Customer Reviews for RIDGID 4 Gallon 5.0 Peak HP Portable Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum with Fine Dust Filter, Hose, Accessories and Premium Car Cleaning Kit

I love this product! My sunroof drains were leaking into my car and I had water sloshing around the floor under the carpeting, I purchased this wet dry vac to hopefully get rid of the water in my car and it did an excellent job of that. If it picks up dirt as well as it did the water I will be very happy. I have not tried that aspect yet I’m too busy trying to get the water out right now! The suction was excellent. I couldn’t believe how strong the suction was. I would recommend this product to anyone. I just wish they would make the crevice tool a little bit longer because I had a hard time fitting it in between the seat and the side door to get the water from there it wasn’t quite long enough.

I wanted to love this! I was super excited to buy it for myself I go to the store and pick up my order I drive home go inside all excited and ready to use it and I open it and it is absolutely disgusting inside. I included a picture. I picked up my order right before the store closed but I will be calling first thing in the morning.

Bought this and went to put together. It had what looked like a rabbit cage clean up inside. I should have known better to buy the last one.

Purchased online thinking I would received a new product but I received used product that has dirt in the extension tubes.

I purchased this Shop Vac because I get water in my basement. While the blower power is impressive the vac power is lacking. Also, the blower is in front, next to the vac port so I am being blown away while I’m trying to vacuum water. The instruction manual shows the blower port in the back of the machine. Overall disappointed in this item.

This is the second vacuum that I bought from Home Depot that been used. Where the heck is quality control!????????????

When our old Hoover rug shampooer died and parts were no longer available I needed something to clean up after pet "accidents". I wanted something more portable and with more suction. This vacuum met those needs and more. It's so much lighter and easier to carry to the scene of the crime. I bought an extractor head so I could see my progress and when I had all of the liquids removed. It also saves me having to haul down the 16g shop vac for smaller projects. Should have bought it sooner.

The vacuum path as a diverter so trash will not cut thru the bag, however material gets stuck and you have to remove the bag and clean manually

Used a cordless Ridgid vac for some time but found a need for extra power when vacuuming up debris from large areas using the extension wands. Purchased this unit after comparing against the Pro Pack. Slightly more CFM on this unit and the wheels are something I didn't think I would use but now am very happy to have. The extra connections are a useful addition. Happy to have taken the corded plunge for the extra power and ease of pulling the unit along.

completely made in a mold out of plastic and yet there's no place to wrap the cord, there's no place to really store the attachments and oh by the way when I bought this completely sealed and got it home it had none of the attachments

Best purchase... I am so pleased with the Ridgid Portable Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum with accessories. It does everything they said it does!

Design flaw makes this vacuum frustrating to use as the exhaust port and suction port are on the same side, thus everything you try to vacuum gets blown away before you even get the chance to suck it up. Rigid, what were your engineers thinking??

I paired this small shop vac with a Dustopper and 5 gallon bucket to provide dedicated dust collection for my miter saw, this combination collects all of the saw dust in the 5 gallon bucket and not in the vacuum. This combined with a cart I built to house the setup and my miter saw allows me quick and easy access to cut wood and not make as big of a mess (miter saws don't collect 100% of the dust but my Festool does collect a majority). I also added a power switch that turns the vacuum on when the saw runs and off 10 seconds after the saw stops drawing power, this makes it so I only have to plug one cord in and not have to manage or run the shop vac continuously. Overall I am very happy with this shop vac.

A few noteworthy things about this vac: Wet vacuuming: As others have noted, you need to remove the paper filter and put a VF3700 foam filter on. I also highly suggest buying the Rigid diffuser/muffler to put on the exhaust port. Using both will control the mist that will inevitably come out the exhaust port when wet vacuuming. Noise: I don't like noise. If I'm going to do a lot of vacuuming, I wear ear plugs. It's loud but not horrible. Buy the muffler. It helps quiet it down a bit. That muffler/diffuser: also a good thing: Without the diffuser, the strong breeze coming out the exhaust port ends up blowing things around the room! Emptying it: It does take some hand strength to pop the cover latches open. Tip: Lean on both latches with your palms on the cover, then use those fingertips to pop the latches. A slight bit of downward force on the top section makes it far easier to work 'em. See the pictures! If you still can't figure out what I'm trying to explain, perhaps you should consider not using a vacuum. Capacity: If you know you are going to do a lot of wet vacuuming you might want to consider one of the models with a drain plug at the bottom. This unit does not have one, so you must open it every time to dump out the water. That gets rather old after awhile. Speaking of that drain that isn't: Since there is not a drain, you can't buy the nice Rigid VP2000 drain pump. That allows you to continuously wet vacuum without stopping. But again, you can't use it with this model. Though I have pondered the possibility of making an in-field modification to see if I can add a drain port. Then I could use the pump, and that would be great for those special flood occasions! Hose: The big standard hose is like trying to vacuum with an anaconda. It's too rigid and causes the vacuum to shift around as you work. See my comment above about blowing stuff around the room... Consider replacing it with one of their better hoses. But the big hose will suck up large trash quite nicely. If you know you are going to be cleaning up smaller debris, buy the VT2534 car kit with the nicely flexible 1-1/4" hose. Just don't suck up drywall trash or wood shrapnel! It's not good at that, and will get clogged, at which time you stop and shove a broom handle down it while telling AGAIN to whomever didn't listen "DON'T SUCK UP CHUNKS!" Filters: You can get a lot of use out of a paper filter by popping it off and cleaning it when you are emptying the vac. Bowl it down the driveway numerous times, getting lots of skip in your throw. Strum your fingers across all the pleats, like you are petting it violently. Lots of dust will come out and immediately head straight to your face. It's inevitable. I have no idea why. A twister could be blowing from behind me, and the dust would still come for my face. Okay, option three is to use an air hose, outside (if that's not obvious) and blow the dust out from air applied to the inside of the filter. Note that filterologists always say to not blow air against the outside. It will just drive dirt into the filter. Gripe: There is a handy storage compartment molded as part of the lower section of the vacuum. When it's time to empty your beast, you remove the motor top and set it aside. Then you take the bottom and dump it in a trash can OUTSIDE. Then you realize you just dumped the tools in the storage compartment into the trash. Reach in to the resulting cloud of dust and grab the tools, coating your arms in the process. This design flaw makes the handy tool pocket not so handy methinks.

Been wanting one for awhile I use it to detail vehicles, I already have a 16 gallon vac for garage work etc, I also purchased the car kit because the hose that comes with it is garbage. Be aware the attachments that come with it will not work with the new smaller orange hose. This is small and light with plenty of power to vacuum vehicles with ease.

See picture - they have removed the 3-layer and replaced with standard filter. This should have been clear on the website, and is thus the wrong price - frustrated !!

Very powerful suction, long cord and hose.love the low center of gravity it has so it won’t tip over. The only complaint I have is the attachments that come with it are slightly difficult to attach.

Just the right size for us to vacuum the leaves off the fake grass in The back yard and patio.

If my van was stolen an I had to start all over again, this would be the vacuum I’d buy... hands down. The suction is consistently powerful no matter what you’re cleaning. It’s light weight, portable, and the tool caddy on the back is perfect for my brushes and attachments. It easily wheels around vehicles and it’s low profile helps avoid getting stuck on tow hitches.

The best shop vac I’ve ever used. Tremendous suction in a small package. I bought the VT2520 2 - 1/2” dia. hose so I can vacuum larger items. Other vacs this size are always only 1- 7/8” or smaller so this is a tremendously useful option. You’ ll have to buy all new 2 1/2” accessories, unfortunately. Also great thing is the option for a HEPA filter! The unit comes with a good filter, however. Locks are at the important connections so they don’t come out. The lid buckles down very securely. Also available as an option is a muffler. It definitely reduces the noise significantly , with some reduction in suction. It also prevents the exhaust air from blowing everything around. It is easily removed or added as needed.The unit is pretty loud without it, though not as loud as my old Craftsman shop vacs. The vac has a place to store the cord and an onboard bin! Ridgid has thought of everything!

10 Year Review: This little sucker has got the job done for about 10 years! I bought it when I got married and we bought our first house. It has done jobs such as vacuuming the car, pick up plant dirt spills in the house, suck up and help me treat pet and baby pee accidents, unclog AC drain, used as a blower (with hose attached to exhaust), pump out water from small flooded areas and today it helped me clear a very touch clog in the kitchen sink main drain. I'm not one to write many reviews, but as I was cleaning it after unclogging the sink today, I thought it really deserved this review. If you're looking to buy it and are reading this review, don't hesitate. Just hope they still "make 'em like they used to" and you'll have a vacuum for years to come! Thank you RIDGID for being one of the few companies left that makes a product to last many years!

DO NOT FALL FOR THE LIFE TIME WARRANTY the locking nut and I mean locking nut that holds the air filter would not come loose even with visegrips, I could not clean or change the filter even once what a rigmarole... but on the other hand a lot of suction power when it was good.

I own a painting business and have purchased about 8 of these over the last 15 years. I use them almost every day, so they get heavy use. The switches go out after a few years and the plugs often go bad. Also, it is really unfortunate that this vac no longer comes with a brush attachment. This is the attachment I use the most. To buy brush attachment for this vac is way over-priced. You have to buy them with another tool/attachment, and it costs about $13-$14. I would think in today's world, were we can get seemingly everything from china so cheap, one could buy brush attachment for about $5. Also, the vac no longer comes with a diffuser. I really need a diffuser; it prevents the exhaust from acting like a leaf blower and knocking over furniture and other items in homes. The hose is thin and bends/kinks easily. These are things a professional needs. Other than that, good shop vac. Easy to carry or use on wheels. Powerful.

Suction and blowing are good, but they come short on many features. When I opened the box, I found a permanent kink in the suction hose, formed by speedy packing, and when I vacuumed with it, the kink got worse and shut off the air flow. I repaired the kink by squeezing the kinked part of the hose in a vise and tightening twisting thick copper wire in a couple wraps around that area. When I used it again, I could see the formation of a kink at the other end of the hose. I wanted to suck up water so I tried to take off the filter like they say, and couldn't do it. In no way could I press down on the center tab and pull the filter off. I even pressed with a flat piece of metal to protect my thumb, to no avail. I tried hammering on the tab. I tried twisting it with a pliers. I COULD NOT REMOVE THE FILTER! So I kept it in and sucked up water, wetting the filter, which collapses once wet, probably cutting off much air flow, and will damage it. Also, the suction tube is much too stiff, not flexible (hence the kinks). And also, the snap locks that hole the hose to connections is cheaply molded onto the tube, and will probably fail or break with usage. Finally, the end attachment for sucking on flat surfaces does not have a brush and it's one piece rigid plastic, which makes it impossible to vacuum under low tables. I had to modify the swivel kind (with brush) from my old vacuum in order to fit on the larger diameter Rigid hose. No, I don't recommend this vacuum, and I'm very surprised at these poor designs. After many decades of such technology, you'd think that certain tested, proven practices would be followed. The picture shows the kink repair, the kink forming, and the jury rigged, old swivel scoop with brushes.

Keep your receipt. Hose ripped at base after third use. Called Rigid support and lifetime warranty only counts if you can produce original receipt.

I was looking for a “mini-shop vac” to solve a specific problem: With a couple of chinchillas and a guinea pig in the house and two asthmatic humans, I needed something that could suck up fine mineral chinchilla bath dust, rodent feces, pelleted food and litter from cages and carpet without giving out during the job. I knew that hay and wooden sticks could clog up a narrow diameter hose, so I could collect that first. But I had seen hay clog up large diameter hoses, too. My research online sent me to Ridgid. The 4 gal. vacuum looked like it would be perfect, especially since I could purchase other accessories, in particular, dustbags and a user-cleanable HEPA filter. Unfortunately, the HEPA filter was on back-order. When the vacuum arrived, I was really happy because it was exactly what I wanted! It was light enough for me to lift with all accessories and carry around even up and down stairs. It was easy to separate the lid from the dust drum and to fit all of the accessories together. I found that the basic accessories were surprisingly adequate for what I needed (flexible hose, two rigid extension wands, a multi-purpose carpet tool, an edger-type tool, and a user-cleanable fine dust filter). I did use dust bags because the main reason for this purchase was to vacuum up that fine mineral dust. I also loved that there is a place for everything to be stored compactly on the vacuum itself. The power cord is 20’ long so I was able to go from one side of my house to the other without ever having to switch sockets. I found that the suction is almost alarmingly strong so that things not planned to be vacuumed can disappear if in reach. Hay and chew sticks that were hidden managed to be sucked right through without any clogging of the hose, and a few other items went in that were a little more valuable. The suction remained strong even when the bag was half full, and I was still able to vacuum up things even when the bag was almost completely full when the suction was reduced. I was impressed that the fine dust filter handled the dust without any of it getting out into the air. Furthermore, with the use of the dust bag, the dust filter was kept almost pristine even after the bag was full. The use of the dust bag helped me avoid having to revisit the dust when it came time to empty the bucket. There are a number of accessories that can be purchased for this nice little wet/dry vac, but I was impressed with the basic model. I would probably like to get the car kit later. I don’t think that I will need the HEPA filter given how well the dust bag and fine dust filter worked. I bought this vacuum at the beginning of December 2017. I highly recommend this little powerhouse for anyone who is looking for a shop vac that is lighter in weight and has a smaller footprint, and for people with allergies who need to have a vacuum that will not spew dust and allergens into the air.

I bought her about 3 years ago for around 60 bucks on sale. And she has performed flawlessly for me. I don't have carpets in my home so this was perfect choice for me. It has powerful suction, enough for me. It just sucks up the dust and really helps with my cleaning chores...........

Purchased a few weeks ago and am disappointed. It's a very powerful vacuum, but the "4-gal" capacity is misleading because the large filter takes up a lot of dry vac capacity; and when using as a wet vac the water starts leaking as soon as it reaches the bottom level of the intake/exhaust holes. Actual capacity is more like 2 gal. tops. It's also a little awkward to empty. Blower option is a joke: the hose won't lock into the exhaust hole and blows right out as soon as you turn it on. Pros: strong suction, lightweight, easy to move. Cons: limited capacity, especially as a wet vac due to location of intake/exhaust holes; blower option useless; awkward to empty.

I bought this for its Wet Vac function and the blower function. I use it mainly to blow dirt, bugs and spider webs from my Lanai No-see-um screens, and blow up air mattresses when the grandkids visit, as well as suck up any water that may permeate the Lanai Hurricane Windows. The Blowing power is amazing for such a small shop vac. The only issue is that the blower actually blows the hose off of the connector when I bend the hose too much. There is a latch on the hoses for the machine and connectors, but it would be better if the latch at the machine was both on top and side of the output to rectify this issue. I looked long and hard for a shop vac with this kind of blowing power, so I will keep it and come up with a way to keep the hose on the machine

Great little vacuum, plenty of suction and quieter then I thought. I saw a lot of comments about attachments and hose sizing. I've always used the better hoses which come with both ends that thread on easily to the end of the hose. I also got the car kit which fits this vacuum as well as my other larger vacs. With these two other hose kits this vac will accept all attachments offered.