NOW CLOSED: Dyson Digital Slim DC44 Tester feedback review thread – Non testers – you could win a Dyson

[AnnMumsnet]

This thread is for the testers currently putting the Dyson Digital Slim DC44 through its paces this Christmas.

Once you've received the Dyson and have had a play please let us know your first impressions.

Then let us know - across the next couple of weeks - how you're getting on with the challenges (do also let us know if you've invented or discovered any other ways the Dyson helped out!).

Here's what Dyson say about their challenges:

The balance challenge - "We know that often busy parents need to multi task. So can you still vacuum with the Dyson digital slim whilst the other hand is doing something else - carrying the baby, the dog, the phone, cooking, putting things away (you name it)".

The versatility challenge - "how useful are the different attachments in cleaning those hard to reach places?"

The cobweb challenge - "can you reach those high up cobwebs that have been sat there lurking for a while?"

The family mess challenge - "pets, children, mud, crisps, crumbs? what family mess can the Dyson digital slim pick up?"

The 20 minute dash challenge - Guests turning up announced? How much of the house can you clean in 20 minutes with the Dyson digital slim?

You will need to add feedback at least twice - once everyone has added their feedback on the challenges we'll add some questions to find out your overall views.

If you're not a tester, we've persuaded Dyson to give one lucky MNer the Dyson machine of their choice - all you need to do is, on this thread, share your cleaning tips and/or the hardest place you've had to reach when cleaning and you'll be entered into a prize draw to win a Dyson (could be vacuum, an Air Multiplier fan or a Dyson Hot).

Thanks, MNHQ

I find the hardest place to clean is my other halfs desk, it is big and bulky and very hard to clean behind. He also dislikes me messing with his area so I have to clean in stealth mode.

Hardest place to clean has to be underneath the pedestal-free toilet in the downstairs bathroom: small space and too low to fit the vacuum under. Usually end up on hands and knees on tiled floor - ouch! Best cleaning tip - put the brush attachment on the handheld cordless vacuum and whizz over doors and skirting - instant spring clean.

The hardest place I have to clean is down the side of the desk in our conservatory. It seems to attract dustballs and insects (probably due to being near the back door) but nobody else in the household ever notices that it needs doing, just me - typical! I have to get the longest hose of the vacuum cleaner and poke it through, often while lying on my tummy - on reflection I can see why no-one else bothers :)

My top cleaning tip is to buy a pack of cheap toothbrushes! They are brilliant for cleaning grouting! Hardest place to clean? The top tiles in the shower!

We keep a bright, fun coloured squeegee hanging from the shower screen. Using it quickly after a shower on the shower screen and the tiles around the bath keeps them looking bright and shiny for days rather than the smer marks you get when leaving it to dry.

Non-tester here.
My cleaning tips: vinegar - is blooming marvelous. Cleans the bath taps, leaves them shiney and no harsh chemicals.
I LOVE shinysinks (basically for the smell) but it does what it says ont he bottle - if you have a stainless steel kitchen sink it is super.
We have a rubber ended, short bristled, long-handled brush. It is great for giving the carpets a good go over - raises the pile, gets the dirt out and is a quick alternative to getting the Vaccuum cleaner out. Sometimes even do both as it seems to dislodge stuff that otherwise wouldn't budge.

Hardest place to clean was my room when a student - it was the box room but was taller than it was long. To change the lightbulb I had to stand on a chair, on top of the table! The cobwebs on the ceiling drove me mad so I had to stand on the chair, on the table, with a brush with a cloth on the end. Bit dodgy H&S wise.

The nozzle on the vacuum cleaner is fab to save on dusting. I only dust in areas with ornaments now, tops of picture frames, doors, cobwebs, bookshelves all get whizzed along with the vacuum cleaner. Much less messy and less sneezing.

Tester feedback on challenges.

1. Balance.

I was able to hold the vacuum up with the pole and nozzle attachments on to reach a fabric lightshade riddled with cobwebs whilst I held a cordless telephone in the other hand.

Whilst it was easy to handle I wouldn't do it again as the noise was obviously an issue although the caller (my mum) did comment how quiet it was compared to her full size vax.

1. Versatility.

I have used all of the attachments for different things and all were v.useful and effective.

Main motor head - general hoovering
Mini motor head - stairs
Brush - getting excess hair off the springer spaniel after brushing :o
Nozzle - getting into corners and skirting boards

1. Cobwebs.

As mentioned before I used the nozzle to get inside pesky lightshades (including awkward glass stars) and to get to the top/back corners of our fitted wardrobes.

Again v.easy to lift/manouvre and effective for the purpose.

1. Family mess.

Thankfully we haven't had many drastic spillages this year but the Dyson coped well with whatever we threw at it including blitzing through a teenage boys bedroom and tidying up a box bowlful of rice crispies when 3 6 year olds decided to make themselves breakfast just after the vinyl floor had been mopped

1. 20 minute blitz.

We live in a mid sized 2 bedroom house with a porch at either entrance and w were easily able to do a quick once around the whole house in 20 minutes with a few stray bits of skirting board and the floors getting done.

Still v.pleased with the Dyson and it really has made life easier this Christmas, Thank you :o

my cleaning tip? check hoover has not died before attacking christmas tree with shears and getting pine needles everywhere with no means of sucking them up!

First Impressions I thought having to hold down the trigger button was a bit annoying but quickly got used to it. I struggled to get the main floor head to suck bits up off the wood floor but that seems to have resolved. It would be useful to have all the instructions in the manual - the various attachments are not identified or explained there although they are on the box (not hugely practical when you have a baby and a toddler and a small house to keep a hulking great box).

It was easy to put together and has a very powerful suction. Overall I like it very much because it is so light weight. I can give the hard floors a quick run over and then use my steam mop (sooooo Mumsnet!).

I will report back on the challenges now I have wrestled the thing off my nearly 4 year old. He loves it!

One thing I should point out - I cannot make a G&T and use it. I still need two hands to slice the lemon. Other than that it's looking good so far!

Cleaning tip: keep old toothbrushes for scrubbing/cleaning around taps and the sink in the kitchen and bathroom a tip I know about but rarely actually do myself

Hardest Place to reach: the coving/plasterwork on our 13 foot high ceilings (lovely old half of a Victorian villa). But as they're so high, I don't mind that they've not been dusted in the 13 years since we've been in the house

share your cleaning tips and/or the hardest place you've had to reach when cleaning

We have some IKEA cabinets & drawers with 3.5" gaps underneath which are too low to get a vacuum cleaner under, but just a nice height to fill up with crumbs, dust, etc. The cabinets are heavy and hard to move unless they're completely emptied, so I normally have to settle for lying on the floor with the vacuum hose and furiously pushing it backwards and forwards until I've cleaned out as much as possible. I used to keep the changing mat under one of them (until DS2 took to playing with it and eating off it - yuck!) which kept the dust bunnies down and I keep my collection of Next Directories under another one, which gather the dust and are easier to take out and clean (I knew there was a reason why I shouldn't have asked for the smaller format directory, this time around)

I am A non-tester who would love to have been a tester boo hoo !
One of my top cleaning tips is to keep a supply of bathroom wipes handy to quickly go over basin , toilet etc makes weekly clean much easier.
Take clothes out of tumble drier immediately often means less ironing - works especially well with sheets, duvet covers.
When putting duvet covers on start with cover inside out place corner of duvet to corner of cover and pull so right side presents much easier than wrestling duvet into cover.

Another v jealous non-tester here!

My top tip for cleaning is to vacuum the top of the hob to pick up all the crumbs/dried bits of pasta etc before trying to wipe it. Someone showed me that recently and I couldn't believe it had never occurred to me before - so much easier and more effective than trying to scrabble out all the bits with a brush or cloth!

Dont have a Dyson (hint hint) but heres a cleaning tip - use half a lemon to rub on shower and bath,leave for a minute and rinse off - gets rid of all the limescale and smells lovely too. Its better than any product I have bought to deal with limescale build up in the bathroom and no nasty chemicals.

My tip would have to be that is important to remember that whilst a clean house is great, sometimes other things are more important. Always fit your life around the cleaning and not the other way round.

I am not a tester. Hardest place I had to clean was our own home following a house swap with a family who were not very clean - left house in a really messy bad state, came back to find everything in odd places, crumbs, dirty clothes and old toys, to name but a few surprises.
My top tip for cleaning is... marry someone who hates ironing but likes cleaning (great attention to detail, etc.) Works every time. In ten years together, I haven't had to vacuum once - but surely he deserves a Dyson?

I would love one of these! I completely ruined (or so I thought) a metal steamer, but simmered a pan-full of water and a biological washing powder tablet for an hour and it looked new afterwards!

I'm sure this has been said before, but difficult palces to reach for me are round the back of radiator pipes and the toilet/ sink pedestal. Also I have funny windows, so find myself reaching round an open window to get to the bits that don't open.

In terms of cleaning tips, I am no paragon. It seems to be about routine. Housekeeping is a job and needs to be done methodically. Pottering about doing bits and pieces is neither relaxing or productive.

Non tester here. I walk down the stairs with the dirty washing to put in machine. I always grab a sock out of the pile, Pull it over my hand and dust the skirting boards on the stairs and inbetween the stair rails on the way down with it. Easy and takes 2 minutes! Then put the sock with the rest of the washing into the washing machine.

Question for testers (or someone from Dyson). Our Dyson broke in August and since then the dog has had a recurring flea problem. Will buying a new Dyson help with this problem and does it have to be an 'animal' one? I mean for the carpets and his bedding not the dog (although he likes it).

I hoover daily and he has had several treatments but I wonder if my cheapo replacement hoover is not up to the job.

Clara - flee eggs live in the darkest of awkward areas. And this year has been mild and damp so there is a influx in flees. I got some spray from the vets and changes the flee drops to frontline.

Also I am a non tester and I would like to give you a tip - find a cleaner who will do the house while at work. Wonderful Wednesdays

Seriously tho. Hard to reach - behind the dog crates, and behind the log burner. And my car is also hard to reach. I'd like a mini handheld one.......

Another non tester here too My big tip is distilled vinegar - cleans brilliantly, not harmful to the environment, makes my stainless steel sink sparkle and really cheap! Even cheaper now I've discovered can buy it 5l at a time in my local Asian supermarket!

The hardest place I find to reach when cleaning is the dinette in the motorhome. Crumbs get everywhere but are so hard to clear as there are little ledges (for when it is turned into a bed) and a flaming heavy table which has a leg right in the middle so the vacuum can't get under.

I hate catching dust bunnies, the peskiest little critters known to man. They gather under my couch, and breed, like, er, bunnies. Please Dyson, if you have a magical dust bunny machine - must be able to cope with dog, cat and dust bunny hairs - can I win it?

TIA.