Can I Vacuum My Garage? (Only if You Do This First)
It’s time to clean your garage, but you might notice fine dust on the concrete floor. This may make you wonder, can you vacuum your concrete floor? And if so, can you use a normal household vacuum for the job?
It is completely possible to vacuum the concrete floors in your garage. However, normal household vacuums won’t cut it. You need a heavy-duty vacuum machine to be able to suction up the fine dust particles in your garage.
Before you start cleaning, in this article, we will discuss which vacuums can be used to clean a concrete floor, how to seal your concrete floor, and why it is important to seal your concrete floor.
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Here’s a Quick Pro Tip!
You can definitely vacuum your garage, although it’s not as simple as you think. It’s not wise to use your regular vacuum cleaner. Instead, you’ll need to use a heavy-duty vacuum, preferably a wet-dry vacuum cleaner.
Here are some of our recommendations for heavy-duty vacuum cleaners:
1. Hoover Vacuum – Bagless and easy to move around the house.
2. Shark Navigator – Bagless, HEPA filter, and multiple attachments.
3. Stanley wet/dry vacuum – Can clean up wet and dry messes.
Vacuuming Concrete Floors
Have you ever tried vacuuming your concrete floor and noticed it doesn’t really work that well? Your floors might still be dusty, and your vacuum might even jam! Let’s discuss why.
Can You Use a Vacuum on Concrete?
You cannot use a normal household vacuum cleaner on a concrete surface because it does not have enough suction power. Heavy-duty vacuum cleaners have stronger suction to clean up all the small dust particles on concrete.
Worse still, your vacuum could jam or break completely due to the smaller dust particles being sucked into the motor.
These dust particles are too small to be caught by the filter, so they blow through the motor and out into the air again.
Can You Use Dyson Vacuum on Concrete?
Dyson does have a range of vacuums available. The heavy-duty vacuums, like the Dyson Ball Animal 2 Upright Vacuum, definitely would be able to collect the fine dust from your concrete floor.
Dyson vacuum cleaners are known as top-of-the-range vacuums in terms of design and functionality. This vacuum cleaner is no exception.
This vacuum would be able to clean your concrete floor thoroughly and quickly.
Does Roomba Work on Concrete?
As long as the concrete is smooth, a Roomba vacuum will work on a concrete floor. The Roomba will pick up loose dirt and debris lying around, although sometimes a Roomba will not work on concrete floors.
A Roomba will not work on concrete floors if:
- Your garage is cluttered, and you have a bunch of stuff lying around.
- If your concrete floor is not smooth.
- If you have too much debris lying around on your floor.
Can You Use a Rainbow Vacuum on Concrete Floors?
You should not use a Rainbow vacuum on concrete floors because this vacuum is bagless and uses water to trap dirt. Concrete dust, however, can not be trapped in the water, so it’s blown back out into the air.
If you have no other alternative vacuum available, you should rather sweep your concrete floor thoroughly.
If you try to use a Rainbow Vacuum, you could jam the filter or even damage your vacuum.
Can You Hoover a Garage Floor?
You can use your Hoover vacuum to clean your concrete floor. This upright stick vacuum has great suction power, which helps to pick up debris from the concrete floor.
This Hoover Vacuum is versatile. It can be used for a wide range of surfaces but also for almost all furniture. This cordless vacuum can also easily transition between floors, which makes it very easy to use!
Can I Vacuum My Garage With a Shop-Vac?
You can vacuum your garage with a shop vac. These vacuums are heavy-duty and known for their ability to clean both outdoors and indoors. This vacuum is perfect if you have more debris than usual (small sticks, leaves, etc.)
We would recommend the Shop-Vac Vacuum to anyone who wants to have a powerful heavy-duty vacuum because of its two-height settings and an 8-gallon filter bag.
Dusty Garages
Now you know which vacuums you could use to vacuum your concrete garage floor, but have you ever wondered why there is so much dust in your garage?
Why Do Garages Get So Dusty?
One major part of your garage getting dusty is concrete. With age, concrete gives off very fine dust, and when we walk/drive in the garage, we distribute this dust to all the surfaces in the garage.
Another reason for your garage getting dusty is the excess of hair, crumbs, and debris collecting on the concrete floor.
We tend not to clean out the garage as often as the rest of our house, so naturally, the garage will be dustier.
How Can I Control the Dust in My Garage?
To control the dust in your garage, you should re-seal the concrete floor of your garage. If your floor is not properly sealed when built, moisture and grease seep into the concrete and give off fine dust.
Also, make sure to do a thorough cleaning of your garage before you re-seal the concrete.
This includes wiping down the shelves, vacuuming the floor and all surfaces, and using a mop as the last step.
How Do I Clean the Dust Out of My Garage?
To clean the dust out of your garage, you have to do a deep cleaning at least once a month using an appropriate vacuum cleaner. You should clean your garage often and thoroughly to avoid excess dust.
In addition, you could purchase an air filtration system.
This air purifier does not affect the air temperature of your garage, but it pulls the dust particles, pet hair, allergens, and more from the air and keeps the garage cleaner.
How Do You Vacuum a Garage?
To vacuum your garage, first, sweep the floor and walls with a heavy-duty brush broom. Sweep the concrete dust into piles, and then use your vacuum to suction up the piles.
Be sure to use a heavy-duty vacuum machine, like this Shop-Vac that can suction the fine dust of concrete.
Declutter your garage to make it easier to vacuum and easier to keep clean in the future.
Should You Sweep a Garage Before Vacuuming?
You should absolutely sweep a garage before vacuuming. Sweeping your dust and debris into piles means that you don’t have to drag your heavy-duty vacuum machine all across the garage floor.
When sweeping your concrete floor, make sure to use a heavy-duty broom with stiff bristles. These brooms can usually work on dry or wet surfaces, which is perfect for your concrete floor.
Make sure to sweep most of the dust away before vacuuming your garage.
How Do You Vacuum a Concrete Floor?
To vacuum a concrete floor, you should use a vacuum that is very low to the ground and has a strong suction power. Before vacuuming, you can sweep the dust into piles and then run your vacuum across the concrete floor.
After sweeping most of the dust out of the garage, use your heavy-duty vacuum, which can vacuum close to the ground and has strong suction power, to clean up the remaining dust and allergens.
After all, anyone with allergies wants to get that dust away as soon as possible!
You might also enjoy our post on Can I Vacuum a Cockroach?
How Do You Get Concrete Dust off a Garage Floor?
To get concrete dust off a garage floor, you could sprinkle some water over the floor, sweep your floor with a broom with stiff bristles, and go over your entire floor with a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner.
After sweeping and vacuuming, you should re-seal your concrete floor. This protects your floor from damage and cracks.
It will also stop your concrete floor from giving off fine dust. You can apply the re-seal with a paintbrush or paint roller.
Do I Need to Seal My Concrete Floor to Reduce Dust?
You should seal your concrete floor to reduce dust and prevent other common concrete problems, such as cracking and scaling. Improper sealing can lead to an increased amount of dust on your concrete floor.
There are three different types of sealers:
- Topical sealers: These form a protective layer on top of your concrete floors and can be used indoors or outdoors.
- Penetrating sealers: Penetrates into the concrete and forms a chemical barrier that shields your floors against moisture.
- Integral sealers: These are added to the concrete mix and provide the same benefit as topical sealers, but it starts sealing immediately when the concrete is laid.
How Do You Seal a Concrete Floor?
To seal a concrete floor, you need to clear all the furniture from the room and vacuum the concrete floor, then pour a small amount of sealer into a painting tray and evenly apply it to your concrete floor using a paint roller.
You can use a paintbrush to seal the edges of the room. Give the sealer proper time to dry, between 12 and 24 hours, and then you can start to refurnish your garage/room.
You should re-seal your concrete floor every three years to protect your concrete floors against any damage or cracking.
Can You Vacuum Garage Walls?
You can vacuum garage walls if your vacuum is light enough to be picked up. We recommend using a Shop-Vac vacuum to clean your walls because these vacuums can clean up wet and dry messes.
Alternatively, you could use a broom to sweep your floors and allow the dust to fall on the floor where you could vacuum it off the floor.
This would be more practical if you have a large, heavy vacuum cleaner.
How Do I Keep My Garage Floor Clean in the Winter?
To keep your garage floor clean in the winter, make sure to brush off any snow, ice, or brown slush from your vehicle before you pull it into the garage. You want as little water as possible to seep into the concrete floor.
If water does seep into the concrete and it is not properly sealed, the floor will start to give off fine dust, which you would have to sweep and vacuum to clean.
Make sure to turn on the heating in your garage to evaporate any excess water before it seeps into the concrete.
Vacuums for Cleaning the Garage
You already know how and why you should clean/vacuum your concrete garage floor. Now, let’s discuss if your vacuum cleaner is the right fit for the job.
What Is the Most Powerful Garage Vacuum?
A vacuum that can clean concrete should have brush rolls that are tough enough for debris and dirt. The most common heavy-duty vacuum would be an Armor All Utility shop vacuum, perfect for outdoor and indoor cleaning.
The Armor vacuum has a 2.5-gallon tank, 10ft hose, and a blower function, which definitely comes in handy when cleaning your garage.
Other brands also manufacture heavy-duty vacuums, such as Bissel, Shop-Vac, Dyson, and Shark.
What’s the Best Garage Vacuum Cleaner?
The best garage vacuum might be the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional vacuum. This vacuum has almost 27 thousand reviews and is renowned for its amazing suction power.
Another reason why consumers approve of the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional vacuum is because of its multiple accessories (which can be very handy) and its ability to clean hard-to-reach spaces.
Another vacuum that we would also recommend is the Shop-Vac shop sweep vacuum. This vacuum is perfect for outdoor and indoor concrete cleaning and has a large permanent filter bag.
What Is the Best Shop Vac?
We recommend the Shop-Vac Indoor/Outdoor Vacuum as the best heavy-duty vacuum to use to clean your concrete floors. This vacuum has two height settings, perfect for any type of floor, and a large, 8-gallon filter bag.
We recommend this vacuum because it can also collect large debris like sticks, leaves, and sawdust. Household vacuums would not be able to collect and filter this debris.
It is a perfect vacuum for the garage.
You might also enjoy our post on Can You Vacuum Ashes?
Related Questions
What Does a Shop-Vac Do?
A Shop-Vac vacuum cleaner is known as a heavy-duty vacuum, most used in construction and woodworking. It can clean large debris, which other vacuums are not able to do.
Most people would not choose a Shop-Vac for regular cleaning in the house because it is so big and heavy. It is mostly used for big-time jobs.
Some of these vacuum cleaners can even suck up water or wet messes, which is a big advantage for someone in construction.
How Do You Clean Garage Rafters?
Most garage rafters are made of wood and quite simple to clean. This should be done at least twice a year.
Follow these steps to clean your rafters:
- Use a lint roller to remove any loose dust and cobwebs
- Dust the corners with a paintbrush (soft bristles)
- Use a degreaser to clean any grime and grease
- Rinse with clean, warm water
- Pat dry with a towel.
Final thoughts
You can vacuum your garage floor, but you should not try to do it with your regular household vacuum cleaner.
We recommend buying a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner from Amazon, like a Shop-vac vacuum cleaner.
