In this review of the ArmorAll Utility Wet/Dry Vacuum, model AA255, we’ll look at the pros and cons of this model. This review of the ArmorAll Utility wet and dry vacuum includes a few observations that may affect your decision to buy the unit but are not clear points for or against the unit.
Pros of the ArmorAll AA255
This is a powerful but compact portable wet/dry vacuum cleaner. It generates much more power than handheld vacuums, on par with household vacuum cleaners. And at just over eight pounds, it weighs less than some of the rival handheld vacuum cleaners.
This wet and dry vacuum comes with a six foot hose and multiple attachments to let you reach almost any mess. It also has a fairly long, ten foot power cord.
The vacuum has an auto-shutoff so that it can’t overflow when it is full of liquids. Some of this vacuum’s competitors have created bigger messes as a result of spewing liquids or overflowing the vacuum’s bin.
This wet and dry vacuum is one of the cheapest on the market, cheaper than many smaller and less powerful handheld vacuums.
The vacuum comes with several attachments, such as a rolling brush for cleaning upholstery, a utility nozzle, crevice tool and car nozzle.
This vacuum doesn’t require assembly after you take the hose out of the canister and put it on the top of the vacuum cleaner and attach the accessories you need to the end.
The compact body and wrap around hose means it can be stored in the back of your trunk or a corner of the garage.
Cons of the ArmorAll AA255
When this wet-dry vacuum is in blow mode, the hose doesn’t always stay in place. If you’re trying to dry out a wet car seat, leaving it in the sun or using a blow dryer is more convenient.
If this vacuum cleaner tips over, the vacuum pulls the cloth filter in toward the hose, interfering with suction. You have to take the top off after turning off the vacuum and put the cloth filter back in place.
The cloth filter clogs easily in general, as well, compared to the pleated filters of formal shop vacuums. Conversely, the cloth filter is easily cleaned and reused. For nasty jobs like cleaning up what the baby spit up, you’ll want to throw it in the washing machine or toss and replace.
Observations
The vacuum officially has 2.5 gallons of capacity. The filter and motor sit in the bucket body, so it only holds about 1.5 gallons than liquid. It can hold more than 2.5 gallons of solid debris as long as it isn’t something that could clog up the motor.
It won’t pick up heavy pebbles and may need repeated passes to pick up grass and pet hair. The nozzles cannot pick up leaves.
This vacuum doesn’t have wheels. Expect to have to carry it around, as well as manually dump anything it sucks up. It does have a handle on the top to make it easier to carry.
The vacuum cleaner runs off an electrical outlet; don’t try to plug it into the cigarette lighter. This runs off 120V, not the 12 volts supplied by many vehicles.
You may want to put cloth over the exhaust port as you work while trying to vacuum up saw dust or baby spit-up so that the junk doesn’t get blown out the exhaust, creating a much worse version of the common vacuum cleaner problem of picking up dirt while scattering a trail of fine dust behind the machine.
Summary
This wet and dry vacuum is ideal for cleaning up small messes in the car or RV. It is small, compact and lasts a lot longer in terms of both time and capacity compared to hand vacuum cleaners. This wet-dry vacuum is best for cleaning up all the small but nasty messes young children make in the car or cleaning up a variety of small messes that the standard handheld vacuum can’t handle.
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