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Spring is in full swing, and that means a veritable storm of cut grass, tree pollen, and other miscellaneous contaminants have likely already covered your car and the sides of your home. If you haven’t gotten to your spring cleaning yet, that means all of those grody substances have joined the existing layers of dirt and dead plants leftover from the winter. Needless to say, you’ve got your work cut out for you if you’re looking to get some in-depth cleaning done, much more work than you can realistically handle with just a bucket, a sponge, and some soapy water.
If you’re looking to get an edge over the natural nastiness of the spring cleaning season, you might want to pay a visit to your local Harbor Freight location. Unlike some of the more diverse standalone hardware brands like Ryobi or Milwaukee, Harbor Freight and its various in-store brands tend to specialize more in traditional power tools than cleaning implements. Even so, if you know where to look, you can find some pretty nifty gadgets to help your cleaning crusade, especially if you’re looking to clean up in a garage or workshop.
These Harbor Freight tools are backed up by positive feedback from casual and professional users. More information on our selection methodology is available at the bottom of the page.
HFT telescoping car wash mop
A wise man once said that the most important tool you can have for cleaning is a good mop. There’s some truth to this; a good, reliable mop will help you scrub the obvious contaminants from most surfaces in and around your home. If you have a particular problem with dirt and pollen covering your outdoor surfaces, you’ll want a mop with a good reach and good water retention. As it happens, these are two features of the HFT telescoping car wash mop.
This simple mop features a telescoping aluminum body that can extend out to a hefty 52 inches in length. At the end of that body is an 8-inch soft mop head, which can be used on its own for simple dusting and dirt removal or soaked for cleaning and washing. The head has a foam backing pad to help it better retain water while wet washing, ensuring the water actually goes where it needs to instead of flying everywhere.
As the 4.2 out of 5 ratings for this mop point out, it may be billed as a car wash mop and handles car cleaning excellently, but it’s also effective on all kinds of surfaces. Users have used it to clean dirt off their fences, wipe smudges off both sides of windows, and wash wooden slat flooring. The HFT telescoping car wash mop is available at Harbor Freight for $12.99.
Drill Master compact palm polisher
The frustrating thing about large-scale cleaning is that there are always little imperfections on surfaces that you can’t seem to get out with regular scrubbing implements. Sheer surfaces like windows and car bodies are magnets for stubborn, stuck-on dirt and weird, unattractive smudges. If you need a powerful tool for detail-oriented cleaning, try the Drill Master compact palm polisher.
This nifty little polisher is small enough to fit comfortably in one hand, outputting 3,500 OPM to rub those smudges out. The pad can house both 6-inch polishing pads and bonnets, so you can safely use whatever level of scrubbing and polishing strength you need. The pad utilizes random orbit action, ensuring you won’t accidentally create more smudges and swirls as you clean.
Users have given this polisher a 4.2 out of 5 rating, praising its primary usage in cleaning up the bodies, windows, and bumpers of cars. In addition to autowork, it’s great for all kinds of polishing jobs, with users using it to polish old instruments, wax shuffleboard discs, and more. The Drill Master compact palm polisher is available at Harbor Freight for $17.99.
Bauer 20V cordless 3-1/2 gallon wet/dry vacuum
A vacuum cleaner is another bedrock implement in the spring cleaner’s arsenal. While you might have a regular household vacuum on hand, that kind of cleaner doesn’t work as well for outdoor cleaning, not to mention the occasional wet, soggy mess leftover from the melted winter snow. For comprehensive cleaning, you want a shop vacuum like the Bauer cordless wet/dry vacuum.
At 7.6 lbs., this compact shop vac is about the same size and weight as a professional toolbox but packs the suction power you’d expect from a full corded device. With 45 CFM of airflow, you can not only suck up any loose dust, dirt, or debris in and around your home but also switch to blower mode and blow away those same contaminants with the same strength. The quick-pop top and washable filter allow you to quickly dispose of any captured wet or dry messes and get right back to cleaning.
This vacuum has both a 4.7 out of 5 user rating and a thumbs up from DIY YouTube channel Derek’s Workshop and Projects, who tested it by sucking up loose screws and an entire bucket of water. While the cordless design sacrifices some power compared to a corded vacuum, the convenience and portability more than make up for it. The Bauer cordless wet/dry vacuum is available at Harbor Freight for $59.99.
Portland Corded electric pressure washer
When dirt has been sitting on your home’s outdoor walkways and walls under piles of snow for the entirety of the winter season, it’s not going to leave without a fight when spring rolls around. If you’ve got old dirt stuck fast to the various nooks and crannies around your home, your only options are to run yourself ragged with a pack of toothbrushes or to bust out the pressure washer. If you don’t have a pressure washer yet, the Portland corded electric pressure washer is ideal for your consideration.
While this pressure washer uses outlet power instead of gasoline, it doesn’t compromise on strength. The adjustable spray nozzle fires water out in a 1750 PSI stream, more than enough to clean masonry, walkways, cars, and more. The base features convenient 4 ft. wheels to easily roll it out of the garage to the spot that needs cleaning, and if the cord isn’t long enough, the high-pressure hose extends another 20 ft. out.
In addition to its 4.3 out of 5 user rating at Harbor Freight, this pressure washer has garnered praise from the hardware YouTube channel Dad Deals. The channel called the tool an excellent and affordable option for a light-duty pressure washer, adding that it’s a great low-maintenance option for those who don’t need to do complicated cleaning. The Portland corded electric pressure washer is available at Harbor Freight for $89.99.
Central Machinery 2.5 liter ultrasonic cleaner
If you have a garage, workshop, or basement where you keep a variety of miscellaneous metal components, it’s a safe bet that those components have become at least a little grody while in winter storage. Whether they’re sticky with accumulated dust or have begun to rust, you need a specialized tool to clean them up and make them usable again. Instead of trying to clean them by hand, just dump them into the Central Machinery ultrasonic cleaner.
This little gizmo is like a miniature dishwasher, except it cleans small bits of metal instead of your dinner plates. Just dump your metal components into the bin, fill the tank with some cleaning powder and water, and choose a regular or heated cycle. In just a few minutes the powerful vibrating scrubbing will scour those components clean and shiny.
Users have given this device a 4.3 out of 5 rating for its efficacy in cleaning dirty car parts, scuffed jewelry, and even firearm components. It’s easy to set up, it’s nice and quiet while in operation, and according to several users, can stand up to regular usage over multiple years. The Central Machinery ultrasonic cleaner is available at Harbor Freight for $89.99.
Selection methodology
Spring cleaning can be a surprisingly demanding task, necessitating equipment that’s not only easy to use but also won’t take a massive bite out of your wallet. This is why SlashGear chose Harbor Freight products that are both simple and multi-functional in their purpose and cost less than $100.
Additional preference was given for products with a user rating of at least 4 out of 5 stars and positive feedback from YouTube review channels with at least 10,000 subscribers.
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