Cyclone affects House in Staffs (Dyson DC05 Absolute)

Member Name: shroud

Product:	Dyson DC05 Absolute
Date:	04/04/07 (232 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lightweight, no bags or filters to buy EVER, HEPA filtration means only clean air comes out, and a m

Disadvantages: ouch at the price new .

Well, actually, it sucked the dirt up, but you get the idea. Pause here for my happy Snoopy style dance while I reflect on the all the dirt and germs that my Dyson has rid my home of. WOW! WOW! WOW! Okay, enough with the dorkiness. Seriously, though, it must be a mountain of dirt and I don't even want to think of the germs the HEPA filter has trapped, and I know it has, because after using it for the very first time, we suddenly noticed the air smelled nicer in the house and we had NOT used carpet freshener!

Anyways, back to the Dyson. I first clapped eyes on the upright DC01 version when they hit the shelves in America alongside the Hoover company's own cyclone model. A demonstration was done at the shop I worked at and I hohummed at it, knowing full well that these are as orchestrated as an infomercial on late night telly. I did not buy one, especially after looking at the might as well have been a multi million dollar price tag for the bite it would have done to our income. Boy, they were super exspensive then.

Fast forward on half a decade and in England once more, faced with a truly disgusting carpet in our new rental home and floor boards with gaps between them that make the Grand Canyon in Arizona look tidgy. I used our existing well known brand vaccum cleaner and it seemed to an adequate job. Top of the carpet looked REASONABLY clean, and most surface dirt was gone off the wood floor. My new neighbour said, "Hmmm, let me loan you my Dyson, that will sort it." She brought it over. I revacuumed my floors. The canister astonishingly filled to the top and the gaps were empty in the floor boards. OOOOOOerrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!! Suddenly, we noticed the abscence of a slightly sour smell that we had not noticed before its absence. Right, that was it, we HAD to have a Dyson.


But which one? The model my neighbour had loaned me was her trusty DC01.It was upright, but I could more easily carry a canister vac upstairs. Also, a canister vac can follow along behind you rather than be pushed along. Me, lazy? Never! Just simply that housework should be as easy and uncomplicated as possible!

That settled, next came variations on the canister model. OUCHY at the prices! Forget the high street, what I needed was our trusty friend Ebay. Trusty Ebay was bound to have an honest seller on there somewhere who had a Dyson for sale. We watched to see how much they went for. Finally, our day came. Excellent feedback, canister model (DC05) in the colour I wanted, and it had all its attachemnts. Used, it said, but partial loss of suction.Partial????? Oh well, we could probably sort that out.

Having bid and won the DC05, I was terribly excited the day it arrived. Lime green and deep purple , it was not as ugly as some models (yes, I DID SERIOUSLY consider colour lol). All the attachments were indeed there. A look inside the tube revealed the culprit of the "partial loss of suction". A rather dried out steak cut chip was lodged inside it in a sideways manner. A quick shake over my bin and presto, no partial loss of suction. All cyclones were GO!

Once more, we went over our floors and carpets. We changed tools and did our suite. We changed tools again and did the duvets, pillows, and mattresses. Result was one VERY full canister and a fresher smelling house, without any perfumes. We were dead impressed as the saying goes.

Now for the techincal description. My DC05 is the lime green and deep purple one. It has a turbobrush with a beater brush for carpets as well as a hard floor tool for use on hard floors. It also comes with an upholstery brush tool, a stair tool which is a small version of the hard floor head, and a crevice tool. I can honestly say suction is so great on this machine, that I have only had to use the crevice tool about half a dozen times in the past two years, and each time that was to reach into the deep folds in my sofa upholstery.

The wand telescopes and will reach from the bottom of the stairs to the top, even on our remarkably steep stairs, so if merely needing to vacuum the stairs, there is no need to hump it about. It does, however, sit quite well on my shallow stairs if sat rather sideways, otherwise it falls down the stairs, which is not great for the machine innards never mind anyone passing by the foot of the stairs! I think my cat is scarred for life after the Dyson attacked her in such an unprovoked manner. All the poor thing had done was hiss at it for a moment when I switched it on. Bad Dyson!

It has a convenient carry handle on the top, so is easily transportable if needing to be carried. The wand hooks securely onto the back and the tools store on a holder on the wand, so it stores neatly away. The neat appearance is enhanced by the convenient cord retraction feature; simply press the button on one side (it is clearly marked with a plug icon) and the cord winds itself neatly away. Be sure to look at the icons so you get used to which is the cord one and which is the power, otherwise you feel really stupid trying to start it and it keeps yanking part way out of the wall. Yes, sir, I really am a blonde and allowed to operate household machinery!

There is no need to buy filters or bags for this model. the HEPA filter is a lifetime model that should stay good long past the death of the Dyson motor.The HEPA system was first designed for hospital theatres as it traps microorganisms in the air and out comes clean scrubbed air, reducing the risk of airborne infection. This means all air coming into the Dyson not only brings in actual dirt, but that bacteria and other microscopic yuckies all get stuck in the filter and die. We noticed that our asthma and hay fever was pretty cleared up in the house after a week and I understand that the HEPA filter trapping the dust mites probably has a lot to do with it.

The second filter is a sponge type thing that you are supposed to take out and wash every six months, then allow to air dry. It says NOT to dry it by fires or radiators, and people who do are presumably why they sell replacements.

You also do not need to use bags. The hose empties straight into a small bin that you empty straight into a household bin bag or the outside bin like we do.Simply rinse under a tap and let dry and voila! a clean bin. You do not have to wash it each time, so if it gets full and you are not finished, simply press the button at the top of the main vacuum body, detach the bin, press the buton on the lid, remove the lid, empty it, reattach and away you go!

Now, Dyson makes claims about no loss of suction ever. I can tell you this is PARTIALLY true. You will ALWAYS feel some sort of suction as long as your hose is not holey. BUT, and this is a big but, if it is blocked with say, a huge dried up steak cut chip, your hose gets full of crud and only fine dirt will go through, the rest will fall out of the bottom of the wand again. So watch for this! it is easily to rememdy however, as the hose easily unclips from teh body and you can remove the yuck jam.

I mentioned we have a cat and I have to say the Dyson is great for picking up pet hair, however they do a more upscale model designed especially for hard to pick up pet hair, so if you own a long haired cat or dog or a moulting whatever, you may wish to look at the DC05 Animal version.

I have not had to contact Dyson customer service myself, but I have heard wonderful things about them. I have, however, had cause to look up their website, with the intent of ringing them to ask for a copy of the instructions, but I did not have to. The Dyson website has free printable PDF files for their models and you can even quite reasonably order replacement parts for out of warranty or (cough cough) second hand Dysons.The instructions are pretty dummy proof too as this blonde bimbo easily understood the pictures. The Dyson manuals are all pictorial in colour with BIG pictures. No jargon whatsoever! Add in a flat fee of £50 for a service if needed and out of warranty, complete with parts and labour, and you can se what a bargain this is! I should add I have had this machine 5 years now, and it has not yet needed a service, and its performance is as good as ever.

New the DC05 model sells for an average of £149 in most high street shops online and off, or grab an Ebay purchase at about £65 including delivery. I love this vaccum and I will only replace it with another Dyson.

Summary: Dyson DC05 has superior suction and HEPA helps keep house sanitary and dust free

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