One of the handiest tools around home & shop these days has to be the wet-vac.  I have some 4 of them, and use one every single day, on the job and off.

I thought it’d be interesting to list a few of the things they can do. Many thanks, btw, for all your suggestions – I’ve picked up some neat new tips from you!

* My personal favorite: Defrost frosted up refrigerators, using a small
pressure sprayer full of hot water and the vac (fastest method ever!)

* Unclog sink, tub, or dishwasher drains

* Clean lint from dryers

* Empty water from ‘dead’ dishwashers

* Open clogged refrigerator defrost drains using a computer cleaning
   (3/8” nozzle) attachment – a very handy nozzle for a lot of things

* Pick up various messes little kids make in the middle of the night
   (yech! – sit it outside, go back to bed, then hose it out in the AM!)

* Empty water from washers for service – replacing pumps, etc –
   on most washers, you can just connect to the end of the drain hose

* Clean those looong dryer vents, using a 30 ft central vac hose, from
   the outside 

* Clean those hard-to-reach refrig. condenser coils, with the
   vac running and a long condenser brush

* Pull heaters & wires through curved tubing or conduit, vacuuming a
   small string through first (refrigerator Yoder loops, etc)

* Clean AC & Dehum. coils - spray with water or a coil-cleaning   chemical first

* Retrieve cell phones from floor drains (better you than me, Shane!)

* Check various hoses for clogs (listen for the vac motor’s pitch  change)

* Compact sleeping bags and bulky blankets in plastic bags for storage

* I guess you could use it to just vacuum or blow dirt, too!

* 'Evacuate' nuisance bees, like Yellow Jackets, from hard-to-reach nests inside house walls (don't ask!). Just run it for a couple of hours near the nest entrance, then spray a tiny bit of wasp/hornet spray into the 'business end' just before turning it off. Awesome!

* Pull a vacuum on water heaters to replace elements WITHOUT draining the water!

PS - One tip I’ve learned with my ShopVac™ brand units: it’s not necessary to change back and forth between that paper ‘bag’ and foam ‘wet’ filter. I just use 2 foam filters and pick up water or ‘dry’ with no problems.

I know there are probably a lot more, but I’ll leave it at that for now. If
you don’t have a wet-vac, get one – you’ll be amazed! Oh, and if you plan on picking up much water, stay with the 5-6 gallon size. At 8 pounds per gallon, that’s heavy enough when full!

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