It is incredible the amount of dust our home accumulates. We have been using a Dyson vacuum cleaner for years but have never really tried an upright model. Recently Dyson sent me the new DC65 Animal upright vacuum cleaner. The box itself is small-ish and not very impressive. But it is all part of the ingenuity put into this product. Inside the box I found quite a few different parts that once put together make a very impressive consumer device.
Instructions are pretty easy to follow, and like previous models it is mainly a visual guide. You don’t waste time with words – just look at the images, find the bit and pieces, connect them together and you have a vacuum cleaner. Like a puzzle really.
The Dyson DC65 is mainly used as an upright model but you can easily attach adapters to a flexible wand and use it in those hard to reach places (between walls and sofas, steps, inside your car, etc). Not that you need to use those accessories that much. The new enhanced brush bar seems to be even more low profile than before and easily fit under our TV cabinet and sofas without effort.
The brush bar is one serious good accessory. We already have one in our old model but this one seems to be wider, lower and more powerful. Also to switch between pure vacuum and the vacuum plus brush combination the old model required us to manually change it on the bar itself. This is now a handy button just next the power switch, on the handle.
Another interesting accessory is a special head with brushes that rotate in opposite directions. The idea here is that you can use this with the flexible want and the design is created specifically to prevent strings and other items getting tangled in the spinning brushes. And it works.
In terms of suction, this one delivers what it promises: a strong device that really takes in all those loose bits on the floor.
The “Ball technology” is interesting. It makes the whole operation very easy, with the DC65 being a very maneuverable device. And here is what I most liked about this: I never liked using standard vacuum cleaners because of the whole “pulling” it around and getting it tangled in corners or behind chairs. But I had not tried an upright vacuum cleaner either. You instantly realise how much easier it is to drive it around the floor, between rooms and not have to worry about the vacuum cleaner getting stuck in a corner when you enter a room.
Upright vacuum cleaners simply go where you are going. They don’t follow you, you take then there. I found the zen of vacuum cleaners!
To drive the DC65 around you have to “unlock” the kickstand, which will feel strange at the beginning. It feels like you might break it but then it just unlocks and can use it around. You then have to push it upright until it clicks back in place – otherwise it will fall backwards. I learnt my lesson the second time it happened.
Anyway. At some point you will accumulate a lot of dust inside the dirt box. You will see it because it’s a transparent plastic canister - these devices don’t use bags – and you will have to empty it. Like previous Dyson models it is actually very easy to maintain the DC65. You push a button to release the canister from the stand and push the same button to open the bottom of the canister – preferably over a wheely bin or a bag to collect all that dust.
From time to time you will need to remove and wash the filter, which means at least 24 hours until it is dry and ready for use again. Not a big deal, just remember when doing it.
Overall I really liked the new model. Never thought it would be so much different from the other designs.
