This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. Do you have any dirty nooks or crannies in your home? Perhaps some grubby grout? A funky faucet? A swill-caked grill grate? For many cleaning tasks around the home, garage and shop, Dremel Versa takes elbow grease out of the equation and baked-on grease out of your oven. The Versa has four different cleaning options for various surfaces with varying degrees of yuckiness. The Home Depot sent us a Dremel Versa to check out, so let’s get our scrub on!
What Is The PC10-01 4V Max Dremel Versa Power Cleaner?
The Dremel Versa is a lightweight, palm-sized, water-resistant, rechargeable, high speed / low torque power cleaner backed by a 2-year limited warranty. It comes with a USB charger, a collapsible splash guard, a bristle brush attachment, a hook and loop backing pad and three 2-1/2” scrubber pads ranging from coarse to extra fine.
When I was working the Versa, I got around 15-20 minutes of run time before it needed a recharge. The instructions says it takes around 2 hours to fully charge the lithium-ion battery. But the one I tested is a little quicker.
That’s What She Said – Versa: At Home, Home On The Range
“I’ve tried cleaning that several times, with several different chemicals”, said the lady of the house when she saw the Dremel Versa was nearly done scouring away those burnt-on rings of boiled-over meals-gone-by from the glass stove top.
She’s given it the old college try several times, but I’ve been trying to remove them even longer: since I first moved in to this house, almost three years ago.
Wet, But Not Washed Up
The Dremel Versa is water resistant. You can’t submerge it, of course, but it’s perfectly fine to use it in wet environments. In fact, it’s often best to use the attachments wet and with liquid, foam, or gel cleaners (just like you might with a regular cleaning sponge or scrub brush). I dampened the brown scrubbing pad and cooktop with water, then pressed the sealed power button and went at it.
Granted, this is a long-term, baked-on mess. So it took a bit of scrubbing. But the Versa did all the work; I was just paid to hold it and look pretty. I ran through a full battery charge by the time I was most of the way through. In the end, it completed a job that made two grown adults throw in the towel. So kudos for that.
Changing Attachments On The Dremel Versa
It’s easy to swap between attachments. The bristle brush and hook and loop backing pad both screw onto the Versa’s threaded shaft. And the various scrubbers peel off of the backer pad and resecure on contact.
Dremel Versa – Bust That Rust!
So far, I’ve found a lot of situations where the brown heavy duty pad really shines. Or rather, makes other things shine. Surface rust on the hack saw frame pictured above was evicted without so much as a courtesy call. No notice required, and none given.
Scrub A Dub Dub, One Teen And His Tub
When looking for places to test the Dremel Versa power cleaner, I struck gold in the resident teen’s shower. I first tried the blue pad. It worked, but not as quickly as I’d like. So I switched to the bristle brush and that soap scum was run out of town quicker than you can say “Bob’s your uncle”.
A Low Shower-y Dye-it
Kids today… you crack one joke about the beacon-like glisten of a silver follicle and they run out shopping for purple “wash”. But fail to wash that wash off of a textured shower wall, and after a couple of days and it becomes noticeably more difficult to remove with a hand powered sponge. It certainly wasn’t going away with a simple “swipe left”. Believe me; I tried.
Dremel Versa – Smart Power Management
The power management electronics allow the Dremel Versa’s Li-Ion battery power to stay as strong as possible – and for as long as possible – before shutting down. So it doesn’t gradually get weaker and weaker, like you’d experience with Ni-Cads or Alkalines.
It also has an auto shut-down feature that powers the unit off and prevents damage if you overload or stall the motor. And a few times I did stall it while trying to buff my jointer (A job it’s not designed for. But, you know, I had to try). More on that later.
For the visual learners in the audience, enjoy Dremel’s quick promo video then we’ll wrap this up with some final thoughts:
The Rub On The Scrub – Dremel Versa
To answer the $49 question: is the Versa right for me? Well, it’s a power cleaner and it does rather well. In some cases, even better than expected. It really will scrub away some things that would otherwise require a lot more manual labor than I’m generally motivated to exert. So if you have small to medium-sized cleaning jobs around the home, garage, shop or car, the Versa just might be the tool you never knew you needed.
Since the Versa can tackle so many different cleaning jobs – from that yellow discoloration around the base of your toilet to the hard water stains on your pots and pans – you’re going to want to buy extra cleaning pads that you can dedicate to certain tasks.
Bathroom floors and kitchen counters: never the twain shall meet. So I wish extra attachments were a few dollars cheaper. But they do seem like they’ll last through a decent amount of grime time. I also wish the motor had just a little more torque to muscle through some even tougher jobs.
And Finally, Because Inquiring Minds Will Want To Know
When we received the Versa, I tried to anticipate the kinds of things Home Fixated readers might want to know in order to make an informed purchase. We love testing tools and telling you about their wonderful attributes, but we also strive to convey realistic expectations. So I explored some “unlisted” applications to satisfy my curiosity.
Since it looks kind of like a sander and kind of like a buffer, there are two nagging – but obvious – questions that immediately came to mind:
1) Can my Dremel Versa be used as a power sander? To find out, I used the coarse brown pad to remove the dried up chemical goo on a piece of pressure treated lumber, with moderate success. Then I cut a Versa-sized circle from a 180 grit hook and loop sanding disc with much better success.
The verdict: well, sort of. However, I wouldn’t buy it for that purpose. Remember, this is a high speed, low torque cleaning tool. Light sanding with medium to fine grit abrasive does work. But that’s not its intended purpose, and such use is probably not covered under warranty.
2) Can I use my Dremel Versa as a buffer? I’m going to say no; at least not in the way I used it (with wax). It will definitely clean glass and countertops; so kind’a, sort’a, maybe. But I wouldn’t recommend it for that purpose (And again, probably not covered under warranty). I’ll elaborate a bit:
Wax On – Wax Off (Pushing The Limits)
As much as I love cleaning (horse pucky to English translation: I hate cleaning, but I really like clean things), sometimes I want my twirly tools to do other things, like make me toast or serve up a tallboy IPA. I decided to see if I can use it to wax the iron in my shop. To keep wood gliding smoothly across your cast iron tools (table saw, jointer, bandsaw, drill press, etc…) – and to keep rust at bay – it pays to treat them with car wax every month or so.
I didn’t want to completely gunk up the only white spongy “eraser pad” I have, so I didn’t use it to apply the wax; only to buff it away after it clouded over (this is where you’d typically use a soft, clean rag). It worked OK as long as I didn’t force it. But, frankly, it was a little much for the Versa. Perhaps I should stick to its intended purpose: cleaning.
Buy the Dremel Versa for just under $50:
Extra attachments are available for just under $10 each:
I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with Home Fixated in sponsored content. As a part of the sponsorship, Home Fixated is receiving compensation for the purpose of promoting The Home Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are our own words. This post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.
