For the cordless vacuums, we tested run time by installing a fully charged battery in each vac and using it until the battery drained completely. We made sure to run this test while the vac was in active use and not just sitting there running, in case the battery drain increased when the vac hyper tough battery struggled with larger cleanups. At my house, I also have my own workshop, which I keep clean with a wet/dry vac. I’m also a serial renovator, so a wet/dry vac is always at my side while I’m installing bookshelves, replacing windows, relocating kitchen cabinets, and pulling up old floors.
The DeWalt’s hose is only 1¼ inches wide, compared with 2½ inches for the hoses on the Ridgid models and 1⅞ inches for the hose on the cordless Greenworks vac. The DeWalt vac’s smaller hose, along with its overall power, really limits what this vac can suck up. If you’re looking for a smaller vac that’s a lot easier to move around, we like the DeWalt DCV581H 20V 2-Gallon Cordless/Corded Wet/Dry Vac. This vac is substantially lighter and more compact than the Ridgid models we recommend and can be carried like a duffel bag. But considering how this vac is intended to be used, its portability more than makes up for that. This is not a vac to use to clean your entire garage floor or to suck the dirt out of a 1,000-square-foot flooded basement.
We also have a recommendation for a more compact, cordless model for smaller messes. Every model’s Overall Score in CR’s ratings incorporates all of that performance data with predicted reliability hyper tough tool set and owner satisfaction ratings. We compile those ratings from our latest member surveys, leveraging data on more than 36,500 lawn mowers and tractors that members purchased between 2013 and 2023.
Therefore, it should be safe to use Ridgid 18V batteries with an adapter on Hyper Tough 20V MAX power tools. But you might consider disassembly your Ridgid 18V battery to ensure that there is an over discharge protection circuit. There are plenty of other wet/dry vacuums available, most notably from Shop-Vac, a company so well known for its wet/dry vacuums that its name has become synonymous with all wet/dry vacs. In most ways, Shop-Vac models are going to deliver the same thing as the Ridgid vacs. However, on the 12-gallon model, the accessories are bunched at the upper rear of the vac, instead of stored on each caster, and we’ve found they get knocked off much easier this way. The Shop-Vacs models’ availability is also a little more scattered, so you may not be able to get one in an emergency at a place that is as convenient as Home Depot.
We did not stop the timer when we cleared out any hose blockages, but we ran the test with each vacuum at least twice. And because they’re powered with a battery, they embrace speed and portability. They don’t have the power of the larger models, but they do have enough for most smaller messes, and they’re just so easy to carry around. A rare, important advantage with this DeWalt is that it can be powered with a 20-volt battery or via the attached power cord.
I’ve lost a number of nozzle ends and have irreparably damaged a hose, so easy replacement parts are important. Tobie Stanger is a senior editor at Consumer Reports, where she has been helping readers shop wisely, save money, and avoid scams for more than 30 years. During off-hours, she works on her own fixer-upper and gets her hands dirty in the garden. Two-thirds of the battery push mowers in our ratings perform well enough for CR to recommend.