Backpack vacuums are fast in open floor, and a liability in a narrow hallway. Ask any crew that has cleaned a hotel corridor with one: the tank rides wide, and sooner or later it clips a picture frame or a wall sconce. The Sandia HEPA Hipster solves that by moving the machine off your back and onto your hip. You keep the walk-and-vacuum speed, and you keep your own width.
This is the 6-quart HEPA Hipster with the 5-piece standard tool kit (part 30-3001) - a 1.5 HP single-stage hip vacuum built for detail work in occupied space, with HEPA filtration in both the bag and the motor filter.
Built for
- Daytime cleaning in occupied buildings. Hotel corridors, offices and lobbies during business hours, where an upright is too loud and too slow.
- Tight and furnished spaces. Between desks, around fixtures, in narrow halls where a backpack tank gets bumped into things.
- Stairs and edges. The hip mount keeps a hand free for the banister and puts the wand where the work is.
- Filtration-sensitive sites. Schools, clinics, aircraft cabins and other areas where what the vacuum exhausts matters as much as what it picks up.
What is actually different about the Hipster
Three details matter more in daily use than the spec sheet suggests. The reversible cap means the same machine works for a left-handed and a right-handed operator, so a shared cart does not need two vacuums. The four-way belt tensioner and waist-belt design let each person on the crew set the load where their back can carry it for a full shift - a real complaint about backpacks is that the harness gets hot and uncomfortable by hour six. And the bag support plate holds the bag off the intake so airflow does not collapse as the bag fills, which is where cheaper machines lose their pickup halfway through a floor.
Filtration is a dual-bag system: a disposable heavy-duty paper micro-bag mounted inside a washable cloth shakeout bag, plus a HEPA motor filter. The body is impact-proof polyethylene with stainless steel latches and a 1.5-inch industrial hose, and the exhaust runs through a patented noise-suppressing chamber.
One honest caveat
A tool-kit hip or backpack vacuum has no beater bar. On plush residential-weight carpet, working cleaners are direct about the tradeoff - without a powerhead attachment, a suction-only machine will not pull embedded soil out of thick pile the way an upright with a brush roll does. For commercial loop and low-pile carpet, hard floors and detail work, this machine is the faster tool. For deep plush, look at a powerhead model.
Specifications
- Capacity: 6 quarts
- Airflow: 150 CFM
- Motor: 1.5 HP, 1-stage
- Power: 1340 watts
- Sound: 69 dB
- Amps: 11.5
- Volts: 115 V
- Size: 11 in H x 8 in W
- Hose: 1.5 in industrial
- Cord: 50 ft safety power cord
- Filtration: HEPA bag and HEPA motor filter; paper micro-bag inside washable cloth shakeout bag
- Warranty: lifetime on body, 5 years on motor and electrical components, 90 days on tools and accessories
5-piece tool kit included
- 56 in 2-piece 2-bend aluminum wand
- 14 in scalloped floor tool
- 17 in crevice tool
- 5 in upholstery tool
- 3 in dust brush
Frequently asked questions
What HEPA rating does Sandia publish for this vacuum?
Sandia states that the machine includes HEPA filtration with a HEPA bag and a HEPA motor filter. Sandia does not publish a capture-efficiency percentage or a particle size for this model, so we do not quote one.
Does it come with tools?
Yes. Part 30-3001 includes the 5-piece standard tool kit: a 56-inch two-piece two-bend aluminum wand, a 14-inch scalloped floor tool, a 17-inch crevice tool, a 5-inch upholstery tool and a 3-inch dust brush.
Hip vacuum or backpack - which should I buy?
Choose the hip for narrow halls, furnished rooms, stairs and detail work, where a backpack tank gets bumped. Choose a backpack for large open floors where you are walking long straight runs.
Will it clean thick plush carpet?
Not as well as an upright. This is a suction-only machine with no beater bar. It excels on commercial low-pile and loop carpet, hard floors and detail work. For deep plush, use a powerhead model.
How long is the power cord?
50 feet, which usually covers a corridor without re-plugging.
What does the warranty cover?
Lifetime on the body, 5 years on the motor and all electrical components, and 90 days on tools and accessories.
Discount Cleaning Products is an authorized Sandia dealer and stocks bags, filters and replacement tools for the Hipster line, so the machine stays serviceable years after you buy it. Our US-based staff can help you choose between the hip, backpack and powerhead configurations for the floors you actually clean.