Worx Cordless Compact Vacuum Cleaner tried & tested by car cleaning pros 2024

Written by Aaron Hussain Updated: 24 June 2024

True to form with the previous models from the brand we’ve tested, the Worx Cordless Compact Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner gracefully earned its way into our top picks for car vacuum cleaners. The build quality, capability at lifting dirt, and ease of movement make it a great choice. It also shares the same coveted battery that lasts up to four cars on the brand’s pressure washer.

It’s designed to be a durable, long-lasting wet and dry vacuum cleaner that’s more compact and easier to move around than other vacuums of its type. It doesn’t sit on wheels, but rather has a strap which you can wear on your shoulder as you carry it around. The base of it is the dust bag storage, and to the side, is where you place the universal 20V Worx battery.

It’s good value, too. It may be slightly more expensive than entry-level wet & dry vacuums such as the Karcher WD2 Plus. But at under £200, it undercuts a plethora of larger cordless vacuums while still being able to tackle the same tasks – and do them just as well. There aren’t many quality vacuum cleaners that come close to it at this price point, and the fact you can share the Worx batteries between this and many other accessories, such as the WG633.E pressure washer and the tyre pressure inflator, is mightily useful. It’s just a shame that on this application, that charge does drain a little bit faster.

Aaron Hussain tested this cordless vacuum cleaner. With a strong background in journalism and the owner of a classic car, he is well-trained in testing and has a sixth sense for filtering between the good, bad, and ugly in the world of car care products.

Verdict: A versatile vacuum cleaner that can give as good a clean as more expensive options while being more portable.

Verdict score: 4/5

Worx Cordless Compact Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner: what’s good?

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The scope of how good a vacuum cleaner is cannot be measured without how useful it is at cleaning things. We put it to the test whereby a Citroen C4X used as a family runabout was provided with a garden’s worth of dirt – especially in the back. I’m guessing it had been on some form of family outing in the countryside beforehand. As such, the Worx had quite the task ahead of it.

After a couple of rounds of sweeping the carpets, row by row, they looked significantly more welcoming than before. The feel of the suction as you hold the hose isn’t that intuitive; I did feel that there was a degree of separation compared toa regular handheld device, but it didn’t detract from the results.

Perhaps the slight lack of feel is due to how well-insulated and engineered the machine is. The 20V battery powers a brushless motor, which delivers 16KPA (kilopascals) of suction pressure. For comparison, a Karcher WD2 Plus (our current king of wet and dry vacuums) generates 20KPA, so it really isn’t far behind some corded machines.

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The attachments also proved useful. The crevice tool was perfect for cleaning the grooves and seat edges, it took up the challenge without fuss. This proved to be of good use when it comes to cleaning the driver’s footwell, including behind the pedals and, where possible, underneath the seats.

I like how you can simply place the machine on the seats as you go, too. A lot of car vacuum cleaners can be large and bulky to move around when cleaning the simplest of places. But because you can put the body of the machine down, you can just take the hose and do your tasks by stretching it. It really did take quite a lot of weight off (physically and mentally) the strenuous task of interior car cleaning.

Worx Cordless Compact Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner: what’s okay?

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While you only have to stretch the extendable hose to reach your desired cleaning zones, Worx could’ve done with making it a bit longer. Don’t get me wrong; it was still manageable to use, but a bit of extra length would’ve prevented me from having to move the body of the machine just a bit to access a bit more underneath the seat.

For cleaning the boot area this can become evident if you’re cleaning quite a large estate car. But for most applications, it’s about as long as you will need.

Worx Cordless Compact Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner: any negatives?

The only overarching con I can think of is the same feeling I had with the brand’s WG633.E cordless pressure washer on various occasions: charge anxiety.

The 20V battery (4.0Ah), which is a universal Worx unit, is great. It lasted up to five whole car washes before while conducting our previous group tests. But you can never escape the urge of having to open the hatch on the vacuum to check the charge status. Will it have enough to do the front footwells? Is there enough to do the boot? If you get one of these, those are questions you will be asking yourself mid-clean.

Eventually, after around 30-35 minutes of nearly-continuous cleaning on normal mode and short bursts of power mode, the battery was displaying 1 bar of charge left. There are 4 bars indicating the charge, and it seemed to drain a lot more quickly on the vacuum than it did on our pressure washer.

Second opinion, Ryan Gilmore:

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“I like just how simple and purposeful the Worx is. All of the vacuum components are found in the top casing. The motor, filter, hose, battery housing and handle all neatly intertwine. This means the dust bin is absolutely huge, far bigger than a standard cordless vacuum. I’ve had no issues with performance either, the suction has mostly been really solid. The hose has become clogged a couple of times with larger bits of debris, and the shoulder strap really could be improved. It’s still seamlessly entered daily usage for cleaning my car and quick jobs around the home. As a portable device I really do like it.”

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Who tested the Worx Cordless Compact Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner?

The test was conducted by Aaron Hussain. As a commercial content writer, classic car owner, and with a strong background in journalism, he has a keen eye for putting things to the test and revealing their true qualities, such as when he sampled the Karcher WD2 Plus. He’s used the Worx cordless pressure washer various times and is well aware of the brand’s pros and cons, and was therefore excited to try out the new vacuum.

Ryan Gilmore, the deputy commercial content editor for Parkers, also tested the device. Using the Worx for cleaning duties around his home and car, he’s spent the past four week s seeing just how seamlessly it really is.

How the product was tested

The task was simple: clean out the interior of a Citroen C4X press vehicle that was lathered in dirt, dust, and other outdoor detritus. Since only two attachments came with the vacuum, the main one was used for the carpets, seat bases, while the crevice tool was used for the seat edges and other awkward areas throughout the cabin. Since then it has been used to clean small areas around a home; including crumbs, DIY debris and even a go sucking up spilt water.

Aaron Hussain is a commercial content writer at Bauer Media writing for Parkers and CAR. He is obsessed with classic cars and anything with a fascinating story to tell.

Ryan Gilmore is the Deputy Autos and Tools Editor for Parkers, specialising in car cleaning and hand tools. A veteran car cleaner; if it details, waxes or washes he’ll be on hand to make sure it’s worth your money.

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