As some of you may know, I am starting a detailing business to get me through school. I have pretty much all the supplies I need with the exception of a portable vacuum. I have a shop vac at the house but it is too big to fit in my car. I need something small, preferably lightweight, powerful, and overall easy to use.

Im also curious as to whether or not there are 12v vacuums available. Would that be a wise decision to get a 12v one or should I just plan on plugging up to the customers available power source. Which is another problem since it would be limiting me as to locations I am able to detail. Do you guys have any suggestions for any particular brands or deals going on now? All comments are welcome and appreciated. Thanks alot,

--Mark

 

Craftsman makes a small shop-vac (a little less than 5 horsepower, canister is a tad bigger than a basketball) with a ton of attachments. It is very portable, but has enough power to do the job and it is wet/dry. I have had mine for 6 years or so and it has never let me down. It also costs tons less than boutique detailing vacs (the "black baron" comes to mind).

I think mine was around $35 at sears.

 

Most of the shop vac companies have a model which is much smaller than the typical shop vac. Take a look at the Rigid Model WD4050. Look on Home Depot's website as Rigid is one of their brands I believe. It's very portable, is around 5 hp, and I believe has an on board compartment for the attachments. This type of shop vac is very popular with all the mobile detailers that I know.

On the question of a cordless shop vac. I wouldn't do it. They certainly make them, but they're pretty much garbage. You won't get enough suction from them to make it a useful tool. You could maybe try using a power inverter in your car to power the vacuum, but I'm not sure that would provide enough juice.

 

Go for as much juice as you can get in as small of a package as you can get.

You can never have enough suction. Count on having access to power, look into an inverter (not cheap for a good one that's got enough power) just for the heck of it. If you're working at clients homes, using their water and electricity usually isn't a problem. Most mobile guys don't have their own power and water unless they've got a pretty solid trailer setup.

 

think its called vac'n blow- small and sucks like crazy with about 4 hp... but as mikeyc said you need to plug it in to get the most power-
my recollection is that they run about $175

 

My suggestion. Go to Sears and get a household canister vaccum. They are very powerful, have great attachments and once you get rid of the long handle they are compact. They have a hose so you can leave the larger part of the vac outside the car.

All the small vacs to me just don't have the power needed.

 

That's a great idea, but he can't do any water extraction with this type of vacuum correct?

 

Thanks alot for the help guys. I have never really had to buy a vacuum so im not too familiar with them. My step dad and I were talking about the inverter idea though. I will atleast pick up a vacuum pretty quick and look into that a little later. I will probably head to Sears and Home Depot ect. this weekend to check out some things to get a better feel for things.

Thanks again for the suggestions guys! I dont know what I would do without yall! hehe.

 

What do you guys think of the Little Green Cleaner. I think I read about it on Autopia. I was looking at it today at Home Depot as well. Im worried about it not having enough sunction though. What do you guys think?

Little Green Cleaner

 

well the link does not take you straight to it for some reason. In the search bar at the top of that link type green cleaner and it should come up.