Housecleaning sucks, Dysons suck harder

Dyson’s V8 Fluffy may seem expensive, but it’s a house-chore game-changer

Iam impressed how this gun-like mobile vacuum cleaner shortens my housecleaning time by more than 20%. But is it worth 16,000 baht? That depends on how much money you have in the bank and how clean you want your place to be.

I reviewed a Dyson vacuum five years ago (bit.ly/2WzP5RG) and now in 2020, the V8 Fluffy is their latest entry iteration. What has changed? Let us read on.

I find that the main purpose of this gadget remains the same. It is still a hi-so vacuum cleaner, with some tweaks and improvements. For instance, the Dyson V8 Fluffy has more sucking power and comes with an ingenious wall-mounted charger cradle which makes it easy to slip the machine in and out of charge mode when needed. I do not believe this was available in the previous version.

Also, the tube extension pipe can easily be attached and detached, and can be removed entirely for short-range cleaning. It also comes with five different kinds of head for furniture, curtains and corners.

Removing dust or cobwebs from the corners of the ceiling is not a near-impossible task anymore. Using a broom to do such things is a back-breaking task, I assure you.

I find the Dyson picks up exceptionally fine dust much better than sweeping the floor with a regular broom, something like 10 times better. If you have a person with a dust allergy at home, this might be something to consider, apart from using an air filter machine that is.

It was easy enough for my 12-year-old daughter to assemble and operate without my guidance, which means that it is not too complicated to put together.

Disposing of the sucked-up dust and dirt is easy by pulling a lever, and the dirt will drop down from the bottom of the machine. This reduces the chance of touching the dirt. Nifty and convenient.

The whole set is very Lego-like and can be taken apart for thorough cleaning, which will be needed after a couple of cleaning sessions when hair and other disgusting things get tangled in the machine.

It takes around five hours to fully charge from 0% battery to full and can be at its normal suction power for around 40 minutes. But, at its maximum vacuum power, it can be used for around 20 minutes before it faints and stops.

I wish, in the case that the battery has run out, the vacuum cleaner could operate when plugged in like a regular vacuum cleaner. With this one, it simply will not turn on at all when the battery is depleted even when it’s plugged in. A decent charge is needed before bringing it back to life again.

Using this on damp surfaces is OK, but do not push your luck by using it on wet floors though, since the machine is still … a machine, and machines do not like liquid.

It is rare that any product these days comes with a large A4-size manual (with large fonts and full-colour diagrams as well). It seems trivial but this is very suitable for older and younger ones to actually read.

When fully assembled, the device may weigh around 2.6kg. Not heavy enough to break your back, but not so light that you want to lift it overhead for more than five minutes.

Using one of these for a month, I find it quite hard to go back to a broom and duster now.