Black & Decker Slim dustbuster Cordless Car Handheld Vacuum Cleaner

A compact car-and-crumb companion that’s easy to live with

A good handheld vac shouldn’t demand attention until you need it. That’s exactly how the Slim Dustbuster fit into my routine: it lived on its charging dock, took up little space, and was always ready for quick cleanups in the car, kitchen, and around a desk. It’s not a deep-clean machine, but as a grab-and-go tool, it nails the fundamentals.

Design and ergonomics

The Slim Dustbuster is true to its name. At 2.8 pounds, it’s light enough for one-handed use without fatigue, and its long, narrow body makes it easy to snake between seats, under cabinet overhangs, and along baseboards. The balance is good; the weight sits low near the handle, so wrist strain is minimal when you’re reaching or angling the nozzle.

The charging dock is a bigger quality-of-life win than it sounds. Instead of fiddling with a barrel plug or hiding a cable, I dropped the vac onto the base and forgot about it. That encourages frequent use—exactly what a handheld vac is for—and it keeps the tool visible without being obtrusive.

Build quality feels solid for a compact tool. The twist-off dustbin locks with a confident click, and the nozzle connection doesn’t wobble. The plastics aren’t luxury-tier, but they’re not brittle either, and after bumping it around a car interior, I didn’t pick up any scuffs or looseness.

Suction and real-world performance

For a 12V handheld, the Slim Dustbuster pulls its weight. On hard surfaces—dashboards, shelves, countertops—it lifts fine dust and gritty debris without needing multiple passes. In a car, it handled sand, road salt, and snack crumbs from floor mats and seat seams better than I expected. On low-pile rugs and stair treads, it’s strong enough for surface debris, though it doesn’t have the agitation or airflow to pull embedded dirt the way a motorized brush head or full-size vac would.

Black & Decker calls out an extra-wide nozzle, and that helps with crumb fields and small piles of pet kibble. However, the throat behind the opening still narrows, which means truly bulky debris (think larger cereal rings or leaf clusters) can occasionally bottleneck near the inlet. It’s a minor quirk: a quick shake or lifting the nozzle angle clears it, but it’s worth knowing if you expect it to gulp everything in one go.

The included crevice tool is the star attachment. It reaches between console rails and seat adjusters where a bare nozzle can’t. The brush is handy on vents, keyboards, and soft surfaces where you’d rather sweep debris toward suction instead of relying on airflow alone. Swapping attachments is quick and secure.

Dustbin and filtration

Emptying is as simple as twisting the bin off and tipping it into a trash can. The capacity is on the smaller side, which is the trade-off for a slim body. I had to empty it once during a full car clean or after dealing with a bigger kitchen spill, but the process is clean and quick. For frequent spot-cleaning, it wasn’t an issue.

The washable filter (HLVCF10) is easy to pull, tap out, and rinse. Keeping it clean matters: suction drops noticeably when the filter gets caked with fine dust. My routine is to tap it out every couple of uses and rinse it under water every week or two, depending on how dusty the job was. If you plan to use it heavily, consider picking up a spare filter so one can dry while the other is in service.

Battery and charging experience

On paper, you’re working with a 12V MAX system and an 18 Wh pack. In practice, that translated to enough run time for what this tool is designed to do: quick jobs. I could tidy a sedan interior on a single charge—seats, mats, console, and door pockets—without watching the power fall off a cliff. The dock kept it topped up between uses, and I never felt like I had to “plan” my cleaning around the battery.

There’s no multi-speed control here; it runs at one setting, which keeps the interface simple but also means you can’t throttle down to extend runtime. For me, the simplicity fits the mission. If you need long sessions or varied speeds, you’re probably shopping a different class of handheld anyway.

Day-to-day usability

What stood out over a couple of weeks was how routinely I reached for the Slim Dustbuster. It’s slim enough to live on the counter without becoming clutter, and the dock means it’s always charged. In a kitchen, it’s great for flour dust and coffee grounds. In a workshop corner, it handled sawdust and small offcuts. Around pets, it did fine on loose hair on hard floors and upholstery, but it won’t break loose embedded fur from fabric—there’s no powered brush to agitate fibers.

Because the bin is small, frequent emptying is part of the experience. I don’t mind that trade-off in a slim handheld, but if you regularly vacuum big messes—think daily litter-box scatter or heavy garage debris—you’ll be happier with a larger-capacity hand vac.

Maintenance notes

• Empty the dustbin early and often. Fine dust packs tight and can choke airflow quickly.
• Tap out the filter after dusty jobs and rinse it periodically. Let it dry fully before reinserting.
• Inspect the nozzle throat if suction seems down; a wad of fibrous debris can lodge just past the opening.
• Keep the dock accessible. If you tuck it away, you’ll use the vac less and risk a low battery when you need it.

Replacement parts are straightforward: the filter uses the HLVCF10 designation, and generic or OEM replacements are easy to find.

What it’s great at

• Quick, frequent cleanups where convenience matters more than capacity
• Car interiors, especially with the crevice tool
• Hard surfaces and low-pile textiles
• Small homes, dorms, and offices where a full-size vacuum is overkill for crumbs and dust

Where it struggles

• Deep cleaning carpets or pulling out embedded pet hair
• Large or bulky debris that can occlude the nozzle throat
• Long cleaning sessions without bin emptying
• Users who want variable power or a motorized brush head

Alternatives to consider

If your priorities skew toward longer runtime, larger capacity, or pet-hair agitation, a heavier 18V/20V handheld with a powered brush will outperform this unit—at the expense of weight, size, and often noise. Conversely, if storage space is tight and you mostly spot-clean, the Slim Dustbuster’s compact frame and docked convenience are a better fit than a chunkier handheld or a stick vac.

The bottom line

The Slim Dustbuster hits a sweet spot for everyday convenience. It’s light, compact, and thoughtfully docked, with enough suction to make quick work of real-world messes in cars and around the house. The washable filter keeps consumables low, the attachments cover the common use cases, and the ergonomics make it a tool you’ll actually reach for. It’s not a deep cleaner, and the small bin means more frequent trips to the trash, but those trade-offs are inherent to its slim design.

Recommendation: I recommend the Slim Dustbuster to anyone who wants a dependable, always-ready handheld for quick cleanups, especially for car care and hard-surface messes. If your cleaning needs include embedded pet hair, large debris, or long sessions on carpets, look to a larger-capacity handheld with a powered brush; otherwise, this compact vac delivers exactly what it promises with minimal fuss.