Elegantly blitzes dirt away

In principle, the WashG1 isn’t massively different from other hard floor cleaners. Two counter-rotating microfibre rollers continuously spray the floor with fresh water, wiping it as they go. Instead of emptying all the dirt into one container, Dyson has come up with something new: separating dry and wet dirt. To do this, the rollers spin dry particles into a collection tray, while liquid dirt is transported into a dirty water tank. The system’s designed to minimise direct contact with dirt.

Three water pressure modes, one squeaky-clean floor

The WashG1 boasts three cleaning modes. These allow you to adjust the amount of water depending on how stubborn a dried-in stain is. You can also give the water volume a quick boost at the touch of a button. On the flipside, doing this has a notable impact on battery life. You can see how much battery the cleaner has left at any time by checking the screen.

The long overdue deep clean

I start in the kitchen. The room’s dusty corners are long overdue for a clean, so it’s the perfect testing ground. I pop the water tank out of its holder and fill it with fresh water. I don’t use any cleaning products the first time around, as I’m keen to see how the wet cleaner fares without chemical help.

How accurate is the dirt separation feature?

I then try the hard floor cleaner out on mustard and oatmeal to see if it can separate the two. Both messes disappear from the tiles as the mop glides over them. However, any dirt that winds up in the grout between the tiles gets stuck there. The tiles are too high for the WashG1 to reach the mess, so I’m forced to grab a wet cloth to wipe it up by hand.

The ketchup test

For the ultimate toughness test, I spill some ketchup on the bathroom floor and leave it to dry for three days. I also throw a little red wine around it for good measure. As you can see in the video, the WashG1 holds its own against the stains. The wine disappears immediately, while the sticky ketchup vanishes when I ramp up the water pressure to max. Since the bathroom tiles aren’t as thick, the cleaner easily manages to reach into the grout and clean it. Unfortunately, I have to leave a strip of flooring along the wall unmopped. My bathroom’s really narrow, so I can’t manoeuvre the mop head 180 degrees.

The eternal hair problem

As I’m mopping up the ketchup stain, I notice the wet cleaner doesn’t really pick up hair from the floor. Instead, it just pushes the strands around the tiles. Curious to see how it’d cope with a major hairball, I grab my hairbrush and throw all the strands caught up in it onto the floor. The result? The WashG1 grabs up most of the hair, but struggles with a few individual strands left behind. I imagine short hairs are too fine to make it into the collecting tray, and long hairs end up wrapped around the rollers. Even so, the entangled hair doesn’t stop the floor cleaner doing its job. In any case, it’s easy enough to remove the hair once I’m done mopping. A competitor model, the Dreame H13 Pro, has less trouble with hair, as confirmed by my colleague Patrick Vogt in his review. Mind you, the H13 Pro throws everything into the same dirt container.

Foam party

It takes me a little while to figure out the right quantity of cleaning product. If I add too much to the fresh water tank, foam builds up in the waste water tank. This creates an issue, as the foam stops dirty water from getting into the tank, causing a mixture of filthy water and flecks of dirt to get caught up in the collection tray. When you remove the tray, the liquid spills out.

Hardwood floors are no bother

To clean my hardwood floors, I pour a little parquet cleaner into the fresh water tank and mop all the floors in my 70-square-metre flat. I have enough room to manoeuvre in my bedroom and living room to use the left side of the device, cleaning all along the wall and reaching the corners. The cleaning mode that uses the least water gets the job done in these rooms, so I only use half a tank. It doesn’t leave any water marks behind. According to Dyson, a full tank is enough for up to 290 square metres of floor space – provided you can cover all that within the device’s 35 minutes of battery life.

The post clean-up clean-up

The manufacturer’s promise that users won’t come into contact with dirt at all isn’t entirely true. When I pull the dry dirt container out of the WashG1, the contents occasionally spill out – especially if I’ve used too much cleaning product. Since the dirt and waste water are kept separate, this is no biggie. Although you need to empty out the wed clods of dirt, you don’t need to potter around with a gross cocktail of grime. If you hold the dirt collection tray under the tap, the particles wash off without any rigorous scrubbing or brushing.

Self-cleaning mode

The WashG1 has a self-cleaning mode to thoroughly rinse the inside of the device. To start the process, you just pop the cleaner into its charging station and activate the mode. The display then gives you step-by-step instructions to fill the fresh water tank, empty the waste water tank and clean the collection tray. Once you’ve done that and pressed the start button, self-cleaning mode kicks in. After a two-minute rinsing process, the device is ready for its next clean-up.

What about day-to-day use?

Although the cleaner tips the scales at just under five kilogrammes, it’s comfortable to hold and easy to move around. With one battery charge and less than one tankful of water, I can cover all 70 square metres of my flat. Assuming the place isn’t sporting too many hefty stains, that is. The WashG1’s strong suit is definitely hardwood flooring. Once I’ve cleared any cables out of the way, I can even reach dust under the furniture.