What type of vacuum do most window cleaners use to clean tracks? A canister or a small wet/dry vac? Any help would be great. Thanks
We use the smallest shop vac with a 30ft extension cord and put a strap on it to sling it over a shoulder.
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What do your tracks look like in Tenn? Here it’s mostly lose dirt. I was using a black and decker vac that I got from walmart (cordless and looked like a snail). But after running enough dirt through it, it tends to spit dust out something wicked. I have to put a wet microfiber towel over the exhaust or else I’ll get a cloud coming out.
I’m currently looking at the Dewalt portable shop vac, it takes the 18 & 20v batteries and looks pretty sweet.
But i might just end up going with Eureka EasyClean off of amazon. Either that or the mighty mite.
I want something with a bag or at least something that won’t spit dust everywhere.
I use a makita battery vac. Easy to carry and use. Mainly for dry dusty stuff. Its not designed for the wet so I just wipe that out so I don’t gunk it up.
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… Eureka Mighty Mite canister vac. Under 100n new. Got mine at Goodwill for 12. 4 years running strong. The wheels do have a tendency to break and fall off 
Yeah, I heard those are really good vacuums. A lot of maid services around here use them.
Thanks for all of the help. The tracks in TN are mainly just dirt and grime. I am thinking of going with an Oreck canister vacuum. I was wanting to see if other people were using a vacuum over a shop vac.
[MENTION=41268]bigfootflies[/MENTION] [MENTION=12729]JaredAI[/MENTION]
I have been using the DeWalt 1/2-gal. Cordless 18-Volt Wet/Dry Portable Vacuum (Tool-Only) and a lithium battery/charger combo. This set up has been going strong for about 2 years now. I’m also on the same filter too. I just tap the filter on the ground to clean it. They battery seems to hold charge just like it did when it was new. It also has plenty of power. I paid about $250 total for the vac, battery, and charger.
I found the Dewalt DCV581H vacuum on Amazon during a father’s day special for $105, and love it. Downside: it didn’t come with a battery, but we got one with the string trimmer.
Runs on battery or on the cord (about 5ft cord onboard), wet/dry, and the reusable filter only needs soap and water to clean it… I got that right?! I’ve been using it in combination with a regular bench brush as part of my ‘prep work’, then come around with a wet cloth to really finish up the sills/tracks, then the glass last. Sucked up everything from dirt, wood chips, sand, leaves, to spiders from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Best of all, it’s not too loud. It’s still a vacuum, but you only need a ‘raised indoor voice’ to have a conversation with it on while next to you.
Yeah, the loudness is a factor for me. My current B&D whines like a banshee. I’m looking at that version, it’s like $20 more than the one without the cord, but WITH the cord you can charge the battery in the vacuum.
What’s your battery life like? The one guy I talked to who had one says they get several days out of it doing touch ups around windows.
I’m also considering the eureka - it’s corded, but it’s fairly quiet and bullet proof. So I keep weighing the 40 eureka vs the 120 dewalt vs corded vs cordless. What might push me towards the dewalt is that during ccu’s you might not have power…
we tried a dewalt not sure which one, guys hated it. So we tossed them out.
Since 2010 we have been using the handheld ones Dyson makes. $225 full price or $180-200 if on sale or have a coupon. Small, lightweight, decent battery charge. We have 3 and love them.
We use a NaceCare WV370. It’s set up for wet pick up only but we pour soapy water in all the tracks, brush them, then use the wet vac to pick up everything. We don’t dry vacuum at all.
Wow $400 for a shop vac??? What makes that worth 400 compared to the $30 version at lowes?
I own a dozen NaceCare RSV130’s for commercial work and they’ve been through hell and back many times. I have had to change 1 vacuum motor and that is because we accidentally picked up water (like a gallon’s worth) in 8+ years. That cost me a whopping $95! The previous owner of the company swore by his shop vacs as well, throwing them out and buying a new one every year ($70). The difference in power… well there is none… I can suck up a shop vac with my NaceCare and it’s pretty bombproof (no wheels falling off, no hose twisting/turning or getting crushed, etc etc - I do have 23 years experience with vacuums in the commercial cleaning business). I’m betting in 5 to 10 years I still have the same vacuum. It’s commercial… it’s not built the same. Seeing is believing and experience is priceless. So the math is pretty much the same if it only lasts 5 years (bet you I’ll change my 2014 truck before the vacuum). Keep in mind that after putting water (and I mean a lot, we practically fill the tracks at least half full to clean them) in the tracks and brushing them with our track brushes we don’t have to wipe anything because the track is dry enough. To each their own.
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Cool, sounds like a good vac.
[MENTION=12729]JaredAI[/MENTION] My DeWalt 1/2-gal. Cordless 18-Volt Wet/Dry Portable Vacuum (Tool-Only) and a lithium battery/charger combo. Most of the time I don’t have to clean the filter mid job, but if the tracks have never been cleaned, I might have too. Most of the homes that I do are about 2,000 sq ft. They battery will probably last if I am doing a first time clean on a 1,800 sq ft (if the tracks don’t look like death). I sometimes recharge the battery part way before it dies on a first time clean, I will just do something else while its charging.
Are you looking for a CCU vac only for vacant homes?
A corded vac might be fine for a vacant house with power, but it seems like it would be a pain and a time killer in an occupied home. I only have to look for one outlet for my charger. I usually find one right by the front door. I would never want to search for a free outlet or drag a cord around an occupied home.
[MENTION=12729]JaredAI[/MENTION] Battery life is pretty good. I think an amazon reviewer tested and got about 45 minutes continuous on a 4ah battery, I’m using a 5ah battery. I don’t believe it charges the battery with the cord. I will however say: I’ve done some homes with no power, and its’ great not needing it. Depending how much you invest into the whole Dewalt li-ion battery line, theres a number of other tools avail that all use the same swappable batteries.
[MENTION=40992]jmattern[/MENTION] I thinik the maxed capacity is 2gal, but even 1gal of dirt is A LOT to be hauling around without emptying it. I did 47 casement windows in a home the other day with leaves, grass, spider eggs, and more in each and every track/sill… could’ve kept going all day, battery was on it’s last bar. I could see it filling up if you’re sucking up just piles of actual dirt, but it’ll hold a lot.
[MENTION=38623]iWILLcleanMontreal[/MENTION] You got a pretty good idea I wanna try out when I can. With fall cleanup, I’m having to suck up a lot of leaves, spider eggs, mud nests, etc… everywhere but the sills. But filling & brushing the sills then sucking it up is a pretty neat idea, and I can totally do it w/my vac.
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