Keeping it clean is one of the most important aspects of being a responsible car owner. While people think about washing the exterior of their vehicle and changing their oil regularly, they rarely think about deep cleaning their interior.
If your goal is to have a vehicle that’s clean from top to bottom, you need the best vacuum for cleaning cars.
Choosing the right vacuum cleaner to clean cars with usually comes in to two categories. You may either be a professional car cleaner, like a valeter / detailer or a car owner looking to clean your own vehicle/s to a decent standard.
Sometimes these two categories can merge together but we usually find that some car cleaners, such as those at a car wash, need more of a commercial vacuum due to the high usage and those at home need small and mighty.
How to choose the best vacuum cleaner for cleaning your car
There are certain features that make purchasing a proper car vacuum completely different from using an upright which you may already have in your home. A proper car vacuum can make cleaning your car easier and more effective.
It pays to invest in a good car vacuum cleaner because this can be kept completely separate to your household cleaner so less wear on your home vac due to the grit from vehicle carpets.
A car vacuum can be helpful when it comes to storage e.g a car vacuum cleaner can be kept in a garage ready for you when you want it.
Some of the important factors to consider when purchasing a car vacuum include:
- Price
- Portability
- Power cable length
- Hose length
- Suction power
- Ease of use
- Storage
When choosing the best vacuum for cleaning your car, you need to consider several factors, each can differ depending on your circumstances.
Size & portability of your vacuum cleaner
Choosing the right size of your vacuum will depend on a number of things e.g. the space required to store your vacuum, manoeuvrability and how often you plan on using it.
Size and portability go hand in hand so bigger vacuums will usually be much harder to manoeuvre around a vehicle. The commercial vacs tend to have very long hoses in order to reach around the car without needed to trail the vacuum alongside it.
OUR TIPS WHEN BUYING A CAR VACUUM
We recommend a vacuum which is on wheels because with most vacuums, when you tug on the hose whilst cleaning a hard to reach area the vac itself would tug along too – If it doesn’t have wheels it will just fall over. Whereas a vacuum with wheels will just roll closer to you.
Alternatively you could purchase a battery operated vacuum for your car to eliminate this problem completely. However most cordless vacuums aren’t quite as powerful as their wired counterparts.
If you are thinking of buying a wired vac as opposed to a cordless, consider one which has a retractable cable.
Ensure the vac comes with the right attachments. A crevice tool at minimum but some pet hair removal tools can be handy.
Are you transporting your vac?
If you need to transport your vacuum in a car, then you will need something powerful and compact. A compact handheld model won’t take up much space but may not be enough to handle any real dirt.
If the vacuum will be stored away with limited space then either a battery operated vac or retractable cable vacuum will save you so much hassle.
BUDGET cordless car vacuums for your car:
Budget vacuums for your car
The best car vacuum cleaner
Our top tips to cleaning the Interior of your car:
- Vacuum the entire car. use the crevice tool to reach in between the seats and centre console.
- Once the car has been vacuumed, spray upholstery cleaner sparingly over upholstery where you are currently cleaning.
- Now use a stiff bristled brush to scrub the fabric. Be careful on material seats – use a soft bristled brush. if you have pet hairs – use the brush linked below and vac as needed.
- You will find now the debris has come to the surface of the carpets which will make it easier to vac.
- After you have completed step 4 for the entire car, vacuum the car again.
What kind of car vacuum cleaner is best for professional car valeting?
When it comes to choosing a vacuum for detailing cars you cannot compromise on POWER.
As a DIY car cleaner, power is not so important to you but as soon as you charge for your services, you must be able to vacuum cars as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Alongside this, you want something that’s small and portable so that it’s easy to handle when you’re cleaning your vehicle.
Because this type of vacuum will be used in tight spaces like the interior of cars, strong suction power is also essential. You don’t want to waste time on areas that didn’t get completely cleaned with one pass.
A long cord prevents having to unplug the machine while vacuuming larger vehicles or having an extension cord trailing around behind you in small ones.
An easy-to-maneuver hose might seem like an unnecessary feature until you’ve tried vacuuming all around the seats in your car only to find out that your hose isn’t flexible enough for certain angles or has too much resistance for tight spaces and awkward positions underneath seats and consoles.
Another feature a pro would look for in a good car vacuum is how much dirt can be carried before it needs to be emptied.
Our recommendations for professional car valeting vacuum:
BUYING A WET VACUUM CLEANER
If you a car valeter, you absolutely must have a wet vacuum cleaner to such up dirt from seats and carpets.
after you have cleaned your vehicle, scrub your fabric with interior shapoo before extracting with a wet vacuum and your seats will come back like new once dried.
Our recommendations for wet vacuum cleaners for your car has always been the same:
What else do I need to clean my car properly?
You might be tempted to stop after you have a vacuum, but interior and exterior detailing is an art that requires a certain set of tools.
The biggest thing you’re going to need is a good quality car shampoo, which will help avoid the damaging effects of dish soap or other household cleaners.
A brush and microfibre towels are also great things to have on hand when cleaning your car. If you’re serious about doing the best job possible then you’ll probably want to invest in a good wet vacuum.
Budget vacuum alternatives
If budget is a problem for you then an upright vacuum cleaner like the one you may have at home will probably work best providing you have plenty of attachment options.
Gas station or car wash vacuums will do just fine if you just want a quick fix.
Alternatively hire a pro valeter or your local car wash and ask about a mini valet, they are usually around £20.
