Best Car Vacuum Cleaner
One of the most frustrating experiences of having a nice new car, is finding an easy way to vacuum the car when it gets dirty. What you need, is a simple, cheap car vacuum cleaner. There really is no reason to drive half way across town to a car wash and use an overpriced industrial strength vacuum cleaner.
There are three main types of popular car vacuum cleaners:
- Portable Car Vacuum Cleaners
- Cordless Home Vacuum Cleaners
- Wet Vac Home Vacuum Cleaners
Portable Car Vacuum Cleaners
These vacuum cleaners tend to be small, cost effective (less than $50) and can be stored in your car at all times. While there are several different brands, they all have very similar features and capabilities. Portable car vacuum cleaners come with a small vacuum unit (usually less than 1 foot in size), a power cord that plugs into a cigarette lighter, a nozzle extension, and a carrying case.
Portable car vacuum cleaners are simple in design and don’t come with a ton of frills. While they’re great for a portable vacuum cleaner to place in your car, they tend to not have cordless capabilities and can’t be used in your home without additional cords/converters.
Cordless Home Vacuum Cleaners
Cordless vacuum cleaners are multi functional vacuum cleaners in that you can use them in your car, your home, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. Black and Decker is the main player in the cordless vacuum cleaner space and they have several different models that are mostly cost effective.
Cordless vacuum cleaners have a few benefits over portable vacuum cleaners:
- Since they’re battery operated, cordless vacuum cleaners can get into certain nooks and crannies that car vacuums with cords cannot
- Cordless vacuum cleaners can be used/stored in your car or your house
- Cordless vacuum cleaners can be charged using traditional AC electricity (vs. cigarette lights for car vacuum cleaners)
Wet/Dry Home Vacuum Cleaners
One of the oldest types of vacuum cleaners that I remember using for over two decades is a wet/dry vacuum cleaner. Much bigger than other car vacuum cleaners, a wet/dry vacuum cleaner has the ability to clean both solids and liquids. Wet/Dry vacuums can also double as a “blower” to push out some of those crumbs stuck in hard to get to crevices.
While a wed/dry vacuum cleaner will take up a bit more space in your garage or home, it is much more functional than portable and car vacuum cleaners and can handle almost any type of cleaning situation for your car and home.
Best Car Vacuum Cleaner
Now that we’ve provided an overview of the different types of car vacuum cleaners available on the market, we’ll share with you our favorites. We’ve tested out a handful of different car vacuum cleaners, and have narrowed down the list to five that we would recommend.
Onshowy's small, simple car vacuum cleaner is one of the most popular on the market. While it won't blow you away with it's functionality, it gets the job done as a simple car vacuum cleaner with a low ticket price.
Overview
The Onshowy car vacuum cleaner is one of the most popular and cost effective car vacuum cleaners on the market today. The Onshowy is a simple device that works well to clean up basic dirt, crumbs and dust in your car.
Pros
- Low cost
- Small, compact and easy to store
- Decent amount of power for size
Cons
- if you plan to use in your house you need to purchase AC/DC converter
- doesn’t do well in high dust areas (can hamper service life)
- doesn’t do well on dog hair
Summary
The Onshowy car vacuum cleaner is a great entry level vacuum cleaner. It’s size, price and relative suction power make it one of the more popular devices at the entry level price point. It’s a simple vacuum cleaner for those that just need something to suction up some dirt and crumbs a few times a month.
The Hikeren car vacuum cleaner is one of the smallest dry/wet combo vac on the market. Ideal for quickly cleaning up small dry (and wet) spills, the Hikeren is a low cost, reliable car vacuum cleaner.
Overview
Hikeren is a small electronics company that mainly sells products directly through Amazon. The Hikeren car vacuum cleaner contains both a dry and wet vacuum feature which helps separate it from several of it’s competitors.
Pros
- Small in size and easy to store within car
- Contains wet vacuum capabilities to clean up small liquid spills
- Comes with long mouth and brush mouth extensions
- Low price
Cons
- Plastic feels somewhat cheap
- Has to be plugged into cigarette lighter to operate
- Mouth extensions seem to easily fall out of vacuum
Summary
Overall the Hikeren is a decent portable car vacuum for the price and does contain the benefit of having wet vacuum capabilities. That being said, this wasn’t our favorite device and would lean towards the Onshowy which seems to be built with a bit more quality.
The Hikeren car vacuum cleaner is one of the smallest dry/wet combo vac on the market. Ideal for quickly cleaning up small dry (and wet) spills, the Hikeren is a low cost, reliable car vacuum cleaner.
Overview
Black and Decker is well known in the small tool/electronic market and they’re cordless hand vacuum does not disappoint. While at a higher price point than its peers, the Black and Decker portable vacuum cleaner is made with a quality and is built to last.
Pros
- Is portable which makes it easier to get into hard to reach places (no cord!)
- Strong suction power
- Lithium Ion battery is big upgrade over previous models
- Comes with two year warranty
Cons
- Has to be charged in it’s cradle so can’t really be stored in your car
- Higher retail price than most other car vacuums we reviewed
Summary
We’ve had several Black and Decker portable vacuums over the years, but this version takes the cake for being the best. Some of the issues with older Black and Decker vacuums (losing suction power or batteries that die) seem to have been fixed with this version. If you’re willing to spend a little more on a portable vacuum for your car, the Black and Decker Cordless Lithium Ion vacuum is a winner!
Overview
While the Armor All 2.5 Gallon Utility Vacuum doesn’t exactly fit the description of a portable car vacuum, it’s been a staple vacuum cleaner for car cleaning for as long as we can remember. If you have room in your garage or shed for the vacuum it’s a great vacuum to have for multi purpose cleaning in your home and car.
Pros
- Low price point for a multi tasking vacuum cleaner
- Easily converts to a blower
- Comes with several different attachments to vacuum up any imaginable wet or dry mess
Cons
- The large size of this vacuum compared to portable options makes it more difficult to store
- Even though its bigger than portable vacuum cleaners it doesn’t necessarily have more powerful suction (like we expected)
- While we didn’t have this experience, a small portion of users have complained of the vacuum dying after only a few uses
Summary
The Armor All 2.5 Gallon Utility Vacuum is a multi-faceted vacuum cleaner that does a great job cleaning your car, garage or house. If your ok with a larger sized vacuum cleaner for your car, the Armor All vacuum cleaner may just be the right device for you.
HOTOR DC12-Volt 106W Wet&Dry Portable Handheld Auto Vacuum Cleaner
Overview
The Onshowy car vacuum cleaner is one of the most popular and cost effective car vacuum cleaners on the market today. The Onshowy is a simple device that works well to clean up basic dirt, crumbs and dust in your car.
Pros
- Low cost
- Small, compact and easy to store
- Decent amount of power for size
Cons
- if you plan to use in your house you need to purchase AC/DC converter
- doesn’t do well in high dust areas (can hamper service life)
- doesn’t do well on dog hair
Summary
The Onshowy car vacuum cleaner is a great entry level vacuum cleaner. It’s size, price and relative suction power make it one of the more popular devices at the entry level price point. It’s a simple vacuum cleaner for those that just need something to suction up some dirt and crumbs a few times a month.