GADGETS GET LEG UP ON MESSES
It seems every other week there’s a new product on the market promising to help us clean our homes better, faster and with less effort. We can now schedule robot vacuums to clean our floors while vacationing in Barbados, and receive reports on the indoor air quality of our homes on our phones while at work. Some of the latest products are constantly being upgraded, and with price tags that can be hefty, it wouldn’t be surprising if some people feel a little overwhelmed by what’s on offer.
So here’s a quick look at some of what’s trending in vacuum cleaners and air purifiers.
“We’ve seen an uptick in the demand for multi-functional devices that not only cover a variety of different floor types, but can also be converted from floor to hand-held, making it seamless for spot cleaning to more vigorous, entire-home cleaning,” says Rachel Insani, vacuum category expert for Wayfair.com.
“The cordless vacuum segment is one of the fastest growing in the floor care category, and Dyson has done an excellent job pioneering the cord-free innovation and educating consumers on the power of these vacuums.”
Dyson released its latest cordless vacuum in March, the Dyson Cyclone V10, which has a run time of 60 minutes, a clear bin where the dirt is captured, and a “point and shoot release” to discard it straight into the trash can. It comes with a different head for hard and soft floors, as well as accessories for cleaning cars and blinds, etc.
“More and more people are having hard floors and occasional rugs,” company founder James Dyson says. “About 60 per cent of American homes have hard floors, so we needed a special tool that won’t damage your hard floors.”
To achieve this, says Dyson, they’ve used carbon fibre bristles for the hard floors motor head, taking their design inspiration from the way vinyl records are cleaned.
“The way you cleaned vinyl records was with a strip of carbon fibre bristles,” says Dyson. “The reason it works is the dust sticks to the record by static. If you wipe it with a cloth, the dust won’t stick because it’s gripping the plastic record by static, but carbon fibre is conductive, so it releases the static from the surface, and allows it to come off. We discovered the same thing with hard floors.”
Carbon seems to be a popular design element in the latest cordless vacuums, with Hoover’s new Fusion Pet Cordless Stick Vacuum using a carbon filter and “wind tunnel technology” to capture odour, says Best Buy’s external communications manager Christine Tam.
“It’s really good for people with pets who shed,” Tam says. “Because you can actually detach the stick and put on some of the other hand-held tools, so this allows you to get into the couch really easily, you can clean the dog bed, and even bring it to your car because it’s totally cordless.”
The rise in popularity of cordless vacuums is probably linked to the number of people living in apartments and smaller spaces, Tam says, because they’re great for cleaning up small areas quickly, and the design innovations are improving, such as the Pet Cordless Stick’s dashboard.
“It gives you information on the vacuum so like you know if the battery life is dying,” she says. “You know how much battery life you actually have, so your battery ’s not going to die at a crucial point.”
When it comes to cleaning the air inside our homes, air purifiers are getting more compact and better looking, Tam says.
“From a design perspective, they are becoming more attractive to have in your home,” she says. “They’re smaller, the price point is coming down, you can stick one in the corner and not be looking at it being like, ‘oh, that’s ugly.’ The Dyson ones look quite nice, and some of the others like the Germ Guardian (are) super small, super lightweight, you can tuck it into the corner and not even know it’s there.”
Dyson’s latest air purifier, the Dyson Pure Cool purifying fan, was released in late April and shows air quality readings on an LED display that can also be sent to your phone, tracking “indoor and outdoor pollution temperature and humidity levels.”
“Pollution sources can enter your home from the city, particulate matter, pollen, combined with cleaning products inside the house, scented candles, cooking fumes, and indoor paints,” says Paul Dawson, vice-president of Dyson’s health and beauty division.
“It’s truly a global problem.”