The WashG1 is a dedicated wet floor cleaner and Dyson’s first attempt to prove it doesn’t just do carpets. It launched in the UK and Australia last month, but has just gone on sale in the US. It is currently only available for buy direct from Dysonand has a list price of $699.99.
Loosen those pearls; we all knew it was going to be expensive. I think some Dyson products justify their eye-watering price tags, but in this case there are things worth considering before you decide to gamble your child’s college fund on a wet floor cleaner.
I tested one out and you can get the full rundown in my Dyson WashG1 review, but the gist is that it works fantastically well on perfectly smooth, flat floors like linoleum or polished concrete, but isn’t nearly as impressive on textured or uneven surfaces. floors (including tile floors with grout joints).
This is Dyson’s first dedicated wet floor cleaner (I say ‘special’ because we have the Dyson V15s Submarine, a vacuum cleaner with a swappable wet floor nozzle). Significantly for this brand, which has built its reputation on being very good at moving air, it doesn’t use suction. Instead, a combination of agitation, hydration and separation is used to make your floors shine.
Water is ejected through the squeegee, rollers help loosen dirt and pick up things like hair and solids, and then the internal mechanisms separate spilled liquids and solids. The latter part is designed to make maintenance easier.
Should you buy one?
He’s very good at certain things. Like today’s best Dyson vacuums, it’s extremely maneuverable; the floor head can turn in all directions, and it also comes very close to skirting boards. The fact that it can handle liquid and solid waste is very useful for things like food scraps. I have a little niece and nephew who can’t complete a meal without covering everything around them with what they’ve eaten, and once with the WashG1 is by far the least disgusting way to deal with it I’ve found so far . The base takes care of some of the maintenance by running a self-cleaning cycle even when you dock it.
However, it is not worth the investment if you have uneven floors. The WashG1 will struggle to clean them evenly, as I discovered when I tested mine on a tile floor. Since the rollers don’t really ‘scrub’, it can only really tackle surface dirt.
That includes missing the grout cracks between tiles. (Apparently the engineers have discovered that adding more water is a more effective way to tackle stubborn dirt than rubbing it, and while they may have a point, I still think there are limitations to this approach.)
These hiccups aside, it could still be a good investment for some shoppers. Since it’s brand new, don’t expect any discounts anytime soon – I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a price drop in the Black Friday sale, though.