car detailing competition(4:38). It's unbelievably powerful, really well built,
comes with a great set of tools, a long cord, and hose and is very reasonably priced(Backlink).
master, so factoring in the current list prices and scoring all these results the vac master wins
the best vacuum for car detailing competition(4:38). It's unbelievably powerful, really well built,
comes with a great set of tools, a long cord, and hose and is very reasonably priced(Backlink).
Best Cordless Wet Dry Vacuum For Cars - Ryobi vs Ridgid vs Dewalt vs Milwakee - Shop Vac Battle!
We took five of the current best-selling cordless wet/dry vacuums and put them through a
grueling set of tests, we tested their suction airflow battery, life noise level and all kinds of pick
up tests we gave them scores based on these results. They did so with the understanding that
we at vacuum wars would do all of our usual tests and that we would show both the good and
the bad results.
grueling set of tests, we tested their suction airflow battery, life noise level and all kinds of pick
up tests we gave them scores based on these results. They did so with the understanding that
we at vacuum wars would do all of our usual tests and that we would show both the good and
the bad results.
I think that you'll agree that the nature of these tests makes it hard for us to play favorites even
if we wanted(link).
if we wanted(link).
Let's get started. I divided this test into two parts: the smaller two to three-gallon versions for
the first group and the larger heavyweight division for the second group
.
I should also mention that we use the same sized battery that is nine amp hours for every
vacuum in this competition so that we could reasonably rule out battery size as a factor.
It should be said that most of these wet/dry vacuums can use various types and sizes of
batteries from their manufacturers.
.
the first group and the larger heavyweight division for the second group
I should also mention that we use the same sized battery that is nine amp hours for every
vacuum in this competition so that we could reasonably rule out battery size as a factor.
It should be said that most of these wet/dry vacuums can use various types and sizes of
batteries from their manufacturers.
Which is something I wish more cordless vacuum companies would do first up for the
lightweights was the suction and airflow tests, we tested their suction with a suction gauge
and their airflow with an anemometer added. Those numbers together for a combined power
score and found that the rigid x/4 took the top spot with 125.
lightweights was the suction and airflow tests, we tested their suction with a suction gauge
and their airflow with an anemometer added. Those numbers together for a combined power
score and found that the rigid x/4 took the top spot with 125.
Milwaukee was number two with 113 the Rio third and the DeWalt way behind in last place
.
In case you're wondering this will be the point system we'll be using for this competition, it's
probably not surprising that these rankings were mirrored with some other power-based tests
like the one. Where we test how quickly it can clear a given amount of water after the switch
is flipped.
.
In case you're wondering this will be the point system we'll be using for this competition, it's
probably not surprising that these rankings were mirrored with some other power-based tests
like the one. Where we test how quickly it can clear a given amount of water after the switch
is flipped.
The rigid x4 was the best here getting the fastest score and it was noticeably faster like 33%
faster than the next closest one which was the Milwaukee which was interesting. The first
pickup test was using a deep mat and heavy debris in this case sand the idea was to see
how many passes it took at a certain speed to pick up all of the debris for the record, I found
that this test was as much about the shape of the included tool than the suction or airflow
though of course, they played a role as well.
faster than the next closest one which was the Milwaukee which was interesting. The first
pickup test was using a deep mat and heavy debris in this case sand the idea was to see
how many passes it took at a certain speed to pick up all of the debris for the record, I found
that this test was as much about the shape of the included tool than the suction or airflow
though of course, they played a role as well.
Again the rigid x4 won by effortlessly picking up all of the debris in one the Rio B was second
place by almost getting it all in one past. I think I called it 1.5 passes on the spreadsheet,
interestingly the DeWalt did better than the Milwaukee here, I think because the Milwaukee
claw tool disperses the airflow a little more than the DeWalt tool does.
.
place by almost getting it all in one past. I think I called it 1.5 passes on the spreadsheet,
interestingly the DeWalt did better than the Milwaukee here, I think because the Milwaukee
claw tool disperses the airflow a little more than the DeWalt tool does.
The next test was we embedded 100 grams of sand onto the black carpet and used the claw
tool very similar to the rigid X for first, the Rio be second and the next two were a little harder to
judge but I would say that the Milwaukee did marginally better here. I also wanted to add that,
I did not like the tools that most of them provided, they either snowplowed the sand or kind of
scattered and popped the sand around, when I was trying to clean up the mess, I'm trying not
to overly praise the Ridgid here but I have to give it credit for this claw tool it may not be very
wide but it's extremely well designed and I didn't have either of the problems at the other three
had when trying to clean up the sand.
.
tool very similar to the rigid X for first, the Rio be second and the next two were a little harder to
judge but I would say that the Milwaukee did marginally better here. I also wanted to add that,
I did not like the tools that most of them provided, they either snowplowed the sand or kind of
scattered and popped the sand around, when I was trying to clean up the mess, I'm trying not
to overly praise the Ridgid here but I have to give it credit for this claw tool it may not be very
wide but it's extremely well designed and I didn't have either of the problems at the other three
had when trying to clean up the sand.
Battery-life numbers were pretty much inversely proportional to their power scores, the least
powerful the DeWalt had the longest battery life and by a significant margin at 52 minutes.
It was pretty interesting that even the last place rigid was getting 31 minutes of battery life.
The reason I say it's interesting is that in the vacuum world all of these are crazy numbers.
Take for example the Dyson V 11 cordless vacuum in its highest power setting. Which is
about 59 CFM of airflow, it only gets about 10 minutes of runtime so to get 31 minutes at 86
CFM is something I haven't seen before.
.
powerful the DeWalt had the longest battery life and by a significant margin at 52 minutes.
It was pretty interesting that even the last place rigid was getting 31 minutes of battery life.
The reason I say it's interesting is that in the vacuum world all of these are crazy numbers.
Take for example the Dyson V 11 cordless vacuum in its highest power setting. Which is
about 59 CFM of airflow, it only gets about 10 minutes of runtime so to get 31 minutes at 86
CFM is something I haven't seen before.
The noise level was a tie with the rigid and the DeWalt doing the best the rigid has the longest
hose at 7 feet with filtration, it was a little difficult to score since two of them, the Milwaukee and
the DeWalt come with HEPA filters while the Rio b and the Ridgid did not but at least with the
Ridgid, you can choose to upgrade to a better filter and as far as I know, this is not an option
with the Rio B, so I scored the round like this for the price I took into account the unit price and
the price for a battery and a charger and scored it like this, the last category was warranty
length where the Ridgid took first place again with a lifetime warranty compared to between 3
and 5 years for the others, so that brings the lightweight category to close with the rigid x4.
.
hose at 7 feet with filtration, it was a little difficult to score since two of them, the Milwaukee and
the DeWalt come with HEPA filters while the Rio b and the Ridgid did not but at least with the
Ridgid, you can choose to upgrade to a better filter and as far as I know, this is not an option
with the Rio B, so I scored the round like this for the price I took into account the unit price and
the price for a battery and a charger and scored it like this, the last category was warranty
length where the Ridgid took first place again with a lifetime warranty compared to between 3
and 5 years for the others, so that brings the lightweight category to close with the rigid x4.
I think unquestionably the best for its price range, sigh moving on to the heavyweight bout
between the Ridgid 18-volt nine gallons and the Rio b 18 volt one plus six-gallon. It should be
noted before we move on that the rigid has the option of using two batteries here. It can run
perfectly on one battery but it does mean that I had to do some of these tests twice,
for example on the power test the Rio b which only has one battery scored 138 on the power
test.
between the Ridgid 18-volt nine gallons and the Rio b 18 volt one plus six-gallon. It should be
noted before we move on that the rigid has the option of using two batteries here. It can run
perfectly on one battery but it does mean that I had to do some of these tests twice,
for example on the power test the Rio b which only has one battery scored 138 on the power
test.
The rigid with only one battery scored 148 but with two batteries, the rigid numbers jumped
even more to 163 so either way, you look at it the rigid wins this round the rigid 9 gallons.
.
Also won the water test by a significant amount sucking up the water and almost half the time it
took the Rio b the pickup tests were all rigid as well to be fair the Rio b did not come with a claw
tool like its smaller version did and the tool it did come with really wasn't geared for this
particular test. On the sand and the carpet test, rigid did better on both the single battery and
double battery tests in the Rio b to be fair.
even more to 163 so either way, you look at it the rigid wins this round the rigid 9 gallons.
Also won the water test by a significant amount sucking up the water and almost half the time it
took the Rio b the pickup tests were all rigid as well to be fair the Rio b did not come with a claw
tool like its smaller version did and the tool it did come with really wasn't geared for this
particular test. On the sand and the carpet test, rigid did better on both the single battery and
double battery tests in the Rio b to be fair.
The Rio b did pretty well on this test just not as good as the rigid with battery life again the least
powerful vacuum got a longer battery life but only by two minutes.
.
When you add the second battery on the rigid it got one hour and two minutes which is just
amazing seriously an hour of battery life while running at 117 CFM. Which is higher than
powerful vacuum got a longer battery life but only by two minutes.
When you add the second battery on the rigid it got one hour and two minutes which is just
amazing seriously an hour of battery life while running at 117 CFM. Which is higher than
just about any regular corded vacuum cleaner on the market is something to write home
about.
.
about.
The noise level went to the rigid hose length, filtration was tied but again the point goes to the
rigid for having the option to upgrade price, went to the Rio b and warranty went to the rigid for
again a lifetime warranty versus a three-year warranty on the Rio b.
. 
So as you might have guessed the Ridgid 18 volt nine gallons one in a landslide on the hall,
I was impressed with all of these vacuums they all seemed well built, I wasn't sure if battery
technology had progressed to the point where a workhorse shop vac could be battery operated
but I think these tests showed that these guys are all ready to go to work.
rigid for having the option to upgrade price, went to the Rio b and warranty went to the rigid for
again a lifetime warranty versus a three-year warranty on the Rio b.
So as you might have guessed the Ridgid 18 volt nine gallons one in a landslide on the hall,
I was impressed with all of these vacuums they all seemed well built, I wasn't sure if battery
technology had progressed to the point where a workhorse shop vac could be battery operated
but I think these tests showed that these guys are all ready to go to work.
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