Monday, November 14, 2016

Armor All 2.5 Gallon, 2 Peak HP, Utility Wet/Dry Vacuum, AA255

  • Includes: 6 ft. hose, 10 ft. cord with cord wrap, 2-in-1 utility nozzle with brush, crevice tool, deluxe car nozzle, blower nozzle/adapter and detail brush, reusable cloth filter and foam sleeve
  • On-Board Accessory & Hose Storage
  • Easy Conversion to blower
  • Auto shut-off prevents overflow
  • 2 Year Warranty
ArmorAll's Utility Wet/Dry Vacs have the ability to clean up both solids and liquids, offering seemingly unlimited uses. The 2.5 gallon polypropylene tank is small enough to carry around, but large enough for most jobs. A 2 horsepower motor provides ample suction power, as well as an easy conversion to a blower function. Auto shut-off detects fill limit and prevents overflow. Top handle and onboard accessory storage make for easy carrying. Built-in air and noise diffuser minimizes volume. Other great features include a 10-foot cord with wrap, 6-foot, 1.25-inch hose, reusable cloth filter, reusable foam sleeve, 2-in-1 utility nozzle, crevice tool, deluxe car nozzle, blower nozzle, and detail brush. No assembly required.

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By Kyle D. Johnson
I'm totally satisfied with this vac. Very powerful, light weight and well priced. I read all reviews before buying it and one mentioned a few flaws. I remedied them with gorilla tape. 1-2 inches of tape inside the rim of the blower connection will create a lasting, snug fit for the hose. Wrapping the base of each accessory tool, one time around, will keep the tools snug on the storage slots. Since the largest tool doesn't fit on the storage slots, slide it over the smaller crevice tool to store it and walla...everything is good to go! The Stinger 2.5 Gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum at Home Depot was a close 2nd but has less power, fewer tools and a shorter hose. I researched them all...buy this one!
Update 11/23/14: For those who stated that they have not had the same problems that I experienced, please keep in mind that I purchased this product in 2011. Since that time, I would hope that the company has remedied them.

By AF
UPDATE: 10-11-2014 I just finished vacuuming and realized again, how much I prefer this shop vac. About 6 months ago, I purchased a Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional Upright so that I could have a fancy vacuum with a roller to use on my large red area rug and smaller area rugs. That vacuum does indeed do a very good job on the actual rugs, but I keep going back to my trusty ArmorAll shop vacuum to do all the hardwood floors and corners and everything else. It is so light and easy to tote and pull around (and it doesn't fall over like the Shark does with hose or attachments). 3 years plus and this shop vac is still going gangbusters. I did use it for wet vac projects a couple times and it did great, just remember to take off the filter and let it dry out totally before dry vacuuming again. I also discovered that if I add 2 drops of lavender essential oil on the elastic part of the filter bag, I get a nice scent as I clean too. After 3 years, if this one ever breaks, I'm buying another one right away.

ORIGINAL: March 7, 2011 I didn't buy this shop vac from Amazon, but I love it so much I wanted to write a review on it. I got it at Sam's Club during the holiday season and gave it to myself for Christmas.

I have 2 long-haired (with undercoat) dogs and I was sick and tired of cleaning out my upright PET-SPECIALTY Dirt Devil vacuum from so much pet hair even on bare floor settings. I'd have to empty the clear canister over and over just from once around my small home. I hate touching that stuff. Many times I'd have to clean out the clogged hoses as well and that is a pain. I have recently removed much of the carpet in the house and was left with only hardwood floors and sweeping so many pet-hair-piles was too time consuming and messy.

I found this little guy and now I just leave it plugged in all the time and attached to a long extension cord that goes all over the house from a central location. I use the big flat nozzle some but mostly the rectangular brush attachment and all the wand extensions put together. I can vacuum the whole house 3 or 4 times before I ever have to empty out this shop vac, whereas before with the Dirt Devil, I was doing that 3-4 times EACH time I vacuumed. FABULOUS! And it also picks up the small leaves, bits of chewed up stick and clods of dirt that the big puppy brings inside all the time. I still occasionally have to pick the dog hair off the brush, but the hose sucks it right back in and I don't have to be looking for a trash can all the time I'm vacuuming.

I haven't even tried it yet in my vehicle, but I highly highly recommend it for hardwood floors in homes with pets. It is super light and can be easily carried wherever you need it too. The only thing you need to remember is that it does not have a revolving agitator brush so if you do have carpets, you will need a different vacuum to use on those unless you are just picking up loose crumbs or something - it will not get dog hair off ground-in carpets.

It isn't as loud or scary to my big dog as the Dirt Devil and she actually lets me vacuum her with the brush attachment on and likes it! The puppy still runs for the hills when I get it out.

I also have been using it to vacuum my ceiling fans and the tiny nozzle is good for computer keyboards. I bet it will work great for detailing the car too. Wish I had this a long time ago and it is so inexpensive. I sigh to think of how much money I wasted on other less powerful pet hair vacuums for hard floors.

I also haven't even used it for the wet-vac function, but with how much suction power it has dry I bet it rocks in that too. Maybe I should have had this when we were going through house-training?? Gotta remember it next time there's a wet spill in here.

By Al Past
There are plenty enough reviews of this vacuum, but I think it deserves another just for its ability to clean out wood stoves.

I finally tired of cleaning the ashes out of my pellet stove with a 30 year old Craftsman shopvac. It's a heavy duty machine, but it's huge, awkward in the house on its casters, and howls like a Lear Jet taking off. Emptying it is not pretty, either, requiring a shower afterwards, at least.

The Armor All shopvac is exactly right for the job: easy to tote, plenty of suction, a motor sound that doesn't scare cats on the next ranch over, and maybe most important, easy to clean. The included attachments are also appropriate and handy.

NOTE: for fireplace ashes and drywall dust, which are extremely fine, the manufacturer recommends an optional fine filter, and this is important, as the powdery dust from ashes will work through a regular filter and burn out the motor.

ALSO NOTE: I called the number for parts in the manual to order that fine filter, and a helpful representative gave me an absolutely super extra tip: mount a regular paper vacuum bag over the inflow tube in the canister and collect the ashes in that. If you do (and I did) hardly any ash gets through to the filter over the motor, and you can simply remove the bag and drop it in the garbage instead of turning the canister over and dumping the ashes in a choking cloud of dust. They carry the bags, too, though I had some leftover bags with a collar gasket that just fit over the inflow tube and those worked well too.)

By Olly2014
Holy Cow! What a little suction machine! This little sucker is powerful! I purchased it to keep all the sawdust from getting all over the house (I don't have a workshop or room- just a work corner). My little house vacuum hose barely sucks anything up. However, I seriously don't have the space for a large shop vac so the compact size of this is so great yet it performs as strongly as the large sizes. I was expecting less but got more!

My two little dogs who are terrified of my house vacuum actually don't even pay this one any mind at all. One typically runs and hides while the other follows me around barking madly at it--but with this little shop vac they even kept coming up to it while I'm using it with no barking.

The machine is also quite stable sitting low on the floor so it doesn't tip over. The hose has a good length to it and it comes with several different head attachments that work great! I can also attach my straight hose extensions from my upright vac to this.

UPDATE: OMG not long after I posted this I was spring cleaning - using a hose from my apartment to wash down the patio when I heard something running behind me. Turn around and the whole dining room area is flooded from a leak in the hose!!! So I promptly turned off the water, changed the filter from the cloth to the water filter in this little vac and proceeded to test its wet suction! SUPER HAPPY! It worked like a dream. From a huge spreading puddle to dry floors in minutes! Highly recommend.

I haven't tried the wet part yet or the "blow" part either but if the suction works this well, then I'm sure I'll have no worries.
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By rhonda1117
This is a great little vacuum, it has almost too many attachments that come in very handy for everything. Plus it has wet and dry capabilities for those random spills. This has a compact size but gas station vacuum quality suction.

By nanouchka
it is really a good product , it is powerful enough to clean even pet hair in car!

By Frederick
This is a gem, and here's why: I have a small Cape house, and I've owned the usual canister vacuums and a large shop vac, as well as an "electric broom", which is a small A/C powered convertible stick with a dust cup. Every few years, I vow to get rid of all the household appliances for non-basement vacuuming, and I check out the options. I research everything -- major brand back packs, uprights, portables, fancy high end, etc etc. Prices went from 300-$1000, and I found nothing that was wieldy and convenient to use at any price, on any manufacturer's website or store visits to: vacuum specialty shops, Target, Ace, Lowes, After each of these "this time I'm really going to solve it" cycles, I was happiest resigning myself to the inconvenient things that I already own.

This time, though, I saw this little vacuum and was impressed with the write-ups. For under $40, how wrong could I go? What a surprise: I LOVE THIS VACUUM for all my household work. Hard to tell in pix, but it is small and light. 15x15x11" wide. Yet, INCREDIBLY powerful suction! Easy to bring wherever you wander, including up and downstairs. Easy enough that I find myself not waiting for company to finally vacuum. It's always handy, and equally comfortable for dust bunnies and real jobs. Makes sense, right? If it's marketed as a car shop vac, it has to compete with your expectations of what they supply at car washes for getting all the grit out of your car floor. In that light, the attachments are better than anything that comes with the fancy vacs. That means it includes tiny crevice and brush tools, as well as a convertible soft bristle brush (bristles slip on and off), and a terrific odd-shaped, canted, rectangular open mouth tool that gets a terrific seal on car floor, hardwood floors, household sofas, clothing, etc. Also, you can control the angle of attack, so that on hardwood floors, it will scoop up everything when spot vac'ing. All of these mount on the vacuum. All you need to add is a wand and hardwood floor attachment left over from your standard vacuum, which will fit this hose perfectly. Here's a further mark of their care in its design: both ends of the hose seat firmly (unlike a $150 Oreck light vacuum with less suction, which kept dropping the hose out of the vacuum). Also, both ends have a smooth swivel joint for easy angle management. The handle is sturdy, and so is the on-off rocker switch, which is easily accessed with one hand while gripping the handle. Finally for a small sized vacuum, the motor has no offensive high pitched whine. It's loud, but not whiny.

What would I change? Nothing for my application. But consider these points for your own setting: 1) This obviously does not have an electric powered rug attachment. You may feel that you need a vac that has one. (When I do my welcome mats, I use the wand and hardwood floor attachment from my old vacuum, and this does a great job on getting all the small pieces of debris.) 2) Also, the heavy duty power cord is only 10' long. I have sometimes put an extension cord onto it for better range, but I find it so light and manageable, that for once I don't mind plugging it in as I go.

By ESP
I have detailed vehicles for 22 years and have used all sorts of vacuums, but none that I love as much as this one! It just works so well on carpets, seats, and even the vents. If you can't stand dirt and dust in the nooks and crannies of your vehicle, buy this and you'll have a blast spending time being a perfectionist. I'm so sick, I actually look forward to grabbing this vacuum and using it. It's compact and strong with excellent cord and hose length. I have also used this on household cleaning projects, like cleaning light fixtures with great success. It's just so easy to grab this thing instead of lugging out a big shop vac or household vacuum. If you're concerned that this has the ArmorAll name brand on it instead of a well-known vacuum manufacturer, I can tell you that you'd swear it was made by one of the big name makers....heck, it probably is. This thing is not a hokey piece of crap. You'll never know how you ever cleaned your car without it!

By Brandon
Just got this vac today and think it's great. I have a BMW and it gets into all the nooks easily. Vac has plenty of suction and seems to be good quality. I looked at my options and this one was the right size, price, and includes attachments. Great for detailing cars and think it will also work well around the house for odd jobs.

By oxygin
This is a fantastic portable shop vac. And the ill fit of the attachments onto their storage spots mentioned in older reviews has been fixed. I didn't need to add any duct tape or anything, the tools fit very snugly. Things I liked:

- Good suction for its size.
- Not too loud.
- Portable enough to clean the car and move around the garage.
- Long power cord and hose.
- Standard 1-1/4" diameter hose fits my power tools.
- Carrying handle works well.
- Plastic pieces seem strong/thick enough.
- Tools and hose ***all*** store nicely on top of the vac.

Things I didn't like (but were expected):

- Vacuum level not as high as my larger/noisier 6-gal shop vac.
- Smaller diameter hose won't suck up things a larger vac would.
- Plastic hose is a little on the thin side, but I've already stepped on it with no damage.

Here's how you can store everything on top of the vac:

- Insert hose into the two attachment spots on the sides of the top.
- Insert the large brush, crevice tool and the conical tool into their top holders.
- Insert the large attachment on top of the crevice tool.
- Insert the detailing brush into the conical tool.
- Tuck the free end of the hose in-between two tools of your choice.

When the hose eventually goes (as they usually do over the years) I may upgrade to one of the more crush-proof 1-1/4" hoses that others sell.

Note: I got mine from a big-box store in case I needed to return it quickly. I don't know if Amazon is selling the apparently improved version with the nicely fitting storage spots.

                                                 

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