12 Helpful Ways You Might Not Realize You Can Use Your Milwaukee Shop Vac

A Milwaukee shop vac isn't your ordinary vacuum cleaner. By design, shop vacs are made to tackle tough messes. They do the bigger, dirtier jobs that regular upright vacuums can't handle. They can take a beating on a job site, bumping and rolling along without a second thought. With the ability to suck up wet and dry debris, Milwaukee shop vac owners have plenty of ways to use this everything-goes tool.

Some of the most common use cases are obvious. You wouldn't want to clog your regular house vacuum with construction cleanup, like sawdust, nails, and staples. Most household vacuums also can't remove puddles of water that accumulate under the sink when you have a leak. These are usually jobs for shop vacs, but the uses don't end there. Here's a closer look at 12 unique ways you can use your Milwaukee shop vac that you might not have thought of before.

Shop vacs like the ones Milwaukee makes have long extension hoses for a reason. They're not just made for work on the ground, but also overhead. One creative solution for making use of this extra length is to use the motor's power to blast away leaves and debris from gutters.

Milwaukee includes up to 9 feet of hose with its shop vacs. That might not be quite enough to reach up and over the top of your gutters, but it will get you close. You can use a chair or a bench to give you the rest of the length you need. Yes, you'll still need a ladder, but blasting out debris is faster than removing it by hand. You might also be able to clean longer sections of the gutter at a time, which means fewer trips up and down the ladder. Milwaukee makes a separate attachment for blowing out gutters, but it's made for the M18 line of blowers, not shop vacs. If you already have a shop vac, you might not even need to buy a separate tool for gutter cleaning.

One of a shop vac's most treasured features is how it can go from wet to dry cleaning with very little in between, and that definitely the case with Milwaukee's shop vacs, too. They can just as easily suck up a puddle as a pile of dust, which certainly makes for a better option than using all of your good towels to sop up a spill (and then having to wash a few loads of laundry when you're done).

One way to take advantage of this feature is to remove standing water from around your home. Maybe you have some low spots in your yard that take longer to dry than others after a good rain. Or maybe you just want to keep the mosquitoes away during the summer. Whatever the case, a Milwaukee shop vac can make those puddles disappear quickly. The only extra step you'll need to take is to remove the filter before you vacuum up any liquid (and replace the filter when you're done).

Most shop vacs from major brands do more than vacuum. They're also blowers, and that's a major plus if you prefer to limit your tool inventory and save money. Milwaukee's shop vacs come in handy when you need to blow off your driveway or walkway. Instead of reaching for a heavy leaf blower, just attach the hose and send leaves and debris packing.

Granted, the hose opening is going to be a bit smaller than your average leaf blower. You might not be able to clear large areas as quickly, but it works in a pinch. And if you're on a tight budget, you'll appreciate not having to buy a whole separate system for blowing. This solution works well for small areas, like patios, decks, and sidewalks. And since the shop vac sits on its own wheel, you can also give your back a break. The same can't be said for regular leaf blowers.

Shop vacs like Milwaukee's can work just as well inside the home as they do outside, especially when you have a leak. You can use them to tidy up after leaky sinks and bath tubs, overflowing washing machines, or dripping pipes in the basement. Regular vacuum cleaners aren't built for handling leaks, and using up every towel in the house to clean up a wet mess isn't ideal. Shop vacs can remove water quickly before they cause damage to floors and baseboards.

One of the good things about Milwaukee's shop vac lineup is that most of its vacuums come with multiple accessories and attachments. A crevice tool or a  wide angle tool will help you use your shop vac to suck away water in both large and hard to reach areas. These attachments are usually stored on the same unit as the vacuum, so they should always be within arm's reach.

Regular household vacuum cleaners do a decent job of cleaning up your car seats and floor mats, but shop vacs just do it better. They're more powerful than most standard vacuum cleaners and can get the job done faster. They're also a tremendous help if you have small pieces of trash or heavy dirt and debris to clean up. You don't have to manually pick up trash separately if you have a shop vac, which can save you some time.

Milwaukee's shop vacs are great for cleaning car interiors. Many have a crevice tool that can reach in between and under seats that those car wash vacuums can't reach. Long hoses and extension tools can help you clean just about anywhere in your car without having to reposition the vacuum. Just be aware that since a shop vac can suck up bigger debris than regular vacuums, you might end up losing all of the loose change that's fallen under seats or in your cupholders.

Bird baths, kiddie pools, and other water features around your home serve good purposes, but they can also become breeding grounds for mosquitoes or mold. When this happens, you'll need to remove all of the water to give them a good cleaning. Technically, you could just pour the water onto the grass and call it a day. But if you're fighting a mosquito problem, you're just transferring the mess from one body of water to another. Relocating the water is usually a better idea.

One of the fastest ways to do this is to use your Milwaukee shop vac to remove all the water without just dumping it into your yard. Since Milwaukee shop vacs are already on wheels, you can simply roll the vac over to a better spot for release and get rid of the mess once and for all. It's a fast and clean way to tidy up your yard without a lot of effort.

Keeping your dryer vent free and clear of lint and debris is important, not just for making sure air can flow through it easily but also for reducing your risk of a dryer fire. When air can't get through clogged hoses and vents, your dryer might not dry your clothes as efficiently as it should. This can lead to overheating, scorched clothes, and a dryer that dies well before it should. It may also start a fire, depending on how bad the buildup is.

Ideally, you'll empty the dryer's removable lint trap every time you dry a load of clothes. That's your first line of defense, but it's not enough; you'll also need to suck out lint that makes it way into the hose that connects to the outside vent. One way to do this is to use the suction power of your Milwaukee shop vac. To do this, unplug the dryer and remove the hose attachment from the back. Insert the shop vac hose into the vent duct as far as you can and vacuum out the debris. Doing this can extend the lifespan of your dryer and reduce the likelihood of a dryer fire.

Milwaukee shop vacs can handle large, tough messes you'd never use a regular vacuum on. This includes extra dirty jobs like cleaning up fire pits and fireplaces. All that ash has to go somewhere. In a perfect world, you could collect the ash without creating a giant dust cloud, then spread it around your yard to provide nutrients to plant life. A shop vac makes it easy to do exactly this.

Before you start, remove any large pieces of debris that didn't burn. Also, make sure the fire is completely out and there are no embers that could restart the fire. When you're ready, just use the shop vac like you would to clean up any other mess. You'll end up with a neat and tidy container of ashes that you can relocate to wherever it's needed. Give your filter a good cleaning after this type of job, as dust will settle into the crevices and prevent air flow.

Most animal fur has a knack for settling into fabric and latching on for dear life. It doesn't simply brush away with a lint roller or a swipe of the hand. And if you're using a standard upright vacuum cleaner with a roller brush (like the kind you'd use on carpet), all the pet hair it lifts away will wind it way around the roller. This can bog down the roller and cause the vacuum cleaner to work harder than it should, which can shorten its lifespan.

This type of work is best left to vacuums designed specifically for pet hair, or powerful tools like shop vacs if you don't feel like buying a whole vacuum just for this purpose. Milwaukee's shop vac doesn't use roller brushes. Instead, it has a long hose with a wide open end that reduces the potential for clogging, even with pet hair. You can use different attachments to clean different types of surfaces, like the wide angle head for upholstery. Strong suction and an open-ended design help to remove pet hair more efficiently than a regular vacuum, and the large drum keeps it contained instead of letting little furry tumbleweeds float around your home.

One of the best things about Milwaukee shop vacs is their versatility. They're strong enough to clean up wet and dry messes, but their power doesn't stop at surface level. One creative way to use your Milwaukee shop vac is to dry your outdoor cushions and furniture. Just because you don't see the water doesn't mean it's not there. If you've ever hoped to enjoy a sunny day lounging on your backyard patio only to end up with soaking wet pants because you didn't realize your cushions were still soaked, this tip is for your.

Use your Milwaukee shop vac to remove water from hard and soft surfaces, like wrought-iron gliders, plastic chairs, or outdoor pillows. Whether it's right after storm or days after a heavy rain, you can start enjoying your patio furniture sooner without sacrificing all of your clean towels. It works in a pinch, especially if you're expecting guests and don't have time to wait for Mother Nature to dry things out.

Milwaukee's wet/dry shop vac can convert from a vacuum to a blower by using a separate port. This blower gives you a whole new way to clean, and it can even function as a quick and easy way to inflate items like pool toys and blow-up mattresses.

To do this, unplug the hose from the vacuum port and move it to the exhaust port. From there, you may have to do a little adapting, depending on what you're inflating and the type of connection it requires. But all you really need to inflate something is enough blowing power, and Milwaukee's shop vacs have plenty of it. If you don't want to create your own hack, look for third-party adapters made for inflating. The key is to create a seal between the end of the vacuum hose and the inflator tip, and make sure the tip fits whatever you need to inflate. Some people have successfully done this with the tops of squeeze bottles and duct tape.

Shop vacs are definitely among the Milwaukee tools that come in handy with spring cleaning, and not just for the cleaning tasks themselves. Next time you're moving heavy furniture (the kind you only move once a year or less so you can clean behind it) and see the lines in the carpet it leaves behind, bust out your shop vac. Run the hose over those lines and you can make them disappear.

The vacuum will suck the pressed-down carpet back into place. It's a good tip, whether you're rearranging furniture permanently or moving out of a home and want to leave a good impression on the next tenants. The carpet dents disappear quickly and effortlessly, leaving your space looking cleaner and more put together. As an added bonus, those areas also get a good cleaning while you're at it. It's a simple move that makes an instantly noticeable difference.