Clarke® Summit Pro® 18SQ Wet/Dry Vacuum, 18 Gallon, with 24" Front-Mount Squeegee

It's 8 p.m. and your crew just stripped the cafeteria floor. There's a film of stripper and rinse water across 3,000 square feet of VCT, and the room has to be dry and refinished before breakfast. With a wand and a floor tool, that's a long night of short strokes. The Clarke Summit Pro 18SQ wet/dry vacuum carries a 24-inch squeegee on its front, so you push it across the floor like a broom and the water goes straight into an 18-gallon tank.

A two-stage motor gives it 95 CFM of airflow and 90 inches of waterlift, and the 50-foot cord covers most rooms from one outlet. When you need to reach corners, drains or dust on a ledge, grab the 9-foot hose and pick a tool from the 5-piece kit that rides in the handle.

I'd point the Summit Pro 18SQ at schools, gyms, commercial kitchens and any crew that strips or scrubs with a floor machine and needs the water gone fast. Lowering the squeegee is a foot job: press the top of the pedal at the back and it drops to the floor, press the bottom and it lifts for transport. The 10-inch wheels roll it over thresholds and up a few steps, and when you're done you empty it through the drain hose at the back instead of tipping the tank.

Now the honest part. Unlike a cartridge-filter vac, you swap filters between wet and dry pickup, and Clarke voids the motor warranty if you pick up water without the Bubble Buster in place. At 81 dB(A) it's an after-hours machine, not one to run in a lobby at noon. And at 60 lbs and 41.5 inches tall, it lives in a mechanical room or a closet with floor space, not on a shelf. If your messes are small spills across several sites, the lighter Maxxi II 35 further down is the easier vac to live with.

• 24-inch front-mount squeegee. Each pass picks up a 2 ft wide strip, and the rear foot pedal raises or lowers it without bending down.

• 18-gallon tank with a drain hose. A full tank of water weighs about 150 lbs. Pull the ball plug over a floor drain instead of lifting it.

• 95 CFM and 90 inches of waterlift. A two-stage, 1.17 hp motor, with a float that cuts suction when the tank is full.

• 50-foot safety yellow cord. Long enough for most hallways and classrooms from a single outlet.

• 10-inch non-marking wheels. They roll over thresholds and climb stairs without scuffing the floor you just cleaned.

• Complete tool kit on board. Crevice tool, dusting brush, wet and dry floor tools and a 3-piece stainless steel wand store in the handle.

The Summit Pro uses a different filter for each job. For water, the blue Bubble Buster nylon foam suppression bag (Nilfisk part GV25014) goes in under the vacuum head. Clarke requires it for every wet job: run wet pickup without it and the vacuum motor warranty is void. Rinse it with clean water after each use so buildup doesn't choke the airflow.

For dust and debris, take the Bubble Buster out and fit the cloth filter (GV0014). Check it after each use and change the bag when it's about three-quarters full. One thing worth knowing before stripping day: foam doesn't lift the float, so if stripper or detergent starts foaming in the tank, add a defoamer before it reaches the motor.

There's no bag to buy for wet work, because the Bubble Buster rinses out and goes back in. Your wear items are the squeegee blades, the floor tool blades and the cloth filter for dry pickup. Wipe the squeegee blades with a cloth after each use, check the hose for holes and clogs, and grease the wheels and axles with a water-resistant lubricant once a month. These are the Nilfisk part numbers. Call or message us and we'll quote any of them.