Small Wet & Dry Vacuum for Patios?

[eurekaprince]

Hi Vacuumlanders,

My mom has a small patio/balcony which has a concrete floor and a small bit of “indoor/outdoor” carpeting. She also has a few chairs with cushions and pads.

Problem is: the balcony faces a very busy main street and gets dirty very fast with street dust and grit and even cigarette butts and litter flung from balconies above her.

I am looking to buy an inexpensive, small (4 gallon max), wet & dry vac to clean the carpeting and the concrete corners and the dusty chair pads so Mom can enjoy sitting out on a clean patio on nice days in the summer. We often get rain here, so it needs to be a wet/dry unit that will be safe to use if the carpeting is damp.

Any suggestions on which cleaner would be good value for the money? I’d especially like to hear from Canadians so that I can easily find the recommended cleaner at a Canadian store like Canadian Tire or Home Depot Canada.

 

[compactc9guy]

SHOPVAC

dont fool your self any longer get the one and only WET DRY VAC THE SHOP-VAC

 

[compactc9guy]

pronto

5 gallon shopvac whit blower port attachement like this around 80$ at most canadian tire and voila i own a BIGGG 16 gallon and love it

 

[eurekaprince]

Merci beaucoup CompactGuy! There is actually a little blue 1.5 gallon Shop Vac All Around EZ I like - it comes with a regular carpet nozzle and upholstery brush. $90. I may order it!

Anyone have any experience with that model?

 

[compactc9guy]

Any true shopvac from shopvac site your good for a 10 years whit proper filters your welcome

 

[fan-of-fans]

I was actually going to suggest the All Around because of its small size and attachment set, so I say it would be a good choice for that.

 

[huskyvacs]

If you guys are suggesting Shop Vacs, I have a better idea - the Shop Vac Shop Sweep. Shop Vac's only upright model and it seems to be obscure, not many people know about it. I've never seen one in any hardware stores. I want to get one eventually.

You can use it indoors, outdoors, whatever you want. Publicity shots show it being used on low pile commercial carpet in a store, in a machining and metalworking factory, outdoors on a residential driveway, and so on.

 

[huskyvacs]

Damn, nevermind, I forgot it doesn't have any tool attachments

 

[tolivac]

I used to have one of those Shop Sweep vacuums-Believe I bought mine from Lowes a long time ago-was advertised as a utility vacuum for your shop,garage or garden walks-its plastic fan will pulverize leaves and such.I don't think I would want to use that vacuum for picking up in a metal shop or machine shop-the sharp metal shavings will tear up the plastic fan.also the machine didn't have enough suction to pick up pebbles from a walkway-probably just as well.they too,would damage the plastic fan.during a move gave mine to a gardening neighbor.Haven't seen any more of these.

 

[panasonicvac]

Shop Vac no doubt is a good brand but here's what I don't like about them. Just like most companies, their quality on most models isn't the same like they used to be on their older models. Also, I don't like their filters. They're messier and take longer to clean, they wear down faster, and they don't like to stay on. And I don't like the hoses, they don't like to stay on and sometimes it damages the hose if you crush it.

I would recommend the Ridgid 6000RV 6 gallon. Better quality, the hose would stay on tighter, and the filter would last longer. You can also buy additional attachments with this such as the upholstery tool, dusting brush, etc.

 

[eurekaprince]

Thanks PanasonicVac. Is Ridgid only available at Sears? Sears Canada closed all their stores but I think Quebec’s Reno Depot sells Ridgid machines now. I’ll check it out...