Shop Vac HangUp Mini Wet/Dry Vacuum Review

Quick View: I needed a small vacuum to pick up dusty stuff, all the many things I drop, spill, or crumble, and to keep the house and car a bit tidier without using my big vacuum cleaner. My husband picked up the Shop Vac HangUp Mini Wet/Dry Vacuum for us. I wanted a hand held Dustbuster but figured this would do. It's awful. It worked decently the first day, clogged, and never really did much since. So MANY things are a problem with this mini Shop Vac!

My Take on the Shop Vac HangUp Mini Wet/Dry Vacuum

We have a big Shop Vac and love it so it stands to reason the mini version would be just as good right? Wrong! This little vacuum LOOKS like a mini Shop Vac but is very cheaply made. It has 1 HP of "sucking action", a six foot power cord, a few attachments, and a reusable filter. It holds one gallon and it does come with a little plastic thing so you can hang it up on a wall if you want. The filter is so flimsy. It's just a fabric sheet that you wrap around the sponge guts of the vacuum and then secure with a plastic ring. The inner workings are loose and the filter doesn't stay secure.

This can be used for wet or dry clean up. For wet clean up, you have to remove the filter. There are no bags so you need to dump the contents out. I am allergic to dust so having all that dust in one place is tough for me - well, it would be if the thing actually picked up dust!

The first day that we got the Shop Vac HangUp Mini Wet/Dry Vacuum, we fumbled around with the filter and the ring seemed to be loose.The filter would blow out and dust would go all over. The vacuum did have some sucking power though. It would pick up small things but bypass things like coins or anything bigger than crumbs.

It is made so that it is top heavy and tips over constantly. The short power cord doesn't give much latitude in allowing you to move around the room. It's very loud as well. It sounds like a huge vacuum cleaner when it, in fact, is a little thing that barely does anything.

The wet function is horrible. After removing the filter, we tried the vacuum on a damp area. It sucked up a little of the water but not much. The guts of the vacuum were gross, the sponge filter stunk to high heaven and we decided never to use the vacuum for wet cleaning.

All I wanted was a simple little unit to pick up crumbs, animal hair, and dust bunnies. I got a big pain in the rear. It stopped sucking ANYTHING up after the second day. We checked everything to see if it was clogged. It wasn't. We did everything we could think of but the power is just gone.

My husband is going to take the whole thing apart and see what the issue is but really? Is this at all necessary for a simple little dust vacuum? I don't think so. I just ordered a Dustbuster handheld like I wanted in the first place. No more tipping over or restrictions.

The Shop Vac HangUp Mini Wet/Dry Vacuum does come with a car tool and crevice tool and can get into areas where a traditional hand held may not be able to. But it is junk! It was only around $34.00 and wasn't even worth that. Shop Vac is a good name or so I thought, but this unit is the pits. I have now seen this unit on sale for $19.00 and $22.00 at Target and WalMart. I think the unit disappointed more than us and it isn't selling well now.

My Viewpoint

The Shop Vac HangUp Mini Wet/Dry Vacuum is very cheaply made from the exterior to the inside. Everything is just shoddy. It tips over, the filter blows out, the power is low to start with and it clogs almost immediately. The water pick up function is not worth even using. The short cord limits where you can go with the unit. There's really not much RIGHT about this vacuum. Sorry, Shop Vac, I like your big brother but you have a LOT of growing up to do. 1 star.