Car vacuum cleaner - reviews - 2013 group test

A workshop vacuum cleaner can make light work of car and garage cleaning. They cost a fraction of the price of a domestic cleaner, and are often much tougher than your basic household Hoover, plus prevent you from tracking grease, grit and grime back into your home.

So these workshop vacs make sense all year round, especially with handy wet modes speeding up jobs like upholstery cleaning. With durable stainless steel or plastic bodies and long hoses, they’re designed to tackle much more than your average mucky living room or messy kitchen, while useful blower functions and the power to deal with wet spills make these cleaners the perfect companion for the diehard DIY mechanic.

But which is the best at keeping your car and garage sparkling? We got down and dirty with eight to find out.

How we tested them

Cleaning power and convenience are key here. We tested each vacuum with different sugars and rice on a car mat – measuring how much was removed in two passes, plus how many passes it took until all the mess was shifted. Wet vacuuming was also rated, as we timed how long it took to empty a nine-litre bucket.

On-board storage was top of our features wishlist, while we looked at noise, too. We also checked what you get for your money – cleaners with additional heads scored, as did those with a blower mode and extra sockets for use with power tools. Price was our final factor; all figures exclude delivery.

Verdict

This test was a close-run thing from the front of the field to the back – even those at the bottom of our table performed strongly. However, the well specified and competitively priced Nilfisk just edged victory from the ultra-convenient Draper with its handy wall mount. In third place is the Vac King – our pick of the budget cleaners thanks to its powerful wet and dry performances.

1. Nilfisk Multi 30T

2. Draper Wall Mountable Wet & Dry Vacuum Cleaner

3. Vac King 20 Litre Wet & Dry Stainless Steel Vacuum Cleaner