The BISSELL CrossWave Floor and Area Rug Cleaner is our top choice because it can clean both hard floors and area rugs, and features an easy-to-use and maneuverable design. Here, the best wet-dry vacuums for picking up every kind of mess in your space. lue. The CrossWave is designed to vacuum and wash your floors simultaneously, and unlike many other products, it can be used on area rugs and floor mats, as well as sealed hard floors. The vacuum weighs just 11.5 pounds and is equipped with swivel steering, making it easy to handle, and it comes with a number of accessories, including two brush rolls, multiple filters, and a sample-sized bottle of cleaner. The CrossWave has separate tanks for clean and dirty water (similar to a carpet cleaner) to ensure it doesn’t leave any dirt streaks on your floors or carpets. The appliance’s brush rolls are made from microfiber and nylon, which help them to pick up dry debris and absorb liquids, and the brush rotates at 3,000 RMPs, allowing it to remove more dirt and grime from your floors. The design is powered by a 25-foot cord for unlimited runtime, but if you’re cleaning a large area, you may need to refill its clean water tank. There are a few downsides to this appliance that you’ll want to consider before you buy. First, it’s not as effective on pet hair as the CrossWave Pet Pro—this pet-specific model has a special brush roll and strainer to more efficiently capture pet hair. Additionally, there are several steps required to clean up after using the CrossWave, making it more time-consuming to use than a standard vacuum. However, it does come with a convenient docking tray that makes it easier to store. Price at time of publish: $258 This shop vac has a 10-foot power cord, and it operates at 1.75 peak HP. The debris you suck up will be captured inside a filter bag, and the unit can also be used as a blower, making it versatile for use around the house, your garage, or even a workspace. This wet-dry vacuum doesn’t have the most powerful suction, and is likely better for spot-cleaning opposed to whole-house cleaning, but it can be used to clean up debris on pretty much any surface. It’s also significantly more lightweight and compact than traditional shop vacs. Price at time of publish: $64 The Dreametech H11 Max is surprisingly quiet during operation, yet it still offers powerful suction that will pick up debris, dust, and even pet hair from your floors. The vacuum comes with a convenient charging base that doubles as a dock, and one of the product’s best features is its self-cleaning brush roll. Once you’ve finished cleaning your floors, you can dock the vacuum and press the self-cleaning button. The machine will use clean water and powerful suction to clean any lingering dirt and gunk off the brush roll, saving you from having to wash it by hand. From there, you simply have to empty the dirty water tank, and the vacuum is ready to be used again. Overall, the Dreametech H11 is a well-designed model that prioritizes convenience and ease of use, but some users might find that the vacuum’s voice assistant can be irritating. The good news, however, is that this feature can be turned off. Price at time of publish: $300 The Dyad has three different cleaning modes, including auto, max, and floor drying, which is ideal for soaking up water spills. The cordless design can run for up to 35 minutes per charge, and it has a digital display that shows how much battery life is remaining. The vacuum features separate tanks for clean and dirty water, and you can mix the brand’s floor cleaning solution into the clean water tank for a more thorough clean. This high-end model even has a self-cleaning button that removes dirt and grime from the brush roll, sucking it up into the dirty water tank. However, the brush rolls can get tangled with pet hair, which can make maintenance fairly challenging and this model not particularly suitable for those with pets. Price at time of publish: $315 The VACMOP can run for around 20 minutes per charge, and it actually has little LED headlights that help illuminate dust and dirt on your floor. You don’t even have to touch the cleaning pad to dispose of it, but keep in mind that you will have to stock up on the pads, as they can only be used for a single cleaning session. Our tester also mentioned that the dirt chambers on the pads are quite small, so the wet-dry vacuum is best suited for smaller messes. Price at time of publish: $100 “With both a suction and a blow setting, the wet-dry vacuum can be a life-saver in multiple scenarios, which is why they’re often trusted in all sorts of places such as construction sites,” notes Leanne Stapf, COO of The Cleaning Authority. This shop vac comes with a variety of attachments, including a utility nozzle, crevice tool, and concentrator nozzle, and can also be converted into a detachable blower that offers speeds up to 210 mph. There are storage ports on the casters and power head, allowing you to store all the accessories right on the base, and there’s even a noise diffuser that makes the vacuum quieter during operation. However, the vacuum only has a 12-foot power cord, so you might need to employ an extension cord if you don’t have an outlet nearby. Price at time of publish: $163 This handheld vacuum comes with a wall mount that makes it easy to store, and its see-through dust bin can hold up to 8 ounces of liquid. The dust bowl and filter can be rinsed right in your sink after use, but keep in mind that this vacuum is extremely loud during operation. Additionally, it’s not the best at capturing fine dust particles—it’s designed for picking up larger pieces of debris. Price at time of publish: $70 Our at-home tester reported that this robot vacuum and mop combo ran “perfectly,” and docked and emptied itself after every cleaning, basically rendering it self-sufficient. When in cleaning mode, this device can detect what kind of surface it’s on and adjust accordingly. It knows to mop when it’s on hard flooring, and when it crosses onto an area rug, it will stop mopping and switch to its vacuuming function. You can even start it up from your smartphone so that you can come home to a clean space. “I really love that this device is both a vacuum and a mop. Even better, I can use those functions simultaneously. At least once a week, I run the device and have it vacuum/mop my floors,” said our tester. The only downside (besides a rather loud self-emptying suction noise) is that the mopping water reservoir only holds water. The manufacturer warns against putting a floor cleaner in the reservoir. To work around this, our tester soaked the mopping pad in her favorite floor cleaner before attaching it to the device. This ensures her floors will not just be clean, they’ll be squeaky clean. Price at time of publish: $700 This vacuum is equipped with a variety of high-tech features, such as app connectivity and a voice assistant, but our testers thought the product would be better off without them, as these features made it harder to use. However, the vacuum does have other useful features, such as the dual-tank design to keep clean and dirty water separate, as well as a self-cleaning function that removes dirt from the brush roll after use. Price at time of publish: $400 Upright models, whether corded or cordless, are popular for indoor use—they typically have a water tank or on-board cleaning solution that’s dispensed then sucked up as you operate the vacuum. On the outside, they look and feel very similar to a classic upright vacuum. Stick models, also whether corded or cordless, are also popular for indoor use and small spaces, as they’re easy to store. They’re typically more lightweight and may use disposable mop pads to wipe debris off your floor, opposed to large, separate clean and dirty water tanks. On the other hand, shop vacs are best-suited for more heavy-duty tasks, like cleaning workshops, garages, or even cars. Their durable design is able to handle debris such as sawdust and nails, and they generally have a much larger capacity. However, shop vacs don’t have any mopping abilities—they simply suck up the water and dirt. Robotic wet-dry vacuums are also increasingly common. These units are able to mop and vacuum at the same time without you lifting a finger, providing a deeper clean than a robot vacuum could alone. However, these units tend to have a very small water tank and are often expensive. Lastly, handheld vacuums are great for cleaning up small messes around your home, car, garage, and even office. Their capacity and battery life (if they’re cordless) may be limited, but they’re the perfect fit for anyone looking to treat specific spills or who doesn’t want to store a larger appliance.
Capacity
As with any vacuum, you’ll want to consider a wet-dry vacuum’s capacity as you compare different models. Most options have a dirt bin that collects any liquid and debris you suck up, but upright models typically have a separate clean water tank, as well. This allows the vacuum to dispense fresh water and cleaning solution onto your floors. Keep in mind that small water tanks may need to be refilled frequently if you’re cleaning a large area, but large water tanks will likely make your model heavier to carry from one room to another.
Ease of Cleaning
One of the common complaints about wet-dry vacuums is that they can be tricky (and often gross) to clean after use. After all, the dust, dirt, and water you suck up all gets mixed together in the collection bin, resulting in a muddy mess. To make the cleaning process easier, some upright wet-dry vacuums have a self-cleaning feature, which uses clean water to rinse off the brush roll. Others use disposable pads that can simply be thrown away after use. Similarly, some shop vacs have a drainage plug at the bottom of the canister that lets you easily pour out any liquid contents. “If you have long-haired pets, you should consider in advance how you’ll dispose of the dirty water containing clumps of wet pet hair,” says Katie Berry, The Spruce’s Cleaning Review Board member. “Ordinarily, you can dump the dirty water down the toilet, but with pet hair involved that’s not a good practice.”
Standout Features
Cordless Design
Some wet-dry vacuums have a cordless design that runs on battery power, meaning you won’t be tethered to a power outlet as you clean. This makes it much more convenient to navigate around furniture and move from room-to-room without stopping. However, you’ll want to check how long the vacuum can run on a single charge. Models with a short runtime will only be useful for cleaning small areas before they need to be recharged.
Floor Headlight
It might sound a bit strange for a vacuum to have headlights, but when the lights shine across the floor, they light up pieces of dirt and dust that you may have otherwise missed. Many people like this feature, as it helps get their floor as clean as possible and give them visibility in tight nooks and crannies—say, under a couch.
Storage Options
Wet-dry vacuums aren’t always the easiest tool to store when not in use, despite combining two cleaning tools into one. However, some models come with handy storage solutions. Upright models sometimes have a dock that will capture any rouge drips of water once you’ve finished cleaning, and for cordless models, this area might also serve as a charging base. For shop vacs with a lot of accessories, on-board storage and a hose wrap feature help to keep everything neatly in one place. For handheld models, a wall mount offers a convenient, out-of-the-way location to store your go-to cleaning tool.
Why Trust The Spruce?
This article was written by Camryn Rabideau, a freelance writer and product tester for The Spruce. She has firsthand experience testing a wide range of cleaning products, including two of the wet-dry vacuums included on this list. In addition to researching the best wet-dry vacuums thoroughly, she also used insights from The Spruce’s team of product testers, who tested several wet-dry vacuums at The Lab in Industry City, Brooklyn. For further insights on the benefits and applications of wet-dry vacuums, Camryn spoke with Leanne Stapf of The Cleaning Authority. Using these expert insights, she looked for products that are versatile, easy to use, and effective on multiple flooring types. She also prioritized wet-dry vacuums that are easy to clean and maintain, as this is a common pain point among buyers.
