Shop-Vac Stainless 8 Gallon 6HP Wet / Dry Vacuum Review

For some, the worst part of a job or project is the cleanup. Enter the Shop-Vac 8 gallon stainless wet/dry vacuum.

The Shop-Vac 8 Gallon stainless wet/dry vacuum has a motor that delivers 6.0 Peak HP sitting atop a tank with 8 gallons of capacity. The motor is operated with a single switch on top. The rear of the lid has a blower port and holders for the accessories included with the kit. The tank itself has a vacuum port and drain near the base, perfect for emptying liquids. The secure latch system keeps the lid on tight so it can be carried with the top handle or two side handles. The base of the unit has four swivel casters for easy maneuverability.

Any wet/dry vacuum needs the proper accessories to get the job done. This unit included 7′ of 1 1/4″ hose, 3 extension wands, floor nozzle, gulper nozzle, and a crevice tool. For inside the vacuum, a cartridge filter, foam sleeve and filter bag are provided.

I decided a good test for this would be cleaning my two car garage. I started by hooking the hose to the blower port and blew all of the debris away from the garage door. It was able to blow the leaves a good 10-15 feet away from the door in a single pass. I continued to blow all of the leaves and grass off the remainder of the driveway, which only took a few passes and less than 5 minutes.

After closing the garage door, I switched the hose to the vacuum port and used the wands and crevice tool to vacuum the webs and debris from the perimeter of the garage and under my shelves and tool box. It worked decently well but as with almost every crevice tool, I had to clear a jam every so often. Switching to the floor nozzle, I quickly vacuumed the main floor area without issue.

For a final test, I decided to try to suck up some liquid. As a test, I filled the sink with water and dumped about a gallon or so on the garage floor. The vacuum emptied the sink in a hurry and didn’t seem to bog down at all. The water on the floor was sucked up easily as well. It did require a few passes to do so.

Overall, the Shop-Vac 8 gallon stainless wet/dry vac is a good value. Sure, plastic models from Shop-Vac and competitors are priced a bit less but the stainless adds a layer of durability that should help last a bit longer. It does everything a mid-size wet/dry vac should and does it well.