Dyson WashG1 - Awesomely Disgusting

This is easily the most revolting review I've ever written.

While I've tried all manner of vacuums over the years, including robot ones - and even motorised window cleaners, I've never encountered quite the extent of filth as I did this time around.

Of course, the question is; just how close to the filth did I have to get? Let's find out.

The WashG1 is Dyson's first attempt at a wet floor cleaner, although there is a self-contained wet roller head called the Submarine which attaches to the V15s Detect vacuum.

In their usual style, the engineers at Dyson didn't just come up with their version of other electric mops out there. These basically fall into one of two categories; 1) Scrub the floor with some form of rotating pad (or pads) or 2) Just suck everything up in a big gloopy mess.

The Dyson WashG1 doesn't really fall into either category - in fact, it doesn't technically "suck up" anything at all, which is kind of ironic given sucking up is what Dyson is best known for.

Instead, after a lot of testing, the Dyson R&D department discovered the key to cleaning hard floors isn't about how hard you scrub. It's more to do with how intensely you can soak it. Therefore their solution was a dual-tank system that pumps clean water onto two spinning microfibre rollers, then squeezes the dirty water out and pumps it back into a second tank. Meanwhile, any bits and pieces get brushed into their own little tray to be dealt with later.

So in short, this isn't a vacuum. It's more like a rolly-pumper... or perhaps a pumpy-roller?

Design is what Dyson does best and the WashG1 is definitely no exception. I put it together in about a minute and a half, straight out of the box, with no instructions. Everything slides easily into place, clicking home securely. 

Likewise, the rechargeable battery is a doddle to snap in and out so if the approximate 35-minute run-time isn't enough to get you through a whole clean, I assume you can order a second battery to have on hand.

Perhaps the only possible point of confusion, (at least according to one other review I read) is which way up to fit the double water-tank. Personally, I didn't find this confusing at all because the lower, dirty water tank has an indentation in the base that fits perfectly onto its corresponding position on the main device.

I also read a few complaints about the lids on the water tanks being fiddly to screw on. Again, I couldn't disagree more. If anything, these might be the best designed screw-tops I've ever come across. While it's true the single output nozzle on the clean tank and the dual inputs of the dirty tank have to line up with their respective release buttons, this happens automatically when you tighten the lids. I haven't had a single issue.

In another bit of design genius, the WashG1 can stand up by itself, all you have to do is click the handle into its upright position, perpendicular to the floor. You can't start it in this position though, so it's not until you've filled the blue tank with clean water and clicked the handle down that you'll be able to get underway.

Dyson describes the WashG1 as lightweight. I'm not so sure. It's just under 5kgs and of course, when you add a litre of water, that's another kilo again. Lucky then it's so manoeuvrable. The square head swivels in every direction and because the two microfibre rollers spin in opposite directions, it's very easy to move over the floor.

The handle folds down almost flat, which means I can get right in under my bathroom cabinets, as I demonstrate in the video below. You do have to be a bit careful though as using the WashG1 at such an angle often fools it into thinking the dirty tank is full and it won't continue cleaning until you've emptied it.

This information is clearly shown on the small full-colour screen on the top of the handle. This also displays your remaining running time and which of the three wash modes you're in.

In my regular use of the WashG1 on my timber flooring and bathroom tiles I found it did a spectacular job. It cleaned everything with ease and left very little water on the floor afterwards, so I was able to replace mats and furniture within minutes.

On my first use, I was quite disgusted at how dirty the water in the dirty tank was. Luckily, it's just as easy to empty and rinse out this tank as it is to fill the clean one.

Emptying the dry debris tray is a bit more of a mission. This slides out from the cleaning head itself and if I thought the dirty water was gross, I was quite unprepared for the collection of dirt, dead flies, hair, food particles and other detritus I found on this tray. I quickly washed it away and tried to block the image from my mind.

The charging stand is surprisingly compact; not much bigger than the head of the WashG1. This is also where you can run the self-cleaning cycle, which flushes the whole system so you're all spick and span for next time.

Although this seems to do an amazing job of squeezing out most of the moisture from the cleaning heads, they certainly don't end up completely dry by any stretch of the imagination and I do wonder if things might get a bit musty if you just left the WashG1 sitting snugly in its stand for days or weeks on end without removing the rollers to dry.

This is easy enough - another click and release system - and admittedly Dyson recommends you take them out and give them a more manual clean every three uses or so.

So yes, there is a bit of fiddling around here and at NZ$1,099.00 is it all worth it?

My answer is, it depends. About 2/5ths of my house is hard floors and I have a dog who hasn't quite mastered the art of wiping his feet before he comes in out of the rain. Generally I leave the mopping to a robot vacuum who does a pretty good job but, just like the Dyson, does require some fiddly maintenance and cleaning from time to time.

Where the Dyson WashG1 really excels is cleaning up food spills. Any manual mop and yes, even my fancy robot, will just smear a mess like that around, and it would take several goes to dispose of all the evidence. Because the WashG1 literally picks up all the solid bits as it goes, one or two passes is generally all that's required.

So for people who are feeding toddlers in high-chairs, it really seems like an essential tool. Also, I don't know if you've ever smashed a jar of something on the floor but for me, it's always one of those, "Where do I start first?" sort of situations. After you've picked out the large pieces of glass, what next? You can't vacuum it, because it's wet. And you can't really mop or wipe it because of the little bits of glass.

This is where the WashG1 reigns supreme - and I know this because I found a tiny glass shard in the debris tray last time I used it. Who knows how long that had been lying around, waiting to stick into someone's toe or my dog's nose?

Sure there are limitations - I found the wide roller head didn't really cope very well with uneven surfaces like where the floor meets door-sills and although the rollers do reach right to the very edges of the cleaning head, you still can't quite get into tight corners.

That being said, it's a lot less work than a mop and you're not just re-splashing the same water over your floor as it gets progressively dirtier and dirtier in the bucket. The drying time is outstanding and the water tanks really are a cinch to fill and empty.

If you have hard floors and you have the budget, it's a pretty well design tool to add to your housework arsenal.

Click here for more information and pricing on the Dyson WashG1.