Dyson Clean+Wash Hygiene - They're Back, Baby!

After being surprisingly underwhelmed by my last Dyson experience, (the Spot+Scrub Ai robot vacuum) I was a little anxious about dipping my toe back in to its latest product line.

What if there really was a robot apocalypse happening at Dyson? What if Sir James and his cohort of solution-obsessed engineers spread across the globe were starting to lose their edge?

Is Dyson still the dominant force in floor-cleaning tech innovation? Or after all this time at the top, has the empire finally started to fall, as they all inevitably do in the end?

No. Not to worry. I've had a go with the latest Dyson and it didn't let me down. Far from it.

It would be easy to suggest the Clean+Wash Hygiene is just a stripped-back version of the V16 Pistion Animal Submarine I reviewed late last year - or more specifically, the Submarine 2.0 Wet Roller head, the ultimate attachment for dealing to hard floor mess and spills.

The physics of it is essentially the same; a hyper-absorbent wet roller sops up any dirt or liquid it runs over, then that roller is intensively combed, squeegeed and rinsed with every rotation. As a result, solid waste is separated from dirty liquid - the former ending up on the debris tray, the latter in its own sealed tank.

The liquid part of the equation is absolutely true; dealing with the dirty water couldn't be more simple or fuss-free. The dirty water tank is essentially just a bottle on its side, complete with water-tight screw cap. The tank just unclips from the roller head, you unscrew the lid, empty, rinse and replace.

But before you put it back, you'll have to deal with the solids side of the formula. This gets a bit more hands-on - and therefore a bit yuckier.

In Dyson's promotional videos, you'll see a happy-go-lucky homemaker slide out the debris tray, shake a bit of nice, dry detritus into the bin, before giving everything a quick rinse and popping it all back together. The website specifically claims, "No sludge. Water and debris are separated." Well, watch my video below and you tell me what's left in the red debris tray isn't best described as, "Sludge."

The black anti-tangle comb and sprung mangle do a fine job of constantly cleaning the roller as it spins, but when you're dealing with a mess like soggy Weetbix and dog hair, not even Dyson can instantly dehydrate that mix so you're left with a nice, dry little pile of rubble that can be playfully scattered into the trash.

Don't get me wrong; the Clean+Wash Hygiene does an unbelievable job of making vast splodges of K9-Bix-Sludge disappear off the floor, it's just... you will have to get your hands dirty at some stage.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First you get to use the thing, which is pretty darn fun - definitely at least 17 times more fun than hand mopping... and about 84,000 times more effective. You see, that's roughly how many microfibre filaments make up Dyson's most absorbant roller ever. Because the roller is being constantly cleaned, you're not just smearing dirty water all over your floor like you would with a conventional mop.

What's more, because the roller is so absorbant and only the exact amount of water is being used to wash it from the easy-fill clean water tank, you're left with a streak-free finish that's dry enough to walk on within seconds.

That wonderful roller isn't just about thousands of microfibre filaments, there are also hundreds of firm nylon bristles embedded in there too, to make sure no stray strand of hair gets left behind. This is essential news if you're a dog-owner like me. As cute as he is, my mutt seems to be able to leave a fine sheen of hair across every corner of the floor which catches the setting sun just beautifully at the end of the day.

Or at least it would, if I hadn't dealt to it with the Clean+Wash Hygiene. So you end up with a lot of hair in there, which is often big trouble for any kind of roller mop or brush. But not this one - that's where the Anti-Tangle comb comes in, diverting it directly to the debris tray before it can wrap itself around the roller, wrecking its usefulness and shortening its lifespan.

That's the other cool thing about this cleaner - it's not just a mop; you don't have to vacuum first. In fact, you don't have to vacuum at all. Although it's a Dyson, it doesn't suck. In the video below you'll hear me describe it as more of a pump-action cleaner. Strictly speaking, it's "capillary action" that draws all the waste into the head unit. (No, I don't fully understand what that means either) 

What I do know is, it's super effective, in many cases requiring only a single pass to clean up every day grime, with your choice of four different modes (including a dedicated MAX mode button) to adjust how much water is used at any given time.

All this is clearly displayed on the bright, colour LCD display on the handle, nestled among the easy-reach controls.

The fully-charged device will comfortably run for over an hour. Then, once you're done, it's time for clean-up, which is essentially where we started.

Look, having to scrape a bit of Sludgy-Bix into the bin by hand is the very first of first world problems. I just wish it was as easy and as hands-off as washing and drying the roller is.

All self-cleaning requires from you is a full clean-water tank and a push of a button once the Clean+Wash Hygiene is back on the charging dock. Then you'll be treated to a pretty loud 145-second cleaning cycle, where the whole system is thoroughly rinsed through, followed by a slightly (but not all that much) quieter hot air drying.

I'll choose a bit of fan noise over the literal hours of drying many other hard floor cleaners take (robot or otherwise).

Perhaps the best thing about the whole process, no icky smells. I've reviewed some devices that absolutely reek after a few uses because apparently, that's just what happens when moisture gets into a filter. But guess what? With the Clean+Wash Hygiene, there is no filter. Remember? It's not a vacuum. Genius.

When it comes to keeping wood, tile, or any other hard floor spick and span, this is a pretty fun way to do it. Both solids and liquids are dealt with at the same time, and even if there's been a lot of water spilled, the Clean+Wash Hygiene will have that "capillaried" up in no time. The large size of the roller head also helps speed up the job and the whole device can be used totally flat, to reach under furniture and cabinets.

This is the kind of Dyson design we've come to expect; outside the box thinking that does an old job everyone hates in a new, much more effective way.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Dyson Clean+Wash Hygiene.