6 DeWalt Tools That Help Make Spring Cleaning A Breeze

As the seasons shift and the air outside finally starts to get warm enough to throw open the windows and let the dust out, a lot of people like to engage in a bit of spring cleaning. Not only does this embrace the spirit of the season of renewal, but it also provides a perfect excuse to scrub out all those hard-to-reach places that get missed during your regular cleaning regimen. Those who collect power tools might even want to look into whether any products from their preferred brand might be able to spare them some elbow grease and add a bit of horsepower to this annual tradition.

DeWalt is frequently counted as one of the best power tool brands on the market, and fans who have invested in its 20V and 60V battery systems might be wondering if the company has any products that could be useful for spring cleaning. These users will be happy to know that there are a ton of great DeWalt products that can help you whip your home back into shape, inside and out. I've been using DeWalt tools for a number of years, and I've found that the best way to pick products for these kinds of products is to take a look at what's available in DeWalt's current catalog, choose the options with the specs that best suit your needs, and then look up reviews from both customers on sites like Amazon as well as those from professional reviews who have spent time extensively testing their capabilities.

One of the most important aspects of spring cleaning is getting rid of all the dust that's accumulated in your home after months of not being able to open the doors or windows without letting all the heat out. Luckily, DeWalt is pretty good at dust collection.

The company makes a few different kinds of big shop vacs that are good for cleaning out your car or garage, but you might be better off with the DeWalt 20V Cordless Dry Hand Vacuum for indoor cleaning. This is one of the more affordable DeWalt tools that make a great addition to any homeowner's toolbox. It has 46 CFM (cubic feet per minute) of suction that's designed for job site cleaning, meaning that it's more than capable of cleaning your home. The vacuum has HEPA filtration which is able to clean up fine dust and other small particles. It has an LED work light built into the body and comes with six different attachments: An extension tube, a hose, a crevice nozzle, a round brush, a gulper brush, and a floor nozzle. It also comes with an accessory bag to keep them in when you aren't using them. According to DeWalt, this tool can run for up to 21.4 minutes on a single charge of a DCB205 5Ah battery.

The tool has a 4.7 out of 5-star rating on Amazon, with customers citing its utility, suction, portability, build quality, and ease of use as reasons that they enjoyed working with it. James Holland of Top Ten Reviews gave the vacuum four stars, stating that it's "powerful with the kind of suction that puts a lot of other handhelds to shame." However, he also noted that it wasn't ideal for cleaning carpets indoors.

Another option that you might want to consider is a vacuum that's able to clean wet debris in addition to dry. This is particularly handy for anyone who might want to shampoo upholstery or carpet as part of their spring cleaning.

One of the better options from DeWalt is the 20V Max Cordless/Corded Wet-Dry Vacuum. You can plug this into a power outlet for normal use around the house, or you can disconnect it and run it on a 20V battery if you want to clean out a car, a shed, or anything else that's a bit further from the grid. It has a two-gallon tank capacity and uses a Gore Wet/Dry HEPA filter which helps to remove allergens and other smaller particles that other filters might miss. This filter is also washable and reusable. The vacuum has an integrated flexible 5' hose and comes with both crevice and wide-nozzle tool attachments.

This tool has a 4.5 out of 5 on Amazon, with users citing its portability, cleaning power, build quality, and ease of use as its greatest strengths. Clint DeBoer of Pro Tool Reviews gave it an 8.5 out of 10 in his review. "For smaller jobs and portability it's going to be hard to beat the DeWalt DCV581H wet/dry vac," he says. "Especially if you already have a lot of yellow and black in your garage or work trailer."

A good portable fan is a valuable resource during spring cleaning. It can help to air out a dusty room, help to dry floors after mopping or help disperse the fumes from odorous cleaning products like the heavy degreasers used for cleaning ovens.

DeWalt sells a 20V Max 11" Jobsite Fan that works with both corded and cordless power sources (though you'll need to add a separately purchased extension cord if you want to plug it into an outlet.) This fan has a wide range of power outputs that can be adjusted with variable speed control and an IP54 rating for limited dust and water resistance. It also has a built in adjustable stand, retractable metal hooks for if you want to hang it, and a port for attaching a tripod mount that is sold separately.

The fan has a 4.8 out of 5 on Amazon, with customers praising its power, battery lig, value, portability, low noise level, and build quality. ToolGuyd ran a comparison of the DCE511B to the newer DCE512B and noted that, while the newer model has a more powerful motor, it no longer has the option for an AC port or a tripod mount, meaning that many may still find the older 511B to be the better option for the sake of convenience.

A good blower tool can be useful for all kinds of projects. Sure, it can help you gather leaves and collect yard debris in the fall, but it's good for blowing dust off your deck and clearing your driveway, too. There are also a lot of less conventional uses for a blower some users may not have considered. You can use it to help clear dryer lint from your vents, which helps to prevent fires; you can use it to blast debris from under large furniture or appliances that aren't easy to move, such as cabinetry or a refrigerator; you can blow hard to reach cobwebs from tall ceilings, get an attachment that allows you to use it to clean out gutters, speed up the drying of paint, or, like a fan, you can use it to dry wet floors.

DeWalt sells a few blowers, but the 20V Max XR Brushless Cordless Handheld Blower is a good option to consider. It can move up to 450 CFM of air at speeds up to 125 MPH when used in conjunction with the included concentrator nozzle. This is controlled via a variable speed trigger that comes with a speed lock to help you control the output.

It isn't the most powerful blower that DeWalt makes, but it's a good option for most users. "Homeowners already on the DeWalt 20V platform will find this difficult to pass up," said Chris Boll of Pro Tool Reviews. "If you want something for more than a 1/8-acre yard, however, you may want to look for something supporting larger battery capacities."

When it comes to the outdoor side of spring cleaning, there are few tools that are more useful than a good power washer. This can help you to blast the moss, dirt, slime, and grime from your outdoor furniture, decks, walkways, and paving stones. Finding the right power output for your needs can be tricky, though. Those who need to wash large swaths of concrete might want a bigger and more powerful option than the kind DeWalt makes, but those who want something of middling power that doesn't have a big storage footprint might want to consider a handheld model.

Fortunately, DeWalt makes a tool that fits this exact description. Many users have found the company's 550 PSI 20V to be underpowered, but its 60V Max 1,000 PSI Power Wash is a bit more capable. You can pair this with DeWalt's 12" Surface Cleaner for even better results. It has a 3.9 out of 5 on Amazon, with most customers liking the tool overall but a few key complaints being that it's heavy and that it's not as powerful as non-portable washers. One contributor on the ToolTalk forum posted a more in-depth review of the washer. "So far I'm extremely happy. I borrowed a 550 from a neighbor some time ago and found it underpowered, but the 1000 is fantastic," they said. "It's powerful enough to blast the muddy wasp/birds nests right off the wall but I wasn't at all concerned about it damaging the paint. The patio floor was tiled and had a lot of brown stains on it from seepage of dirty water from potted plants–the turbo nozzle removed the vast majority of the stains very quickly."

A drill might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about power tools that can help you clean, but depending on the attachments you get, it might just be the most versatile cleaning tool in your arsenal. There are a lot of useful drill extensions that have nothing to do with drilling, such as scrub brushes, buffers, dryer vent cleaning kits, and paint mixers. There also may be some projects that require you to remove a few fasteners in order to get to those hard-to-reach places.

DeWalt makes a lot of really powerful drills, but those who are just looking for a model for cleaning purposes and basic use around the house might be better off saving a bit of money and getting something like the 20V MAX Brushless Cordless ½" Drill/Driver. This drill has a 15 position clutch and is designed to deliver up to 404 UWO (unit watts out) and up to 1,650 RPMs, which represents a 16% increase in power over previous models. It also has a keyless ratcheting chuck, an onboard LED, and a belt hook for added convenience.

"This is great for projects around the house," wrote Hank O'Hop of The Drive. "I already know it's going to see a ton of use for maintenance and honey-do projects in that territory. It's the perfect size and has more than enough power for anything of the likes." He noted that it might not be suitable for some heavy-duty professional-grade tasks, but that it should be more than adequate as a household drill.

I've been a DeWalt user for years. My work shed is full of black and yellow tools, and I have personally operated several of the company's products in various cleaning projects. In order to construct this list, I started by going to DeWalt's website and taking a look at the tools that are currently available in its catalog. I then chose six products that I felt would be most useful for spring cleaning projects, both inside and outside the home.

Once I had this list, I examined the products' specs in order to ensure that they were adequately powerful for the tasks most users would need them for. I then looked at both customer reviews and professional reviews (where possible) in order to verify that the products stood up to real-world handling as well as DeWalt suggested they do on paper.