The search for the perfect floor cleaner continues, with new contenders lining up to take their shot.
In one corner: a cat prone to shedding, two small children who are hit and miss on the feet wiping, and some ill-advised shiny white flooring. In the other: the Dyson Wash G1, the new wet floor cleaner from the people who sold you on the bagless, cordless vacuum and bladeless fans.
According to Dyson, the Wash G1 will tackle everything from spills and debris (wet and dry) to hair and tough, dried-on stains on hard floors – all things my floors will see on a regular basis.
Is it a game changer? Sort of.
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The concept is simple: a cleaner that will scrub your floors clean with nothing more than clean water, some fluffy rollers with carbon fibre bristles, and some of Dyson’s motors. You have a clean-water tank and a dirty-water one, with adjustable mop speeds and water levels. It’s basically a smarter mop, and one where you don’t necessarily have to vacuum first.
That is because the Wash G1 automatically divides debris and water into separate containers, so you don’t touch the dirt and can easily empty it in a bin. Well, in theory, anyway.
Battery life is only 35 minutes, so you need to move quickly, although it does not take too long to power through the ground floor of my house
Does it work? As a floor cleaner, yes, and quite well too. It is up and running in a matter of minutes, and with minimal fuss. There are three modes: level one is for light dirt and debris, and picking up hair; level two will dispatch dirty footprints and food-related mess; while level three deals with dried-on stains, muddy bootprints and sticky messes. A boost mode can be used in short bursts to deal with more stubborn stains.
The Wash G1 deals with cereal spills, cat hair, crumbs and the grass tracked in from the back garden without any fuss. And it doesn’t leave pools of water behind. My floors have never looked cleaner, and that includes when the occasional robot helper gets involved.
But remember that debris and water separation? The Dyson site shows a nice image of someone carefully emptying (dry) dust and dirt into the bin from the tray located under the rollers. Seems simple, but in my experience, what actually happens is that although most of the water goes into the dirty water tank, and the debris gets trapped in the tray, you’ll find that debris tray also collects a bit of water. That inevitably mixes with the dry waste, creating a bit of a damp dirt paste. So instead of easily emptying a little dust and dirt out of the tray, you are trying to shake wet waste out of it, and end up having to scoop it out instead. Although it doesn’t have to be done too regularly, once is more than enough.
There are also some rules about using the Wash G1. You can use hot (not boiling) water if you need to degrease floors. I got better results using warm-to-hot water than I did with cold. And while the Wash G1 is supposed to work with plain water, you can use floor cleaner, although Dyson specifies a low-foam cleaner should be used, not detergent or bleach. Or, as the case may be, a bit of washing-up liquid, unless you want to clean up a lot of foam. Figuring out what qualifies as a gentle low-foam cleaner might be more difficult, though.
When you are finished, you pop it on the charging stand, and you can run a self-cleaning cycle that will clean the rollers and flush out the internal system. All you need to do is empty the dirty water tray.
Those microfibre rollers, however, need to be replaced after a certain period. Dyson says they last 25 hours of use, which it averages at about six months, but I could see me hitting that in less than half the time given the amount of time I used the cleaner in space of only a few days. That cost could add up a bit over the year.
Battery life is only 35 minutes too, so you need to move quickly, although it does not take too long to power through the ground floor of my house.
Good
When it comes to cleaning, the Wash G1 gets the job done. You don’t have to vacuum beforehand (although it helps), with the Wash G1 powering through almost all the spills in my home. The three washing modes (plus the boost mode) tackle almost everything that the house throws at it, including grubby porch tiles.
Bad
Some of the tougher stains are too much for the Wash G1, even using the boost. They require old-fashioned elbow grease to remove.
That debris tray can get pretty grim (see previous comments about vacuuming in advance), and cleaning it out can get messy. It is quite big, and it will be something else you need to find a spot for in your home.
It doesn’t replace your stand-alone vacuum, and at nearly €700, that will be an expensive replacement for a standard mop.
Everything else
You get 35 minutes of battery life, which isn’t as short as it sounds. You can easily tackle the hard floors in the house and then but it back on the stand to charge. Or you could invest in a second battery, but at that purchase price, it is a little much to ask.
There is also too much guesswork on what products can be used in the device. Better guidance would be welcomed.
Verdict
It works, but it is too expensive, especially as you won’t be able to replace all your floor cleaners with this one device.
