Shop Vac vs Vacuum Cleaner [Best One For Your Home]

When it comes to tackling heavy-duty messes, shop vacuums have long been the go-to choice for their robust power and versatility.

However, traditional household vacuum cleaners offer their own set of advantages.

In this post, I want to go into the key differences between shop vacs and regular vacuums, helping you make an informed decision on which one best suits your cleaning needs.

Shop Vacs

Before I go too deep, many people don’t know about or ever heard of shop vacs, so let me go over them quickly.

A shop vac, also known as a wet/dry vacuum, is a specialized cleaning tool designed to handle heavy-duty cleaning tasks, particularly in workshops, garages, construction sites, other industrial settings, and even your home.

Unlike regular household vacuums, shop vacs are built to handle a wide range of debris, including large particles, liquid spills, and even fine dust. It’s the ability to clean liquid spills and other water messes that make shop vacs so much more useful than regular vacuums.

They typically have a larger capacity and more powerful suction than standard vacuums, making them ideal for cleaning up a wide range of things, from carpets to broken glass or liquid spills. It’s the robustness of shop vacs that make them a great option for your home.

Pros

I feel every home should have a shop vacuum to clean up the messes your normal vacuum can’t. I’ve listed all the perks of owing a shop vac and the things it can do that your normal vacuum can’t do or would damage it.

1. Sucking up water: The biggest perk with shop vac is the ability to suck up water. This can be spilled water from the tub or from a leaking pipe in your home, to spilled grape juice from the kids. Any liquid that is not flammable can be sucked up with a shop vac.
2. More durable: A shop vac is often made of denser plastic and strong hoses, so you can suck up larger and often more sharp objects. Sucking up broken glass not only requires a lot of suction, but it can easily tear up a normal vacuum. A shop vac will have no issue sucking up broken glass, even nuts and bolts don’t hurt it. I’m not going to lie, I’ve even used my cordless shop vac to suck up Legos that seem to scatter on the floor.
3. More suction power: Regular household vacuums are made to clean carpets and some furniture. A shop vac is made to suck up a wide range of things, from bolts to water, and those things require a lot of suction. This translates to a vacuum that can suck up debris better on furniture and actually pick up the crumbs stuck between the couch cushions.
4. Lager capacity: Shop vacs typically have larger storage capacities compared to regular vacuums, allowing you to clean for longer periods without frequent emptying. This is especially beneficial when dealing with substantial amounts of debris or liquids.
5. Outdoor cleaning: I use my big shop vac outside for many things, even cleaning my gutters. I’ve also vacuumed my yard with it a few times, while it sounds crazy, it’s the best way to pick up acorns and broken glass in the yard.
6. Blower: Many shop vacs are equipped with a blower function, allowing them to blow air forcefully. This feature is useful for inflating kid’s toys, clearing leaves, debris, or dust from outdoor areas, workshop benches, or machinery.
7. Affordability: It may shock a few, but shop vacs are not as costly as regular vacuums. They’re simple machines and don’t have much going on besides the basics. This also means your shop vac may out live your normal vacuum, depending on how you use it.
8. Easier to use: The most complex part of a shop vac tends to be getting it out and plugging it in. There are no computers or smart this or that, just a big motor with a big place to put things it sucks up. A shop vac will be the easiest vacuum you’ll use, it’s like how vacuums used to be 50 years ago.

Shop vacs have a lot of uses, and I’ve got an even bigger list of stuff you can do with them here.

Regular Vac Pros

This can’t be a shop vac vs regular vacuum post without going over how a regular vacuum has its perks.

1. Better at cleaning carpets: While a shop vac can suck up debris on a carpet, they often lack the beater brush that comes with most household vacuums. A beater brush is a must for cleaning carpets, but if you have mostly hardwood floors, a shop vac will work better.
2. More compact: Shop vacs are large, they need to be for the bigger motor and larger capacity, so you’ll find a regular home vacuum easier to store. You can compromise and get smaller shop vacs that are cordless, but they’re not as powerful as the corded options.
3. Better filters: You can buy filters and bags for shop vacs, but they’re never as good as the ones for regular vacuums. Truth be told, you’ll find you should run the shop vacs without a filter for liquid or somewhat wet messes. Not only that, the filters on shop vacuums are not as tight, it’s more of a thing to keep dust from going back into the room you’re in instead of an air cleaning device.
4. Quieter Operation: Regular vacuums tend to operate at lower noise levels compared to shop vacs. This can be particularly beneficial for home use, where a quieter environment is desired, especially when cleaning during early mornings or late evenings.
5. Better looking: Let’s be honest, shop vacuums don’t look the best when we have Dyson’s in the world. What they lack in beauty, shop vac make up for it in power and ability.

Is A Shop Vac Better?

A shop vac is better at certain things than a regular vac, but it’s not a complete replacement.

A shop vac can clean up wet messes, glass and other large items your regular vac could not handle. A shop vac doesn’t clean carpets as well and is not as gentle on some things like curtains.

Ideally, you should have both a regular vac and a shop vac as both have their purpose.

Cleaning The Whole House

A shop vac can be used to clean your entire home, and many people go this route instead of owning a regular vac.

A shop vac won’t clean carpet as well, and they tend to be larger and louder, but if you have mostly hardwood floors and don’t mind the few downsides, a shop vac is perfect.

Many parents and pet owners often go with the shop vac because of how easy it handles wet messes.

But if you suffer from allergies, they may not be a great option, as the filters for them are not as good as the ones in a regular vac.

Ideally, having both is the best option for most households.

Wet/Dry Vac?

A wet/dry vac and a shop vac are the same thing.

Some people call them wet/dry vacs, shop vacs, shop vacuums, utility vacs and so on, but it’s all the same thing.

I tend to hear “Shop Vac” more, but that is a company that makes shop vacuums. Kind of like how everyone calls paper tissues, Kleenex.

Worth It?

A shop vac is worth it if you own a home, there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t at least use mine.

From cleaning the gutters, to sucking up spilled apple juice from my kids, my shop vac is a lifesaver.

Maybe if you live in an apartment it might not be worth having a shop vac, but when I lived in an apartment and my water line broke I was sure glad to have a shop vac to clean it up as maintenance took forever.