Car vacuum cleaner: a useful helper or a trinket?

Cleanliness and order in the car's interior is definitely something for which you can spend a little time and money. And you can solve the issue of cleaning in the salon in two ways: entrust the cleaning to professionals (many car washes provide such services), or buy an inexpensive car vacuum cleaner. But if the effectiveness of professional cleaning is practically beyond doubt, then vacuum cleaners need to be discussed separately.

Car vacuum cleaner: what is it

Fundamentally, a car vacuum cleaner does not differ from any other vacuum cleaners: the device creates a rarefaction of air, and due to this simple physical phenomenon, dust and small debris are literally sucked into the dust collector. However, car vacuum cleaners have their own characteristics, which are dictated by the operating conditions.

Vacuum cleaners for cars have compact dimensions, in the ideal case, their weight does not exceed 1-1.5 kg, and therefore the device is easy and convenient to hold with one hand. Small dimensions put a restriction on the dimensions of the electric motor, and therefore, car vacuum cleaners have a rather low power, ten times less than the power of household vacuum cleaners. And finally, car vacuum cleaners are equipped with attachments optimized for cleaning the car interior, upholstery, seats, etc.

However, there is no uniformity among car vacuum cleaners, they all differ from each other not only in power and design, but also in the capabilities that their owner gets.

Car Vacuum Cleaner Power

The power of car vacuum cleaners is almost an order of magnitude lower than the power of household appliances. If we talk about specific numbers, then on the market you can find vacuum cleaners with a capacity of 10-12 to 300 watts or more, but on average this figure is 80-120 watts.

But do not rush to buy the most powerful vacuum cleaner! Why? After all, logic tells us that the more powerful the apparatus, the better it should cope with dust. But no, because the power consumption is not at all the same as the suction power. Much depends on the design of the motor and the vacuum cleaner itself, as well as on the section of the pipe and other structural subtleties.

Is it possible to understand from the characteristics how well the vacuum cleaner copes with dust and debris? No, only "check by force" will help here, and a comparison of the capacities indicated on the label does not always reflect the real state of affairs.

Collecting Dust

The main task of a vacuum cleaner is simple: to help collect dust and small debris from dirty surfaces and hard-to-reach places. However, different vacuum cleaners solve this problem differently, although there are typical solutions here.

For example, almost all car vacuum cleaners in one way or another have a pipe (or something like a pipe) to which nozzles can be attached. It must be said that a pipe that is too thick is bad, since with equal engine power, air passes through pipes of different diameters at different speeds. As you know from the school physics course, in a narrow pipe, air moves faster than in a wide one, but the pipe cannot be given a too small cross-section, otherwise the suction efficiency will begin to fall. So manufacturers are forced to look for the optimum.

And directly collection of dust and debris is carried out by nozzles. There are several types of nozzles: slotted, wide and with a brush. Moreover, brush heads can have a variety of shapes and sizes, as well as have the additional ability to rotate, which improves its ability to collect garbage (primarily wool and hair).

Dust Retention

Just collecting dust is only half the battle, because you need to make sure that this dust does not fly out from the back of the pipe, but is securely locked with the possibility of subsequent removal. Both of these tasks are solved in different ways.

The easiest way is to put a bag behind the pipe, directly in front of the fan, which would allow air to pass through, but retain dust particles. This is the design that the most inexpensive vacuum cleaners have. They have a bag for collecting dust, which must be periodically removed and cleaned, or replaced with a new one (this already depends on the specific model).

In recent years, cyclone vacuum cleaners have gained popularity. In essence, such vacuum cleaners are very simple: instead of a dust bag, a cylindrical plastic container is installed in them, in which a circular air flow is created (which is why it is called a cyclone), due to which dust under the action of centrifugal force settles on the walls of the container without entering the atmosphere.

However, these tools are not always enough, and many vacuum cleaners are equipped with various filters: ordinary, double, fine filters, etc. But they all serve a single purpose-to trap the smallest specks of dust that seeped out of the cyclone or through the pores of the bag.

Dry and wet cleaning

Many modern vacuum cleaners can be used for wet cleaning. This function is provided by a special filter that retains moisture, preventing it from penetrating the motor and other components of the vacuum cleaner. Moreover, the most modern and expensive models can not only clean wet surfaces, but naturally collect spilled water and liquid dirt. Although you should not get carried away with this, but before starting work, you need to familiarize yourself with the instructions for the vacuum cleaner for its relation to wet cleaning.

Power and autonomy

What's good about a car is the presence of a constant voltage of 12 V at hand. Therefore, many manufacturers of vacuum cleaners do not invent anything, but simply complete their products with power cords with a connector for connecting to a cigarette lighter. Some manufacturers go further and offer the additional option of powering the vacuum cleaner from a 220 V network, but this is more of an overkill than an advantage.

But most modern vacuum cleaners carry rechargeable batteries on board, a full charge of which is enough for 25-30 minutes of continuous operation. This is not enough for a "general cleaning", but for daily needs it is not necessary anymore.

Summary

So, the market offers a wide variety of car vacuum cleaners, and it is very easy to get lost in this variety. How to choose a vacuum cleaner? And in general-is it needed?

First, let's answer the second question, because here the answer is obvious: a vacuum cleaner will never be superfluous and in some cases will be simply irreplaceable. Indeed, with its help, it will not be difficult to quickly and accurately collect garbage from a scattered ashtray, remove sand that is always coming from somewhere, city dust settling on the upholstery, and much more. Cleaning with a vacuum cleaner will take just a couple of minutes, and its result will be incomparably higher than using a brush or other means.

However, this does not mean that the question of professional cleaning disappears by itself. No! No vacuum cleaner will be able to thoroughly clean the interior of a car, and it will not cope with serious dirt at all. Therefore, from time to time it makes sense to entrust the car to the hands of specialists who will clean everything to a shine and shine.

The question of choosing a vacuum cleaner for a car is somewhat more complicated. There are a few things to note here:

Power. More often than not, higher power indicates better ability to handle dust. But this is not always the case.

Nozzles. In most cases, a crevice nozzle and a brush nozzle are sufficient, but a few additional nozzles (wide, for collecting debris, with a rotating brush, etc.) will only be a plus. Although you shouldn't chase excesses either.

Noise level. Vacuum cleaners are small but often very noisy. The average noise level of vacuum cleaners lies in the range of 70-80 dB, but now you can find samples with a noise level of 68-69 dB or less.

Package contents. This is not only about brushes, but also about other useful things: flexible tube, power cord length, built-in fuse, etc. Too poor equipment is not at all good for the vacuum cleaner and its owner.

Opportunities. In general, it is on the opportunities that you need to pay attention to in the first place. Most vacuum cleaners simply collect dust, but many can be used for wet cleaning, and others can even be used as a compressor.

Finally, take a look at the prices. And it is at this moment that you will understand that buying a vacuum cleaner is very useful and profitable. After all, modern car vacuum cleaners cost from several hundred to one and a half, maximum-two thousand rubles. And only some of them are more expensive. And to spend a thousand rubles on cleanliness and order in the car's interior is, you see, very easy.

You can choose and buy a car vacuum cleaner at 130.com.ua with delivery in Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa and Ukraine.

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