The Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine is the home appliance giant’s first wet-and-dry machine and it works wonders.
In the realm of household appliances today, there is really no bigger force to reckon with than Dyson. From revolutionising problem solving technologies in air purification, robotics, haircare, lighting, hand drying, and now audio (with the Dyson Zone), there’s really no limits to the innovation that runs through its technology campuses.
So far, Dyson vacuum cleaners have at least made all the fussy clean-freaks at home happy. They are thorough, more lightweight (in recent versions) and easy to use. But for the most of us that live in high-rise buildings and occasionally like to keep the window open when we are not using the air conditioner, the cleaning routine at home can only end with a final mop. Thanks to how quickly dust piles up from just exposure to the outside air in the building-dense Singapore, our hard floors need that really squeaky clean finish for us to feel the difference.
Here is Dyson’s response, which we tested ahead of the launch: their first all-in-one wet-and-dry cordless vacuum cleaner — the Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine. Equipped with the new Dyson Submarine wet roller head, a combination of the right amount of hydration, absorption and extraction technologies allows spills, tough stains and small dry debris like food crumbs to be removed by a single machine.
While this is the first time Dyson is dabbling in the wet side of cleanliness, they are quite spot on with it. Thanks to a specially designed eight-point hydration system — a pressurised chamber equipped with eight water jets, evenly spaced along the roller — a precise 18ml of water is released every minute to wash floors evenly and without any excess wetness. And that’s on every time we dirty the parts of the floor we already cleaned because of our wet and dust-loving feet — the floor dries up significantly quicker with the Submarine than if we were to use a mop, so that’s a lot of time and effort saved with this god-sent device.
The motor-driven microfibre roller of the wet roller attachment is powered by the same Hyperdymium motor that enables 150 air watts of suction to work when vacuuming. This power is just completely diverted away from suction when the wet function is in use so the water does not go into the motor; the contaminated water and debris extracted by a durable plate all stay within the wet roller head.
To be specific, the collected dirt will be deposited into a separate waste-water tray for easy emptying. Top it off with an easily washable micro-fibre roller and you have a very cleanable cleaner, which in itself is already a big plus point when dealing with both wet and dry dirt.
Understandably, weight can become a source of contention since there is a water tank being carried around. The 3.1kg Submarine can feel a bit of a handful when the 300ml clean water tank is filled, and even heavier when the slightly larger 360ml dirty water tank — made larger to accommodate the dirt and debris picked up — becomes full. But even this is trumped by the efficiency of the whole cleaning process. With just 300ml, the Submarine is able to cover flooring of an average 5-room HDB flat in Singapore, complete with effortless manoeuvring underneath furniture and with edge-to-edge cleaning. It’s honestly surprising to watch the bulky but lithe head in action, and without the need for finger-aching gun-grips to activate the motor (just a on-and-off button), it is truly a breeze to clean the floor.
Of course, it’s still best to do a quick vacuum of the space before changing to the wet roller head for optimum battery usage. The Submarine also comes with the dust-illuminating Fluffy Optic Cleaner Head, now upgraded to identify two times more dust as compared to its predecessor; an Acoustic Dust Sensing function where an LCD screen shows the size and number of particles in an area, allowing the power of the vacuum to automatically increase and decrease across different floor types and dust amounts when in Auto mode; a scene-stealing Hair Screw Tool whose conical brush and angled bristles not only allow long hair or pet hair to slide off and into the bin with ease, but also deep cleans mattress or sofa from “invisible” dust.
Final review? Dyson knows best.
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