New on the shelves

Latest wet-and-dry workshop vac heads our kit round-up

NILFISK has ruled our recent tests of workshop vacuum cleaners with its class-leading Multi, but what if your budget doesn’t stretch to almost £150? That’s where the firm’s Buddy II comes in, so we jumped at the chance to try the latest version of its cheaper machine.

The best price we found for the Buddy II was just over half the cost of a Multi II, so what do you get for your money? For car use a long hose is key as it allows you to work from both sides without moving the cleaner, and this 18T version of the Buddy II has a useful fourmetre hose and a six-metre power lead.

You get lots of accessories, too. As well as a crevice tool and interchangeable wet and dry floor attachments, there are two half-metre extensions including the peg so they can be stored on the cleaner.

The Buddy II also retains the take-off for power tool dust extraction, although without the auto cut-off, plus there’s a blow function. Tank capacity is around half the size of the Multi’s, at 18 litres. Unless you’re clearing substantial liquid spills, this is sufficient for car work.

When cleaning the cabin of our car, we found the Buddy II was effective and easy to use, although the curved hose was awkward in some places.

Despite having a 1200W motor rather than the Multi’s 1400W, the Buddy II managed to clear our test debris in one pass. It’s a great, good-quality machine that’s ideal for lighter users.

“The Buddy II was effective and easy to use when cleaning the cabin of our car”

Power Buddy II’S 1200W motor cleared debris in a single sweep, although the curved hose was awkward to use in some parts of our car’s cabin

Handy Four-metre hose and six-metre power cable make cleaning car easy; socket lets you run power tools off vac, sucking up dust at same time