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

Not a tester, so would love to be in the draw, so here goes:
Hardest place to reach to clean: behind large pieces of furniture eg. Beds, chest of drawers, sofa, kitchen dresser, hall table etc....too heavy to do alone at the risk of further damaging my already wonky hips, so need DH here to help, but he always seems to be either too busy or too tired to help, so difficult to catch him at the right moment!
Cleaning tips: teach children from an early age to help around the house. Since DD was 2, she's been helping to set the table. DS(14 months) is learning to pull wet washing out of the machine & into the laundry basket for me ready to hang up. DD helps "fold" the clean laundry & is learning to put it away. Today she even started unpacking & putting away the grocery shopping for me, without me asking! So from an early age let them know you are not their slave & that everyone must help out to keep the household going.

My cleaning tip is "little and often". I don't have the time or inclination to do a weekly big clean up so I have to do it as I go. I try not to leave a room or go up and downstairs without taking something with me that belongs somewhere else.
I keep dusters upstairs to do a quick wipe round when I get a chance. I clean the toilet and sink while DS is in the bath. In general, I try to clean and tidy as I go, grabbing even a few mins to do something really helps.

My tip is never let go of the vacuum cleaner as you do the stairs. Not unless you want it to fall on your head and nearly knock you out. Not that I ever did this, no

Thanks for your feedback on the DC44 Dyson Digital Slim, in response to the machine's trigger button Dyson have said "the DC44 was engineered to be intuitive to hold so you can vacuum and manoeuvre easily. Instead of wasting energy or run time in your home, the trigger button lets you use power only where it?s needed." thanks MNHQ

My best tip - have your toddler do the vacuuming while you get all the dusting done! Encourage a love of hoovering early on and you'll be set!

I left all my cleaning equipment behind in the States when we moved, so I'm utilizing borrowed goods at the moment. I would love to win one of my own!

Use paint brushes to dust cracks and hard to reach places

The hardest place I have to clean is an alcove above my stairs.

I live in a coach-house, and my stairwell is laid out in such a way that I have a very tall ceiling above the stairs! Basically from the bottom step on the ground floor to the ceiling of the first floor, and from the corner of the bedroom wall next to the stairwell, it goes back a good 5 or so feet.

I have no landing as such to reach this section of the ceiling, so my elderly Dyson DC11 allergy is hard pushed to reach the corners... it manages it if I stand on the stairs holding the vacuum cleaner in one hand, and use the pipe fully extended with the crevice tool on the end!

Oh cleaning tip, use baby wipes to clean white gloss paintwork on banisters, window sills and skirting boards. I find this leaves no odour, and next to no residue unlike furniture polish.

I also enjoy cleaning my own windows! I bought a cheap window cleaning kit from Lidl, and every now and again, I fill the storage box with soapy water (made with washing up liquid), then sponge and squeegee each window. This is very helpful in a coach-house as not all window-cleaners like cleaning first floor windows only!

maybe it would have been nice to have both - the trigger and a way to switch it to on/off.

I'm a non tester. The hardest place to clean is the velux windows in my sunroom as they are about 15 foot off the floor in the apex of the roof. Every now and again I bring in the ladders and give them a good clean - I need somebody to hold the ladder though. Also find the matt finish horizontal blinds tricky to clean.

My parents have an old house with high ceilings, i have had to do some crazy and hard balancing acts to try get the cobwebs! One of these would have helped a treat!

balance challenge
It was easy to use the Dyson while doing other things (mainly picking things up and putting them away) but as someone else said, it's often not practical to do so.

Versatility Challenge
Struggling with this one as there wasn't much explanation for what each attachment should be for. We like the main two heads. Also the long thin one is good for skirting boards etc (this is a fairly standard attachment).

Cobweb challenge
We have a high ceiling above part of the stairs which is a nightmare to reach. I usually use a long adjustable length feather duster. It can be comfortably reached with the Dyson so really pleased about that.

My pil have a dyson just like this, im sure its the same model but it is excellent for cleaning the car quickly. The wire doesn't reach to the house for their normal dyson so they bought one like this :) its fab

The hardest place I find to clean is the cooker after using oil but have since switched to using WD40 which gets rid of grease easy

Non tester writing for a chance to win a dyson......

My cleaning tip? Wet wipes. In every room. They are great for mopping spills, emergency dusting, running over bathrooms quick. Very few chemicals but clean well and quick.

Hardest place to clean has to be my car. It's awful. I have officially given up trying, I can't seem to find a Hoover attachment to get in all the crevices without dislocating something. My car officially is filthy.

My cleaning tip is this, when you are hoovering under your bed, sofa, area you can't see, or even more so, a Lego creation with lots of loose/free pieces that your child loves to play with and won't demolish. Cover the end of your vacuum hose with part of an old stocking or tight and keep in place with a tight elastic band/hair band and hoover using that, if any of the small pieces or anything else you didn't want to hoover up gets sucked up, it will become trapped against the tight/stocking. Bigger pieces of dirt and fluff will too, but it's easy to pull off and suck back up once you've removed the tight from the end and saves you having to dig through a dirty vacuum bag for anything you sucked up by accident x

Right - finally getting around to leaving my feedback :)

First Impressions:

I loved how light it was and how quickly it could be put together. It was well packed in the box and I was pleased most could be recycled. I thought it looked very smart and my inner geek was very impressed!

When I first started using it I didn't like the trigger button because it made my hand ache but now I don't even notice it. The first thing I cleaned was my front room carpet and I was very impressed with how it went right up to the skirting boards. The ball made it very easy to whizz around the coffee table and sofas nice and quick.

I was surprised at what it picked up as the carpet didn't actually look dirty to begin with. It handles my long haired cats hair really easily too. I think the suction is fantastic.

My overall impression was that it was fantastic and I was so excited! I have to say, I've loved it that little bit more each time I've used it too!

The 20 minute dash challenge was done a few days after it arrived and I managed to nip around the whole flat with no trouble at all. It really took a lot of the usual stress away as I didn't need to get the hoover out and faff around with plugs in each room. I also hoovered as I deposited stuff to the kids rooms too so I could multi task well enough also.

The attachments I did my stairs really quickly with one of the attachments and I loved that as I went down I could also hoover the skirting boards easily too. I'm not sure what all the attachments will be used for and would have appreciated some more written information on that front. But so far, everyone I've used has been great.

the family mess challenge This is what I love best about the DC44. It is there, ready to go the second you need it. No faffing about with getting the hoover from the cupboard, un winding the cord and plugging it in (by which time the kids have treked the mess through every room) It's there and ready just when you need it. It was fantastic in the kitchen after a toddler baking session which involved a sprinkle related incident! It made the clear up so pain free which made the whole task seem so much more fun.

I am very impressed - my old upright hoover had broken just before I got this and I honestly don't feel the need to replace it now!

I'm going to do the cobweb challenge at my mums next week as we don't have any here right now. My mum is disabled and I think this might be great for her so I'm keen for her to try it too.

The hardest place to clean?

Our house is higgeldy piggeldy and especially at the skirting boards level and there are so many tiny corners where dust collects, and along the top of the skirting boards and behind radiators. It's hard enough cleaning those normally but at 25 weeks pregnant bending over is even harder on my back.

My best claning tips is to have some fun music (such as Salsa!) in the background : it makes cleaning more pleasant, quicker and, if it makes you dance a bit, will helps to burn a few extra calories!

My cleaning tip:

When cleaning fragile/expensive items (e.g. crystal ornaments), clean them sat down on a carpet/rug. That way, if you accidentally drop something, there's a greater chance that it won't break!

My cleaning tip including hard to reach places that you can't see, say under a bed or top of a cupboard is to put a pop sock or stocking over the end of the tube to stop any rouge socks or pennies getting sucked up the Hoover.

This also works when you are looking for a lost back of an earring

My tip is to do a little bit each day. I am in my second trimester and have a 15 month old - I can't spend a lot of time all at once cleaning so I prefer to do a little each day and by the end of the week it's all done

My cleaning tip: put rubber soled shoes on and 'Hoover' by sliding your feet along - this is amazing for the stairs or if you moult hair like me and it clogs your Hoover.
^ as you can see my Hoover is shit and I need a dyson!