What filth had I been living in? (Dyson DC03)

Member Name: SueMagee

Product:	Dyson DC03
Date:	15/05/01 (763 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thorough cleaning, Excellent air filters, Easy to use

Disadvantages: Poor balance, You can get dirty emptying the cylinder, Some of the plastic parts break easily

I've had a DC03 for over two years now. In our house any vacuum has a hard job - it's a country area and we have two large dogs, one of whom regards shedding hair as her vocation in life. (How do they get in the oven? The hair, that is, not the dogs!)

The DC03 is quite heavy, although not as heavy as some of the other Dyson models, and any upright cleaner with built-in hose and tools is likely to be heavy. It's got a good long flex and I can vacuum on each floor of the house without having to move the plug. The first time you use it you wonder what filth you've been living in, as the cylinder fills very quickly. My carpets took on a new lease of life, which was a bit of a pity as I'd just about convinced my husband that some of them needed replacing!

The are two HEPA (a fancy way of saying "very effective") filters. One of these is permanent and you can forget about it, but the other needs some attention. Older models, like mine, need to have the filter replaced at least once a year at a cost of £20 a time, but you can now buy, for £25, a filter which you can wash. It's quite a saving in the long run, but you do have to remember to wash them at least every six months. How effective is the filtering system? Very! Have you ever vacuumed on a sunny day and then seen dust motes in the air afterwards? Well, that's a thing of the past. One of our dogs suffers from House Dust Mite Allergy, and at 45kg that's a lot of dog to be feeling upset because she's got itchy skin! Every time I vacuumed she was inhaling those dust motes I was talking about. I was keeping my Vet in holidays with all the tests and treatments I was paying for. After Dyson the problem has virtually disappeared, and so have the Vet's holidays. He asked me how I'd done it, as one of his dogs has the same problem - and now he has a DC03! I didn't even charge him for the consultation, which is a bit of a pity, as h
e's not so generous!

Snags? Well, yes, there are some.

1. Poor balance. I discovered this when I was using the hose on the stairs, with the DC03 at the top. It was greatly attracted to me, and we ended up having a sudden and passionate embrace in the middle of the stairs. Always leave the cleaner sideways on to any drop, particularly if you're underneath it!

2. Stand upwind of the dustbin when you're emptying the cylinder unless you're planning on changing your clothes and having a shower.

3.Some of the plastic parts break easily. The Dyson Helpline were excellent at sending replacements free of charge in the two-year guarantee period. If you get the man who tells you, very kindly, that your husband should have no problems in fitting the parts, don't try and explain the error of this ways - it only upsets him.

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