Sand has a sneaky way of invading your home, despite trying to keep it at bay. We’ve all experienced the struggle of battling sand in carpets and on hard floors like tile.
And here’s the kicker – sand can be a real vacuum killer! If you’ve gone through a couple of vacuums that met their demise while combating the gritty stuff, you’re not alone.
But fear not! In this post, I’m spilling the beans on what I consider the ultimate vacuums for sand. Brace yourself for some surprising contenders you might not have heard of, but are perfect for tackling that stubborn sand invasion. Say goodbye to sandy floors for good!
The Ideal Vacuums For Sandy Places
The top vacuums for sand is the shop vacuums, and for two good reasons, suction and the ability to suck up water.
Not only are sand particles hard to pick up, but often are accompanied by water or clumped together because of the water. Normal vacuums can’t handle the clumping and water, thus the reason they don’t last as long.
Shop Vac
A shop vacuum is similar to other vacuum cleaners, expect they’re more durable, have great suction and can suck up wet messes.
Shop vacuums are often used on construction jobs, commercial settings and garages, but now coming to more homeowners as they realize the power and convenience they have over regular vacuum cleaners.
I go over how a shop vacuum compares to a normal vacuum here.
What To Buy [Types]
There are two major types of shop vacuums, corded and cordless.
The cored shop vacuum will have more power, but be more annoying to get out and use. The cordless shop vacuums will be easier to use, but less power and require batteries.
I’ve gone through a lot of shop vacuums and tend to always like the cordless shop vacuums over the corded ones, especially when it comes to sand.
Cordless shop vacuums have more than enough power to suck up sand, water, seashells, and anything else that you may drag into your home. Combine with it being a lot easier to grab and go, there is no going back to using corded shop vacuums, except when I need more power to clean my gutters.
Here’s a great video comparing multiple cordless shop vacuums sucking up sand.
1. Best Cordless
I, personally, use the Bauer Cordless Shop Vacuum as I’m already in the tool brand, but I’ve been loving the Milwaukee 18-Volt Cordless Wet/Dry Vacuum (Amazon Link Ad).
The Milwaukee cordless shop vacuum will need a battery and charger as they don’t always come with them, it’s a normal thing for power tools.
If you’re not in the Milwaukee line up of tools, Dewalt (Amazon Link Ad), Ryobi (Amazon Link Ad), and most others sell their own version.
My Bauer 20V Cordless Shop Vacuum sucking up sand below.
2. Great Corded Options
If you want more power, a corded shop vacuum is the next ideal option.
Then I suggest the Vacmaster 5 Gallon Beast Series (Amazon Link Ad) shop vacuum. I own the 16 gallon version of this shop vacuum, and it’s way overkill and far too large if all you’re doing is sucking up sand and water. The 16-gallon version is what I use to clean my gutters, as it has the larger hose size.
The video below does an amazing job breaking down this shop vacuum and comparing it to others.
Vacuuming Sand
Most vacuums, even standard household ones and not just shop vacs, can pick up sand without much trouble.
The real problem shows up with constant sand cleanup and the extra debris that often comes with it.
Regular vacuums are designed for dust and dirt on carpets and hard floors, but sand can mix with moisture or larger objects like seashells, which can damage typical household models.
That’s why the best option for handling sand is a shop vac—or a cordless version—for its toughness and ease of use.
Sure, a Dyson or other high-end vacuums can handle sand and debris on floors, but shop vacs are specifically built to take heavy abuse. They deliver stronger suction, bigger bins, and durable construction with reinforced plastic. Made for construction crews and commercial settings, shop vacs can shrug off punishment that would overwhelm a regular home vacuum.
Filter Damage
Sand will damage vacuum filters over time and destroy more sensitive ones like HEPA Filters.
It takes a while for the sand to destroy the filter, it’s similar to how baking soda destroys vacuum cleaners, the smaller sand dust particles will wreak havoc on your regular vacuum.
Shop vacuum cleaners do have filters, but the whole shop vacuum in general is made to take the abuse. They’re made to suck up nails and bolts, so sand particles are nothing for it.
And when it comes to water, you take the filter off and use a foam filter instead, which can handle the sand very well.
No Beater Brush!
Something that doesn’t get enough attention when it comes to shop vacuums and cleaning sand off your floors is that most of them don’t have a beater brush.
A beater brush is the rotating brush under most regular vacuums that shake the carpet to loosen dirt, so it can be sucked up. That is great and all, but when it comes to hard floors, it only slings the sand everywhere and makes it worse.
When it comes to sand, suction is the most important thing and only shop vacuums are delivering the power that is needed without spending a small fortune on a fancy vacuum.
The same goes for sucking up cat litter, avoid the beater brush and use a shop vacuum.
This info about Dyson shop vacuum & carpet racks is very helpful. I work for a condo in Florida on the beach. Sand is are friend and enemy. People come to see the beautiful sand but for cleaners it’s horrible. Great Info!
Thank You!