Best Wet Vacuum Cleaner For Home (2023 Update)

You get what you pay for. The quality of this little guy is amazing!! My friends think I am crazing for raving about a vacuum cleaner so much but I'm telling you, just get one and don't think twice!! The powerful suction force and versatility speak volumes!!Elyse

I purchased this vacuum t have something that would clean up little messes in my truck, or house (I have kids). This is the perfect vacuum for someone with messy children (all of them) as it conveniently (and effectively) removes messes my children make. My favorite part is how it also gets up liquid messes!John H.

No complaints as this handheld vacuum gets the job done much better than anticipated! Powerful suction and versatility is great!Elwood

The Stanley 10 gallon capacity wet dry vacuum is just the type of vacuum cleaner I need. The vacuum cleaner has a wide base so it won't tip over when it is moved. Also the motor provides plenty of vacuum to sweep the floor.Josh1000

Powerful performance, but hairline crack in plastic bucket resulted in slow leak (this problem may be common in all plastic-bucket shop vacs). Large crack in plastic top housing did not affect performance, but suggests poor quality control. I ordered through Walmart.com and they offered a very convenient free "virtual exchange" via FedEx but I decided to just return it rather than risk the same problems: if I lived close to a store, I might have risked an exchange for the same product.JonF

Use one at work so bought one for home. Exceptional power for size and very durable. Filter is easy to clean. Can take a beating. Light weight. I use the reverse-blow to clean under pallets at work in a factory. Worth the money.Radio3

If I could give this less than one star I would. Worst vacuum that I ever used. Didn't really clean very well and after about a month it just stopped working. Bad,BAD purchase!Kathyl

So, the ONLY thing I'm impressed with is the suction defiantly has a lot of suction HOWEVER doesn't stand on its own it falls nowhere to put the accessories i e the mop head and crevice tool and it doesn't roll on very short carpet very well at all I'm very disappointed!!!Elizabeth R

This item does not function as a mop whatsoever. There is no liquid to put into the vacuum and you have to get your floors wet first. This is a very deceiving productVac not mop

Easy to use. Works great for cleaning up wet floors. It will also blow out to clean filters. Works great to clean out the car.Rhonda

Not only is this the sharpest-looking shop vac I've ever owned, but it's also the most powerful. The suction is extremely strong which is exactly what I was hoping for. I love the sleek look of the chrome tank. The functionality is great—the hose attachments are housed around the tank and stay in place securely without falling off every 2 seconds when using the vacuum. The machine is lightweight and I was able to hold the whole unit while vacuuming up and down a set of carpeted basement stairs. This is a 3rd shop vac for our home—the other 2 are used for dirty jobs outside, in the garage, or in the unfinished side of our 100-year-old basement. This Stanley is all mine for inside the house and I'm looking forward to using the angle fit arm attachment to keep my antique iron radiators clean. Finally, I grew up in the 70s and 80s seeing my grandfather using Stanley products including tools and his beloved Stanley thermos he used forever so I love the nostalgia of a good Stanley product and this Stanley shop vac is no exception. Highly recommend!Jasmine

So, the Stanley 4 gallon wet dry vac is extremely handy with its compact design. It comes with multiple attachments, has a nice powerful motor. We have a bigger one which we use around the house and will use this one in the camper. Again, it’s compact, so the small size makes it perfect for traveling so when we go on vacation, this handy powerful vac will come in extremely handy for the camper. Light weight, many attachments, powerful. The only thing I don’t like is that the attachments attach to the vac where the lid handles are, meaning you have to remove the attachments to have access to the lid openers. Also, on mine, it only came with 2 wheels so it won’t roll without falling over but we made do and took the wheels off, not a big deal for us.Annie

Years ago I had an older wet/dry vac that was so big and clumsy to use. Eventually it died and gladly tossed it. Never had one since until I got this nice smaller vacuum. Much nicer to use! Easy for me to handle smaller clean up tasks or can do larger ones. Hopefully I'll just have to deal with small ones. What's nice with this machine is that I'm able to work in my garage this coming spring and really give it a good cleaning without the risk of damaging my indoor vacuum cleaner. Comes with everything I needed to get it together. Most of the attachments are what's needed for the machine so they're really not "attachments" but necessities. Small enough to where I can store it in a small space in our garage when not in use. Great wet/dry vacuum for what I need it for in our home.Lorden57

I just bought this when my old shop vac (starts with a C) motor bearing burned out (it started to scream and smell). It has great vacuum and moves a lot of air for a shop vac. I will use this under my drill press, but also use it with my router table and wood shaper to keep sawdust down. I like that it comes with a 10 foot power cord, so extension cord is not needed any more and I can move it about without unplugging it. I also like it has a 2" hose instead of the 1.25" hose (most of the Bauer shop vacs have the bigger hose) and was a requirement for the aforementioned tools. Pretty good for the discounted price of $100. Assembly was very simple- 4 screws, one per wheel. Most of the accessories are in the tank. I hope this has better reliability than my C shop-vac. (I no longer buy "C" products because of poor bearings) Note that the tank is 14 gallons, but actual debris capacity is probably half that after the filter is inserted, but that is true for all shop vacs.Delaware Dave

We now have a dog which means both mine and my wife's car require deep cleaning. I had been using an old household vacuum cleaner that I had stationed in the garage but it became clearer to me that I couldn't pick-up all the dried food bits and dog hair with that vacuum cleaner. The Bauer Wet/Dry Vac is probably twice as powerful as my old home vacuum cleaner! It cleans out our cars so much better! I also plan to use it to clean out the ash from my Traeger smoker and suck-out the leaves that have been collecting inside my home A/C condenser. I only wish Bauer also provided a smaller crevice tool that can more easily access under and next to my car seats.Don E

I used mine on a daily basis. You can not beat it for the money. I use mine for hot tub drain and cleans. This vacuum is large enough to hold all the water my drain pump can’t get and strong enough to pull the water out the plumbing, even on the larger hot tubs with 60+ jets. I also run mine with out any of the filters and am constantly using it to drain water with extremely high bromine (chlorine) and both acidic and super hard water. I beat mine up and I still get 200+ drain and cleans out of it before the motor starts to weaken. I’m sure if I was nicer to them I could get it to last much longer. The fact that it lasts as long as it does with the way I abuse it says a lot about how well it’s built. I’ll be back for another when I blow this one up.Hot Tub Service Pros

Background: My split level rental recently became infested with silverfish and I was searching for a way to be rid of them. No I didn't suck them up. I did however find non toxic food grade DE and sprinkled (exceptionally liberally) this stuff everywhere before going on a 2 week vacation. Upon return I was left with how to clean this stuff up from my hardwood floors. I have a dyson but after reading that it may (or may not) hurt the dyson I decided I needed to find an alternative vacuum. A few people had mentioned shop vacs but I have 0 experience with them. However I found this one and thought I would rather risk 60 bucks instead of 700. The product: went to a store so it was in a nice box, not missing parts, and worked as it should. (note: it uses the same filters as larger models and can be a bit of a pain finding them as they appear to sell fast from home depot. Don't hesitate to purchase a 3 or 5 layer filter if you think you might need it for your job) Use of: As mentioned this is not heavy industrial use of any sort. The vacuum was simple to put together (strong hands required, I don't think my Grandma could switch the filter). I was highly concerned over the dust being too fine and just spraying out the back so I also bought the 3 layer fine dust filter. I switched the filter, the instructions are easy to follow. It was 99% easy and 1% frustrating to line things up and to be sure not to damage the filter while pushing on it. Not a big deal at all. Took all of 30 seconds. The suction is perhaps equal to my dyson or similar quality home vacuum. It is fine around the house and did wonderful for this job. It is perhaps under powered for professional uses, I can't really offer any insight to that. The hose is not as difficult as I thought it would be from the other reviews. It is a bit stiff, but it did not hamper my vacuuming in the bedroom, hallway, closet, washroom, and inside cupboards. The lid is not loose exactly. it does snap on but it does not snap snuggly to the base. As mentioned this does not appear to be a problem when the vacuum is running. I've yet to empty the vacuum so it may be an issue then. To be clear the lid sits (and is snapped) on to the base. the weight of the motor keeps the lid pressed against the base and the snaps merely secure it from falling right off. if you lift the vacuum by the top handle you notice the lid moves about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch before the vacuum as a whole moves. (some 3m foam tape may work as a fix to create a soft seal if you are inclined to try it) I also purchased a seperate head for the vacuum as the one it comes with would not have been ideal for my application. While vacuuming the DE with the 3 layer filter in use I did not notice any blow out of the dust from the exhaust. Which to be honest was my major concern as the stuff can be irritating to breath. I have only used the vacuum once so can't speak to its life span or performance over time. So to summarize, many of the complaints on here I believe are from people expecting the performance of a 150-250 shop vac and are using it for professional uses which this one doesn't seem to be designed for. For small home use it has worked well for me without any problems thus far (only 1 use but quite extensive and with very fine dust). Be sure the get the correct size attachements, and the proper filter for the job you are doing.Red123

I purchased this Ridgid 9 gallon vac to use for cleanup of dog hair and clippings from when I groom my dogs at home. It definitely did the job, and quickly. I was using my regular vacuum, but it gets clogged up in a hurry and doesn't pick up all the clippings. This Ridgid vac did it quicker and left the floor cleaner. Just to see how powerful the 4.5 motor was, I took the vac to the garage and put the hose on the other outlet, and proceeded to blow out all the dirt and debris on the floor. WOW!! This sure beats sweeping (which is a lot more difficult to do from a mobility scooter). Haven't tried it on water yet, but I'm sure that day will come. [ I know the caption shows a 6 gallon vac, but when I was registering it online, there wasn't an option for the 9 gallon so I had to push the 6 gallon to make the registration complete]. Being able to store all the attachments right on the vac itself really saves space too. Definitely worth getting for many uses!!hill1000

This is a decent enough product. The only thing we don’t like about it is the attachments.They are made for someone with giant hands. Lucky for us the attachments from our old shop vac fit this unit so We were able to exchange them, otherwise we would have returned the product. These somewhat smaller attachments helped to increase the suction as well.bob29

After searching for an small but sturdy wet/dry vac, I found this through a mailer. Unlike what was available on the A-Z site, this one is sturdy, does not turn over easily, and was fairly easy to assemble. OK I did have to have a guy help push in the wheels, but when together it is large enough to do the job, and the wheels keep it from over turning. I highly recommend it for small to medium jobs – and it can be used as a regular vacuum or to pick up water. The instruction book is helpful and clear on how to use and easy to put together.Auddiemae

Has Craftsman gone downhill? Whole lot of plastic included in a lot of their new offerings, and whadaya know…I smell some burning here. Had a Shop-Vac brand, same size, finally died after years and years…replaced it with this one thinking "Craftsman has great warranties, and high quality, right?" Well at least in this instance, wrong. 10 months almost exactly is how long it lasted. So very disappointed.ShdwCatt

Bought the vac and then after one use the world turned upside down. Now after getting somewhat normalized I've used it three more times. On it’s real third use the motor started sounding rough. Inspection led to nothing unusual sticking where it shouldn’t. Last use the motor started smoking and now won’t run but a few seconds till the thermal cuts it off Yes, I would very much like to speak to you about this vacuum.Tea3803

After searching for an small but sturdy wet/dry vac, I found this through a mailer. Unlike what was available on the A-Z site, this one is sturdy, does not turn over easily, and was fairly easy to assemble. OK I did have to have a guy help push in the wheels, but when together it is large enough to do the job, and the wheels keep it from over turning. I highly recommend it for small to medium jobs – and it can be used as a regular vacuum or to pick up water. The instruction book is helpful and clear on how to use and easy to put together.Auddiemae

Has Craftsman gone downhill? Whole lot of plastic included in a lot of their new offerings, and whadaya know…I smell some burning here. Had a Shop-Vac brand, same size, finally died after years and years…replaced it with this one thinking "Craftsman has great warranties, and high quality, right?" Well at least in this instance, wrong. 10 months almost exactly is how long it lasted. So very disappointed.ShdwCatt

Bought the vac and then after one use the world turned upside down. Now after getting somewhat normalized I've used it three more times. On it’s real third use the motor started sounding rough. Inspection led to nothing unusual sticking where it shouldn’t. Last use the motor started smoking and now won’t run but a few seconds till the thermal cuts it off Yes, I would very much like to speak to you about this vacuum.Tea3803