# Vacuum



## shananagrams (Jan 8, 2013)

So the regular vacuum isn't cutting it, and I live in a world of hay (as we all do). I'm sick of unclogging the vacuum. Any vacuums or shop-vacs that have worked best for you? 

*sidenote - it would be great if I could get it at Lowes home improvement since I have someone who will get me a discount.

I live in a studio apartment so it needs to be relatively small to store. :vacuum:


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## Imbrium (Jan 8, 2013)

I would just go to Lowe's and look around - if they're anything like Home Depot, they should have a pretty good selection.

smaller shop vacs are handy for cleaning a NIC condo or a fairly small area... if you're cleaning a larger area, you might need to go a couple steps up from the smallest ones to find one with a hard plastic hose (rather than *just* a tube) so that you can use it on the floor the way you would a standard vacuum. another thing to consider when buying a shop vac is hose diameter - the wider, the better as hay will be less likely to get stuck.

I have http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=202198493&R=202198493 from Home Depot and really like it... it's got a 1 7/8'' wide hose, which is wonderful.

Lowe's doesn't sell that brand... it looks like everything in a similar price range is only a 1 1/4'' hose >.> they do have some decent vacuums that come with extension wands, though.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_169280-20097-5895100_4294857472__?productId=3692782&Ntt=shop+vac&Ns=p_product_price|0 is only 1.5g, so it's a nice, compact size that's great for someone with space concerns and it can even be mounted to a wall (wall mount included).

http://www.lowes.com/pd_215727-20097-9300611_4294857472__?productId=1060267&Ntt=shop+vac&Ns=p_product_price|0 and http://www.lowes.com/pd_334639-20097-9330611_4294857472__?productId=3326078&Ntt=shop+vac&Ns=p_product_price|0 have more horsepower, but they've also got significantly larger canisters, making them bulkier to store. they also have a shockingly short power cord - only 6'.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_180050-2009...tId=3692840&Ntt=shop+vac&Ns=p_product_price|0 is 4.5g, so a lot bigger than the first one I linked (and pricier too) but has more than twice the horsepower... not really sure how much difference that makes, though. it's also wall-mountable and has an 18' power cord, like the first one I linked.


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## Katielovesleo3 (Jan 9, 2013)

I think I am having a blonde moment. I just figured out that y'all vacuum y'all's condos/cages lol. Don't the buns get angry? Or do they go to another room. I've just Been taking it outside once a month and washing it out there


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## Imbrium (Jan 9, 2013)

mine's WAY too big to take outside, as it's 2Wx3Lx5H in NIC grids, lol. for the condo, I usually skip the shop vac and just use a whisk broom, but others prefer the shop vac. I use the vacuum for the bunny pen (which is nearly my entire living room), though.


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## Katielovesleo3 (Jan 9, 2013)

I've seen yours. It's awesome. I'm a little bit envious heehee. Wish I had thought to do that instead if buying an expensive cage </3 I sweep my Busters dining room, Lock him in his cage, mop or swifter it, then let him out and clean his cage. I need a tiny dustpan and broom.. I shall put that on my list


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## Imbrium (Jan 9, 2013)

pretty sure home depot sells whisk brooms, and I've seen one at walmart in the camping section by the tent stuff. very handy! I brush everything down to the first floor, then out into the run, then clean the run.


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## shananagrams (Jan 9, 2013)

My ladies are free range with their own cages as a litter box that's always open. So they like to drag all their hay food etc out into their areas and frolick around with it. Is cute to watch, not so fun to clean.

The only time they are in their caged "locked" is the five minutes I vacuum and they hateeeee it.

Thanks for the suggestions, i think a shop vacuum will do better with the hay than a normal vacuum.


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## Nancy McClelland (Jan 9, 2013)

We have a 35 gallon shop vac with the larger diameter hose--only one that hay doesn't clog up. Some of our don't like it and will either avoid it or attack the hose. We have three that are very interested in it and will try to climb it or look in the nozzle when it's running. Our avatar Nikk will flop over and sleep nest to it when it's running--she's a weird little rabbit.


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## shananagrams (Jan 9, 2013)

I was thinking I'd probably have to get the larger one for the hay. Do they do well with hair pick up?


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## Nancy McClelland (Jan 9, 2013)

Ours does great with everything--even cleans out the BBQ.


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## Imbrium (Jan 9, 2013)

shananagrams said:


> I was thinking I'd probably have to get the larger one for the hay. Do they do well with hair pick up?



not sure what you mean by larger...
you shouldn't really need "larger" as in the overall size of the vacuum - if there are literal piles of hay on the floor, it's faster (and easier on the vacuum) to just pick the main bulk of them up by hand and then vacuum up the scraps, so it seems unlikely that you'd ever need to vacuum up more hay than can fit in a 1.5G canister in one go.
if you mean "larger" as in hose diameter, though... if I were you, I'd seriously consider buying from Home Depot even though you can get the discount at Lowe's, simply because the Ridgid vacs have a hose that's 5/8'' wider than anything I could find on the Lowe's site (granted, you could always take a look in-store to see if they have anything better that's not listed online).

if you want something smaller than the 6 gal vac I've got, they also sell a 3 gal one that's $30 and has 3.5 hp instead of 2.5 - http://www.homedepot.com/RIDGID/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1vZ18g/R-203235053/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=shop+vac&storeId=10051 . the downside to that one is that it doesn't come with extension wands, so you wouldn't be able to use it like a traditional vacuum unless you purchased those separately (they're $8 each and you'd need two to make a full-length hard hose portion - http://www.homedepot.com/RIDGID/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1vZ18gZ12l0Z12kzZ12l1Z12l2Z12l3Z12kx/R-100638353/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=shop+vac&storeId=10051 )

Ridgid apparently also makes vacuums with a 2.5'' hose, which sounds awesome, but the smallest model I could find one on has a 12 gal canister (which is huge) and is $80 >< http://www.homedepot.com/RIDGID/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1vZ18gZ12l0Z12kzZ12l1Z12l2Z12l3/R-202554972/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=shop+vac&storeId=10051

all-in-all, I'd say that considering cost, power, size (since you want something small), hose diameter and the desire for extension wands if you want to be able to use it like a normal vacuum, the best option is the $30, 3.5 hp, 3-gal capacity vacuum from Home Depot with the extension wands purchased separately (if you want them). it's powerful/compact, has a nice 1 7/8'' wide hose and is still only about $46 even if you buy two extension wands to go with it. that makes it about the same price as the 6 gallon one I have, but it's half the size (and you don't need a canister > 3 gal for sucking up solids anyway) with an extra horsepower.

if I were buying a shop vac specifically to clean up after bunnies, I would go with the 3 gal one instead of the one I have. (I got the shop vac before I got them - my bathtub drain clogged and there were a few inches of water in the tub... I left it overnight to deal with in the morning and a f-ing roach had the AUDACITY to sneak into my house and commit suicide in the bath water (at the bottom of it, no less!). I'm terrified of roaches and can only clean up corpses with the vacuum, but it died in the ONE FREAKING PLACE that's not vacuum-accessible... so my solution was to buy a shop vac because I will NOT get within a few feet of a roach, dead or alive!)

all-in-all, I've been very pleased with the RIDGID brand vacuum's power and durability.


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## ldoerr (Jan 9, 2013)

I have this one clicky and LOVE it!! It was the smallest one that home depot had when I went (besides the bucket mounted one). Hay gets stuck in the hose every so often, but I have a solution for that. Put the hose on the side that is a blower and turn the vac on. It unclogs itself in under 5 seconds. It has a decent lenght cord. I use it as a regular vacume because my hair will clog ANY regular vac in under 20 minutes. I do not have the hard plastic things that Jennifer is talking about though.


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## Imbrium (Jan 9, 2013)

I actually have that one as well (was looking for something smaller for the bunny area) and really don't like it. the hose is so narrow that hay gets stuck in it easily if I suck up medium-sized pieces. the RIDGID one I recommended is the same price but has a significantly wider hose and *twice* the horsepower (I have no earthly idea why the heck I didn't buy that one, it might've been out of stock when I got the little one - silly me, I didn't look at all the options online first).


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## ldoerr (Jan 10, 2013)

I like it. When hay get stuck at the opening I just pull it off and set the hay asside. I empty it every few weeks. If it gets cloged put it on the blow side and that will clear up the clog in no time. I actually just order some parts for it (hose extensions so that I can use it to vacume my floors without being on hands and knees).


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## rosey442 (Jan 16, 2013)

I only have one bunny and her cage is in my living room. But, my how that hay gets tracked everywhere! lol
I have a small 1.5 gal. wet/dry shop vac that I got from Wal-Mart online. It was cheap, $20, and does the job. Plus it can be hung up on the wall for storage.
Just another idea for you. :happybunny:


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