Dyson Cinetic™ review thread - The only vacuum that never loses suction is put to the MN test NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

This thread is for the 20 MNers who have been putting the Dyson Cinetic DC54 vacuum cleaner through its paces. During development, Dyson tested the machine for over 9,000 hours and now MNers are putting it to the test.

Here’s what Dyson say: “Dyson’s Cinetic DC54 is an exciting step forward for Dyson’s engineering team. Thanks to a clever new development in cyclone technology, it is the only vacuum which has no bags to buy, no filters to maintain, and won’t lose suction in its lifetime.

Many other vacuum cleaners rely on clogging vacuum cleaner bags or use inefficient cyclones which do a bad job of separating dust and dirt from the airflow. This means the filters end up doing the hard work and end up clogging, leading to a loss of suction.

The Dyson Cinetic DC54 is different. It uses 54 cyclones across two tiers, each with an oscillating tip.

Smaller cyclones generate higher centrifugal forces and capture smaller particles. But the tighter the cyclone, the more likely it is to block. So Dyson engineers have created cyclones with flexible tips at the end. So the dust doesn’t ever block. The cyclones are so efficient there is no need to wash the filter.”

Over the next couple of weeks, testers will be given a new weekly challenge to put the Dyson Cinetic DC54 through its paces!

Challenge 1: Speed
Dry mud, dog hair, post-breakfast crumbs – everyday mess quickly builds up. Busy lifestyles mean people are short on time and need a machine capable of speedy cleaning. It requires a machine engineered for tight turns and easy cleaning across multiple floor types.

Your challenge: How quickly can you clean your home from top to bottom with the Dyson Cinetic DC54 when you're pushed for time, for example when you need to leave for work, the family or a friend is due to pop over or the children come home from school?

Challenge 2: Hide and seek

Dust and household nasties have a habit of hiding away in hard to reach places. Like the little bit of dust caught between the fridge and the washing machine; the loose change that lives down the back of the sofa; the crumbs caught behind the car seat; and the dust that sits on the skirting boards. We want to know where the messiest and dirtiest hidden spots of your home are.

Your challenge: After cleaning each room – and the car if you have one - let us know where the hidden dust lives and how you tackled it – which accessories did you use?

Challenge 3: How long does it last

It can be frustrating when a vacuum cleaner clogs and loses suction. Good technology should deliver constant performance and make life easier.

How does the Dyson Cinetic DC54 perform in your house? Does it suck up dust and dirt in the same way on day one as it does weeks, months and years later?

Your challenge: Pop back in to the thread and let us know how you’re getting on with your Dyson Cinetic DC54 over the next few months. Without the need to change vacuum bags or wash filters, is cleaning any easier or is it the same as before? Has the Dyson Cinetic DC54 delivered constant suction or not?

Below are some other questions we’d like you to answer but feel free to add any other thoughts you may have.

1. What was your overall first impression of Dyson Cinetic DC54?
2. How did your Dyson Cinetic DC54 compare against your usual vacuum cleaner?
3. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Dyson Cinetic DC54 to your friends/family/other Mumsnetters? If so, why? If not, why not?
4. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your experience with the Dyson Cinetic DC54?

We’d love it if you could also post a review of your Dyson Cinetic DC54 on the Mumsnet review page.

If you have any before and after photos we’d love to see these too, so please post them on this thread.

Non-testers: Fancy owning your own Dyson Cinetic DC54? Dyson are currently running a competition with Mumsnet and giving away another Dyson Cinetic DC54. To enter the competition click here.

Thanks,
MNHQ

I completed challenge two today and oh my life the amount of hair down the back of the sofa was scary!

It also coped admirably in the car - my car smells all new again and the crumbs and muck are history! I love the head with the two whizzy brush things on it.

I agree with others that an even narrower crevice tool would be helpful but I am falling in the love with the Dyson just a little bit more every time I use it.

Challenge Two Hide and Seek

We completed this challenge yesterday. First we moved some furniture aside. We found a thick layer of dust on the carpet behind the bedside cabinets. I used the standard rollerbrush multifloor attachment for this. It did the job beautifully. (Photo attached)

I then attached the crevice tool to the extended pole, slid the brush bit down and went in between furniture-too-heavy-to-move and skirting boards. Again, the suction power was fabulous and it cleaned out a fair bit!! When doing skirting boards my only wish would be that the bristles on the brush attachment were a bit stiffer.
I then used this same combination to reach underneath the sofa where a myriad of computer / technology cables are hidden. I did not want to use a bigger attachment for fear of sucking the cables up...
I ended up with a decent amount of fluff in my cylinder, worth doing!!

Next I made dh tackle the car. He had just collected dd from the stables and the car was full of mud, hay and an assortment of horse and dog hairs.
We attached the crevice tool straight to the hose and that brought the seats up nicely. Dh tackled the seats, footwells and boot of the car with good results. We had pulled the carpet mats out of the footwells and attached the little whizzy stair attachment to the hose. This brought the mats up like new! (Photo attached)

All in all a very successful challenge. I know some posters have said they find the crevice tool too big but dh and I have found it to be fine for our needs.

we've had a rollerbrush malfunction! it turns out that the housekeeper had got a bit enthusiastic and sucked up a sweet wrapper, which had lodged itself then become covered in a tonne of fluff and blocked the nozzle, ruining the suction power.
with a bit of logic and deduction we quickly established the blockage issue, turned the slot to remove the roller brush, all very easy, unblocked the nozzle (finding the offending paper) and reassembled it in a few seconds. back to 100% performance. was very concerned at first that there was a problem, and thought we'd broken it with an excess of unofficial challenges but troubleshooting was remarkably easy. phew!

Challenge 2 :

Well, I still haven't cleaned the car, as it has barely stopped raining, and when it does, I need to do gardening. But luckily I have lots of other filthy areas (fnar fnar).

I have braved the built-in cupboards that we have. The doors are floor - ceiling, so dust etc creeps in. As does lots of pet hair it seems. I used the crevice tool a lot here, both with and without the brush, and the mini turbo tool for the carpeted bits of the cupboards.

I also vacuumed the books in the bookcase - again, using the crevice tool with the brush, vacuuming the spine and the top where the pages are. I have a lot of books, so this took eons but was a good job well done. I agree with a PP that the brush is very soft - I was glad of this when vacuuming the books, but there are other times that I would prefer a stiffer brush.

I also gave the kitchen crevices a really good clean - eg down the sides of the appliances. Again, I agree with PPs who have said that they have found the crevice tool could be a little slimmer. I ended up taping a damp cloth to a long stick, dragging the dust out, then vacuuming it off (I have a range that I cannot move).

Possibly my worst area was the top of a huge oak (freestanding) wardrobe. It is big and massive, and I never ever move it. I planned to clean the top of it, but there was so much dust that I didn't want to pull it off with a cloth and have it waft about everywhere. I ended up climbing a step, holding the Dyson in one hand, and the crevice/brush in the other (not using the wand so I could get the best angle). The Dyson is so light that I was able to do this easily.

Thanks again Dyson and MN - my house has never been as dust-free! You can really notice the difference, there is just NOT that smell of re-circulating dust when vacuuming, that I had thought was the norm. My spring cleaning has been really something else this year!

Our car was a complete state due to the normal toddler problems. Mud from boots and pushchair and crumbs from food. The dyson made short work of it and it was sparking in 15 minutes. We also use the crevice tool

Challenge 2:
Pressed post too quickly. We used the crevice tool on the long handle to get rid of the cob webs in our high stairwell that had been unreachable and been annoying me for months they are now finally all gone. Finally we decided to tackle the dining room which is where our long haired cat spends most of his time. The cat likes to sit on top of the fish tank which means on it, behind it and down the side of it a lot of hair gets deposited. As the fish tank holds 200 litres and is solid oak so is completely unmovable. We managed to get rid of all the hair using a mixture of the different attachments. I also used the upholstery one to clean the material covered dining room chairs nice and easily.

DH used it today, will reveal all later!

Challenge 2 - I have a really heavy sleigh bed that just will not move! It is fairly close to the wall on one side, too close to fit a conventional vacuum head, so consequently the floor there was, or so I thought,a bit grubby due to only being able to hoover using an attachment. I used the crevice tool and in one spot the mini turbo tool to clean down the side and my word the dust and dog hair picked up is amazing. This Dyson, in my experience, maintains really strong suction even when using the various attachments,which is brilliant.My previous Dyson and miele have probably half the suction of this machine whilst using attachments, and with a busy child and dog filled house this has made a huge difference! The crevice tool would benefit from being a little slimmer but I have still had great success in hoovering under my bed using the crevice tool and strong suction alone, a real plus as the bed us a 2 man job to move even an inch!

This Dyson is fantastic!

Thanks for all your comments so far (keep them coming!) Just so you know, Dyson experts are on hand to help with any questions, and we've pm'ed some of you with a response from Dyson. Please let them know if you have any further issues by contacting Jack at [email protected] if you need support with your machine.

Challenge 2:

Still loving the Dyson!

We moved into a do-er upper last year and our small bathroom has the BIGGEST suite ever in it, which results in a lot of hard to reach spaces. With my DC07 I had to use the crevice tool, but with the DC54 I was able to manoeuvre the multi floor head in and around.

I am also able to reach all the way under DD's bed to the wall without having to pull the bed out.

I used the crevice tool to clean down the side of DD's wardrobe and drawers.

I used the brush dusting tool to clean the tops of the picture frames and door frames, which was very quick, effective and easy.

The car was the best though - it was bogging, but using the spinny brush head attachment and crevice tool on the seats, floors and boot they came up beautifully. Best of all the dusting brush got all the annoying tiny bits of debris from the instrument dials.

It has performed brilliantly on everything I've thrown at it.

My dust collects in the corners of the kitchen as I have tiled flooring. I use the hose to get right into the corners. I also use the hose to get between kitchen units and the fridge.
I also used the crevice tool for the ceiling corners and especially on the landing.

Just used the hard floor tool for the first time. I've been using the multi floor tool because we have multi floors, so it seemed unnecessary to swap them over.

Whilst it is definitely unnecessary, because they both clean equally, it is so lovely to vacuum hard floors with the hard floor tool - so light! So glidey! Fits further under the furniture! All in all, same clean, but less 'work' to use.

I love it!

Ironically, thanks to the Dyson I have done so much cleaning recently, I haven't had chance to type on here ! I have done both challenges, took loads of pictures and I will post a full review this evening, when the kids are asleep.

Your challenge: How quickly can you clean your home from top to bottom with the Dyson Cinetic when you're pushed for time, for example when you need to leave for work, the family or a friend is due to pop over or the children come home from school?

I hoovered our three bedroom house, in 30 minutes, not including moving furniture. But the living room on it's own took 10 out of the 30 minutes. As this is the room the kids eat breakfast in and the cereal seems to be ground into every inch of the wooden floor !

UPDATE. With the new better head dyson posted to me, I can now hoover my house, including under sofas in 20 minutes and as I do hoover the house daily I like that it doesn't take long and I love that the Dyson is removing dust not moving it into the air to resettle later.

1. What was your overall first impression of Dyson Cinetic?

The Dyson is a very beautiful machine. A good easy weight to carry and use. I was surprised the carrying handle seems to flex more than I expected but stands up well to being carried. I love the way the hoover follows you around as you clean, the ball moves very smoothly and has yet to fall over or get stuck.

The power lead is a very good length and allows me to plug in the Dyson in the downstairs hall and I can hoover all the way up the stairs and landing and even the bathroom, before I need to unplug and move the hoover.

I found it strange that the handle on the removable cannister was so small, I could barely fit two fingers in it. This would make carrying and emptying the cannister tricky for some people but I had no problem doing so and I liked the little plastic paddle to scrape the inside of the cannister (through i have thrown it in the kitchen bin several times, but that is user error).

I was surprised at how frequently I have to empty the hoover, but that is not a bad thing, it means that more dust/dirt is being picked up and not being left on my floor. I do wonder if I will be emptying less once the house is spotless, or maybe that will have to wait until the children have grown up and leave home.

2. How did your Dyson Cinetic compare against your usual vacuum cleaner?

It is a lot more powerful and on dust works wonderfully. However I had issues with the main head which came with the animal dyson, any larger crumbs would be blown away from the head when used on our wooden floors.

When I used the hard floor brush (which i loved being so light and easy to use and glided under the sofas) it would suck up small crumbs and dust but collect all the crumbs together in a pile before the brush head. I gave up and got a pan and brush for that bit.

Eventually I rang the Dyson helpline where a very helpful lady suggested I try a different brush head and sent me one free of charge, wonderful customer service. The new head is much bigger and bulkier than the other two heads and has a foot switch for different floor surfaces and I love it and it DOES pick up the bigger crumbs.

I love the fact the Dyson does not have any fiters to block or bags to replace, as I found my Miele needed both replacing frequently and frankly they were not cheap and very messy when the filter needed replacing.

I also do not miss taking off the Miele hoover brush head, to remove the guard and then have to use a pair of scissors to cut off the cat/human hair which tangled up and jammed the brush heads. This could be a weekly messy job, so far the Dyson has picked up loads of hair and no blockages or tangles...hurrah.

3. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Dyson Cinetic to your friends/family/other Mumsnetters? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would recommend this hoover WITH the new head I was given with the Dyson for anyone who had the money to invest in a good hoover.

But with the original sets of hoover heads I would not recommend it to people who had a lot of big crumbs/dirt especially on wooden floors, but on carpets and for families with less animals or older children it would be brilliant.

4. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your experience with the Dyson Cinetic?

I particularly liked the small head with opposing rotating heads, it is brilliant on rugs, stairs and even my mattress. It would be wonderful if Dyson made a proper sized big head with four or more rotating heads to use on the main floors. Especially as this head does not blyow bigger crumbs around and does pick them up properly.This would make a better all purpose/all surface head than the one that came with the machine.

Thank you for choosing me to review your hoover, I really love it and I would not of been able to own a Dyson otherwise. I am really enjoying the tasks and I will upload my photos and write up for challenge 2 tomorrow.

I'm some way behind on this (the joys of living in the sticks and delivery drivers supposedly being unable to find our house). So will be getting to use the Dyson over the weekend in preparation for visitors.

1. What was your overall first impression of Dyson Cinetic DC54?

I loved the fact that it's so easy to get out, connect everything up and get started. It feels easy to pull around (even my 3yo has been dragging it around and doing his own 'vacuuming' with it), and I'm loving the retractor button for the cord. So much easier and quicker than winding it in yourself. The number of attachment choices are great - I'm just going to have to work out which I need to use for what - would have been nice to have had a bag or the like to store the bits in, as we don't have space in drawers for them all, so I can see me losing bits or the toddler walking off with them and losing them.

My husband is totally wedded to our Henry, although I can't say that gets in the edges or has a particularly strong suck. He did have a go and his first comment was it wasn't very wide in covering much floor at a time. (not sure which attachment was on though?!). He found one little go in the hall half filled the cylinder (shows how much decent cleaning our house really needs), so I dread to think (or am looking forward) to seeing how much dust and grime it really gets up off the carpet.

I have been reading the glowing reports of the Dyson cinetic DC54. I am not convinced. Firstly may I just point out, from years of experience, any new vacuum will appear to pick up more dust and stuff, after all your old one has been used and abused and loses suction overtime if it is not maintained. Secondly I have had two Dyson machines in the past and neither of them lasted more than 6 months. So I am very sceptical about Dyson machines in general. Dyson machines are expensive and so far as I am concerned not value for the money. (I have a Vax cylinder type vacuum that I have had for 7 years and it still works very well!)
Also why does everyone refer to a vacuum cleaner as a Hoover? Hoover is a brand name, Hoover still produce vacuum cleaners so using their brand name to refer to other makes is misleading.
Gripe over:-)

anniebottle I have to agree wholeheartedly with your comment about calling it a "hoover" It drives me mad. How can you "hoover" with a dyson? Surely you vacuum with a Dyson/Miele/Sebo ?

I typed a long message earlier, but it hasn't appeared

I really want to thank a PP who mentioned how good the hard floor tool is... Well, I finally got round to using it properly this afternoon and I love it! It doesn't try to swallow up my lino in the kitchen and got the floor lovely and clean (apart from the dog biscuits which I had to use the hose for...)

I used the crevice tool to dust all my skirting boards and the brush is lovely for gliding along them. I love the soft brush for that but I'd like a harder bristly brush on the other end for the ground in muck!

Beginning to fall for Darcy Dyson....

BTW - I might have been one of the PP who talked about Hoovering My first vacuum cleaner was a Hoover and it's a hard habit to break!

Bloody Hell! This is possibly the most petty example of a gripe on MN that I have seen for a while.

I say hoover. Hoover (verb) is in the OED. It seems that hoover was first used as a verb in 1939. I'd say it's quite ingrained by now. Are we really misleading you, talking about hoovering on a Dyson thread. Are you often so very easily confused?

So, I've now had a decent go with the Dyson.

1. How did your Dyson Cinetic compare against your usual vacuum cleaner?

I find the Dyson so much easier to manoevre than our heavy henry, which only goes backwards and fowards without brute force moving it in other directions. I get move it in and out of rooms, around furniture - the rotation ball of the head is fab, and it's light enough that even my 3yo can pull it around and use it. So far the only thing that isn't as good is the length of the cord. I would usually use the kitchen socket and the Henry would get all the downstairs done from that one socket at the end of the house. With the Dyson I have to plug in the hall which is more central.

Oh, and the fact I have to empty it of dust after 2 rooms (shows how poor my housework and suck was on the Henry - quite appallingly embarrassing!) where Henry's bag will keep going for ages before needing changing.

1. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Dyson Cinetic to your friends/family/other Mumsnetters? If so, why? If not, why not?

I do love the shape, size, movement and weight of the Dyson. For a household item it's a lot of money to spend, when I'd really rather not spend lots on 'boring, but essential items'. Although if it would keep going for longer and take less time to vacuum, then per use would potentially mean it works out cheaper than a worse performing product.

Challenge 1: Time challenge

Hmm, don't think any vacuum is going to be quick enough at the moment to get round the house in a short amount of time. I'm usually quite lazy and unless the place is really messy with lots of bits (OH's black sports socks fluff, straw from the farm, wood/ash from the wood burner) then I tend to only do downstairs and leave upstairs to when there's visitors or it's really messy. So a time comparison is hard.

This evening I decided to try the downstairs before tea while my son was playing. Big mistake as he wanted to use the Dyson. So plugged it in, turned it on and wash vacuuming the kitchen and through to the living room (one route only) where he ended up lying on the floor next to it, looking at the rotating head. Maybe he'll end up being the next James Dyson!

I took over to do the living room. I used the main multipurpose head, and then also the the curtains with the small soft brush, plus the cobwebs (we get loads being on a farm - as soon as you get rid, they're all back again) around the side window and cd rack which is never used so gets bad, I even tried the crevice attachment on top of the HD recorder which was looking very dusty. Did a great job there, although it didn't work on the top of the tv stand/bottom. Was great at getting under cabinets so no need to lug them out of the way.

My worst place to vacuum and look like it's been vacuumed are usually round the skirting boards as nothing gets in tight enough, but the crevice bit wasn't bad (would be nice if it went sideways more smoothly, but I could tell that the area looked lighter and more dust free with the Dyson.

I also did the hall and round the telephone table which is always dusty and cobwebby underneath because of all the cables. But one run over and it was obviously cleaned which is always good to see.

2 rooms (and it was a good thorough clean) took 18 minutes. Just after those 2 rooms, the cylinder's at the max level, so I stopped at that point. To do the house I estimate (going on that dust level of those 2 rooms) that it would be the best part of an hour which is similar to what it used to be. However, the carpets still wouldn't have looked as clean as they do now.

Sorry I'm behind with my tasks. My new (hoover) head came last week and I did the speed test at the weekend. Here are my thoughts.

Challenge 1: Speed

So, we had friends coming over for dinner on Saturday night. I had all day to get ready the dinner ready and the house looking presentable. But, my husband was out for the day and I also had the children and their million and one activities to deal with.... I had planned on giving the house a really good clean, but in the end, by the time the kids were dealt with, I had done a bit of gardening (it was such a lovely day) and got the food ready for the evening I had 45 minutes to hoover the house, and get myself ready. Well, I did it (but forgot to brush my hair). I found the new fixed head worked brilliantly downstairs on our concrete and wooden floors. To get into the edges of the room I used to have to take the head off our old vacuum cleaner, but this one seemed to suck right up the edge (does that make sense?). And, on the steps as well, it seemed to clean the whole step without me taking the head off. When I got to hoovering upstairs I changed to the rotating brush head. I'm still not that sure that that works brilliantly. There were quite a bit of dried mud on the carpet from my daughters trainers. It seemed to suck it up, and then spit it out on a different part of the carpet with a lot of rattling noise. It also didn't seem to work very well on the tiled bathroom floors. So, I switched back to the flat head and that worked a lot better.

Was it quicker than my old Mielle? It definitely was on the downstairs of the house. But, upstairs I had 'head' issues and I think it was slower. If I had just used the flat head for the whole house I think it may have been quicker.

Challenge 2: Hide and seek
This is my middle daugher showing how easy it is to hoover with the Dyson.

All the kids live how it follows them around. :)

Challenge 2: Hide and seek

Here is a place I find tricky to keep crumb free in the living room, the bottom of the baby's ball pit !

But I don't even have to empty the balls out, the head takes out the crumbs but doesn't stick to the ball pit floor or the plastic balls.

Brilliant time saver.

Challenge 2: Hide and seek
These are the two attachments I use for everything so far.

I know the bottom tangle brush shouldn't be on the wand but it does fit on and the other tiny head with velvet edge I haven't really used yet....maybe when I do the car (next week when the children stop throwing up on me, sigh)