She notes that the curled end of the vacuum tube was helpful for sucking leaves from gutters and other hard-to-reach places. 'I like that it's equipped with an on-board conversion switch, so that you can flip between functions quickly and without the hassle of separate tubes and attachments,' says Rachel Rothman, Chief Technologist at the Good Housekeeping Institute, who tested the Worx over several weeks at her home on Long Island, NY. In our testing, it was particularly adept at scarfing up leaf fragments and other small debris. Our experts like the versatility of the corded-electric Worx Trivac, a powerful three-in-one blower, vacuum and mulcher that handles each task with ease and efficiency. The following picks perform well across all modes and are also solidly built and easy to operate. To come up with this roundup of winners, our experts considered both vacuuming and blowing power (as well as mulching, when applicable). Many of the best models combine vacuuming and blowing in a single device, so you don’t have to worry about buying, storing and maintaining separate tools. Here’s the good news from the Good Housekeeping Institute’s latest review of leaf vacuums. Think of it as the perfectionist’s outdoor power tool, a must-have for homeowners who like to leave no leaf unturned during routine yard clean-ups. Any of the top picks featured here will quickly suck up smaller piles of leaves and debris from under bushes, around foundation walls and even out of your gutters. While a powerful leaf blower is best for blasting thick blankets of leaves from your yard, a leaf vacuum is more about the finish work.

We updated this guide in December 2022 to ensure all products vetted by the Home Improvement Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute were in stock and correctly priced.

Leaf mulcher