Ridgid 9 Gal 425-peak Hp Nxt Wet/dry Vac Review

The research

• Why y'all should trust us
• Who this is for
• Our pick: Ridgid 12-Gal. NXT Moisture Dry out Vac HD1200
• Runner-upwardly: Ridgid 14-Gal. NXT Wet Dry Vac HD1400
• The competition (and how we picked a Ridgid)
• Footnotes

Why you lot should trust us

I spent 10 years in construction, building loftier-cease homes in the Boston area. On every single one of those days, I was involved in the daily cleanup. Ninety percent of the time, that meant pushing effectually a moisture dry out vac, also known casually as a "shop vac" (though that's a brand name). I've vacuumed up nails, water, sawdust, insulation, spilled coffee, dumped-over numberless of concrete, spilled paint, and plenty more. At my house, I also take my own workshop, which I keep clean with a wet dry out vac. Additionally, through my structure work and at my own homes, I've dealt with at least a half-dozen flooded basements and take found moisture dry vacs to exist instrumental in removing water and cleaning up.

Who this is for

Whether it's for a flooded basement or simply full general garage cleanup, a wet dry vac is for the worst kinds of messes most floors ever see. These vacs aren't going to be able to deal with a foot of standing water in your basement, simply they can have out a puddle—non to mention broken glass, small chunks of wood, nails, and other objects that even the best vacuums designed for the home can't handle. It can be a huge assistance in an emergency, or a great add-on to any garage or basement dealing with the spills and messes of a DIY lifestyle. These tools tend to last years, and they're durable enough to get banged around a little—or a lot.

Our pick: Ridgid 12-Gal. NXT Wet Dry out Vac HD1200

The vacuum pictured here is an older version of our pick, with a slightly unlike design than what'southward available now. It'south worked quite well for years. Photo: Doug Mahoney

Our pick

In our experience, it'south tough to beat the Ridgid 12-Gal. NXT Moisture Dry out Vac HD1200. It offers a good chapters and comes with all of the right nozzle ends, and information technology stores them, so they stay out of the way. The Ridgid is readily available on the shelves of Home Depot, where you can also go new filters, replacement hoses, and additional nozzle ends. The 12-gallon Ridgid wet dry vac was the most unremarkably seen vac during my construction career, and it'due south the one I own and use. I've had my current i since almost 2010, and I've never had any problems with it (other than the hose I melted on a propane heater, but that was my ain fault). The HD1200 is a new model, which Wirecutter staff author Signe Brewster bought for cleanup work in her St. Paul, Minnesota, Victorian abode. And information technology'south an updated version of our previous pick, the WD1270. The pattern improvements include a centre-mounted handle for easy carrying and a larger, glove-friendly on/off switch. So far, this model has exhibited the same quality we've come to expect from similar Ridgid vacs over the years.

The HD1200 has enough power to make clean upwardly the debris that could damage your home vacuum. I tester who used it to clean up her basement said it "sucked upwardly spider webs, dirt, limestone/efflorescence rubble, screws, concrete chunks upward to the size of a ping-pong brawl, centipede graveyard, and paint chips without complaint." She clogged the hose a couple of times on "golf game ball-sized concrete chunks," just that's going to happen with any wet dry out vac. In fact, the HD1200 is and so powerful that she said it was pulling loose plaster off the walls, so she had to exist conscientious in sure areas.

The Ridgid has a 12-gallon canister, which is the sweet spot betwixt chapters and maneuverability. Unlike smaller-size vacs, some of which are even handheld, the HD1200 won't require you to stop and empty it every bit often. And compared with the larger sizes, this Ridgid isn't too bulky to empty out or haul up a prepare of stairs (it has a convenient handle at the pinnacle). The HD1200 stands almost 2 feet high, with a diameter of nigh 20 inches, approximately the same as other 12-gallon models.

The Ridgid comes with three nozzle ends, which is all I've ever needed. There is a wide dry nozzle, a wet nozzle, and a small nozzle for corners and detail work. Other models might come with more options, but I've constitute that they only tend to go far the manner or lost over time. We especially like how the Ridgid stores the nozzles at the base of the drum, simply over the casters. This keeps them out of the way while the vac is in use. Other models, like many of the Store-Vacs, take the accessories on a caddy up at the meridian, which causes problem as the hose is moving dorsum and forth over the vac during a cleanup. On construction sites I've ordinarily seen these caddies get thrown away out of frustration—and so, a month later, all of the accessory nozzles are lost.

The Ridgid has a 2½-inch hose bore, which is standard for the 12-gallon size. One of the distinctions of the Ridgid is that the hose actually clips to the vacuum, creating a very stable connection; some others take just a pressure fit connectedness, and these come loose all the time as you atomic number 82 the vac effectually past pulling on the hose. The Ridgid hose's bore is big enough to clean upwards most major workshop messes, hands pulling in nails, $.25 of glass, sawdust, and screws.

Although Ridgid vacs come up in other sizes (many of them great), we think the 12-gallon size offers the best balance of capacity and mobility. And it unremarkably comes in under $100, a price that'south lower than that of some other Ridgids and more comparable to those of its competitors. At a fiddling over twenty pounds, this vac is more than manageable on stairs than some larger, more powerful, as well-popular versions.

Considering moisture dry vacs are oft needed at a moment'southward notice in an emergency or for major jobs, availability—for the vac itself and for actress filters and boosted nozzles—figures into our recommendation. Fifty-fifty with normal apply, filters go chock-full over time, and there are only so many times y'all can bang the dust out of them before you need a new ane. Dwelling Depot stocks a number of use-specific filters uniform with several types of moisture dry out vacs, including HEPA filters and ones specifically designed for fine grit. Additional nozzles and replacement hoses are besides bachelor. I've lost a number of nozzle ends and have irreparably damaged a hose, so like shooting fish in a barrel replacement parts are important here.

Years of personal experience also informed this recommendation, and this is a vac that I've spent countless hours using at abode and on lots of job sites during my structure career. I've never had whatever issues with information technology, and I've never found another wet dry out vac that was noticeably better. The 12-gallon Ridgid hits all the marks.

Long term examination notes

A number of Wirecutter staffers have been using our option since we published this guide, and they study that it continues to hold up despite putting it through some occasionally nasty work. Senior staff author Signe Brewster has been using the vacuum for a yr and a half and says other than replacing a ripped filter—which chip the dust (pun intended) while sucking up chunks of concrete and limestone—she continues to use it without issue. Editor Joshua Lyon has had the HD1200 for less time, only a few weeks, but has been using it extensively, preferring to use it over our upright vacuum choice, to make clean up dust from many cardboard boxes every bit he unpacks after a move.

Runner-up: Ridgid 14-Gal. NXT Moisture Dry Vac HD1400

Runner-up

If the 12-gallon Ridgid isn't available, or if y'all experience similar yous can handle a larger-size vacuum, we also like the Ridgid 14-Gal. NXT Wet Dry out Vac HD1400. This one is nigh the aforementioned as our main selection, but with a higher cost, a larger capacity, and a slightly larger motor. It should pull up the same h2o, grit, and dirt, but perhaps a impact more than aggressively. The main reason the HD1400 isn't our choice is that it's a hair below 27 pounds, about 5 pounds more the HD1200 weighs (about 22 pounds). Getting our option up or down some stairs is manageable; with this model, it isn't every bit easy. The HD1400 has the same handle, switch, hose diameter, and accessories as our pick.

The competition (and how we picked a Ridgid)

For this guide, initially written in the aftermath of a hurricane, we wanted to chop-chop offer a solid recommendation that came more from our years of experience comparing tools in the field than from the usual assessment of everything else that's out there.

There are plenty of other wet dry vacuums bachelor, most notably from Store-Vac, a product sold at Lowe'due south that has reviews that tend to be lower in both rating and quantity than those of the Ridgid options. We've used a diversity of Shop-Vacs in the past, and they're squeamish, but they didn't match the finer points of the Ridgids: accessory storage, availability, price.

We recollect the 12-gallon size is the best for general apply, but Ridgid has a broad multifariousness of other sizes to fit near any budget or specific apply case.

Rigid'due south largest size, the 16-gallon HD1800, can hold a lot of droppings (and it comes with large wheels and a dolly handle). We recall it's overkill for around-the-firm work, just if you have the space to shop it and large enough messes to bargain with, it's a fine machine, and one we've occasionally seen good deals on.

The 3-gallon WD3050, Ridgid's smallest vacuum, is very portable. Only it'due south non as powerful as the 12-gallon version, and information technology needs to be emptied out more often.

A number of brands, including Ridgid, have cordless vacuums, but that kind of cord-costless maneuverability is best suited to the job site and non to the garage, where there's typically an outlet handy. They are also more expensive than their corded counterparts.

There are as well high-end vacuums from Fein, Festool, Bosch, and others that focus on dust drove, only these are more than of a workshop tool than a garage tool, and they are quite expensive.

Footnotes

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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/a-great-shop-vacuum-or-wet-dry-vac/

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