Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 AN ABSOLUTE MUST! January 6, 2009
A. Bullock (Bedfordshire, England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Due to having a new house (the 3 floor type they build now, cheers!), 3 messy children and 2 little dogs, one of which is white and moults terribly, I decided enough was enough, I needed help. After having upright cleaners in the past I decided to take the plunge and buy a Dyson DC20 Stowaway Animal Cylinder cleaner - BEST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE. Extremely strong suction, dog hairs gone (even the dog nearly went up it), very easy to use. It comes with an attachment for pet hair but I found the normal attachment was enough to suck the hair up anyway. Stairs are a doddle. The normal carpet attachment fits great on each stair and plenty of cable to reach the top. You can also vacuum under beds really easy as the end twizzles so you can lay it flat. There is a hard floor attachment which is great for laminate and tiles (although, again I just used the normal carpet attachment and it did the job perfectly). I vacuumed my whole house, 3 floors, 5 bedrooms and it looks fantastic! If you have pets, particularly if they moult you have to get this vacuum cleaner. You will not be disappointed. If I had to have one negative to say is that you just have to watch your paintwork as if you are not careful when you are pulling it around you could bang the skirting boards and mark them (but just be careful!)
 This seriously sucks (in a good way) December 27, 2008
Mr. Mischief (Guernsey)
The DC20 Animal is what I would consider to be an up-rated version of the old DC05, adding a collapsible wand and two brushbar-equipped turbine heads (one large and one small) to the legendary Dyson suck. Unlike the Motorhead DC21 and DC23, the brushes on the turbines don't turn using a motor but the sucking action of the vacuum itself, although this turbocharger rather than supercharger power doesn't appear to have a detrimental effect on the machine's ability to pick up hairs and other stubborn debris.
Our Jack Russell sheds his coat at every given opportunity and if we don't keep the hairs in check they get everywhere and are difficult to remove from both carpets and upholstery. The turbine brushes have no problem picking up these hairs although in the case of the small turbine a little work on the part of the user is required to get every last one - the large turbine is a great inclusion and is far more effective on carpets than just using the standard floor tool. The brushes can also be turned off if you need to clean sensitive areas, which is another nice touch.
With the DC20 you also get an ordinary (albeit a bit cheap) hard floor tool, a crevice tool, a brush and an upholstery tool, which given the effectiveness of the turbine heads (but perhaps with the exception of the crevice and brush tools) aren't the most necessary of inclusions but it's good to have them anyway. The DC20 lacks the core separator of the DC23, which I'm told is an even more efficient way of separating the dirt from the air, although I've never had a problem with any Dyson's cleaning ability so this seems to be a fairly unimportant omission. And despite looking huge, the bin is perhaps a bit small for use in larger homes as the cyclone system takes up a lot of the room in it. And, like many cleaners, I still find the DC20 a bit difficult to manoeuvre around the floor due to the fairly poor wheels.
The DC20's main party trick is its ability to fold itself away, with the hose being folded around the body and the wand collapsing down into a more compact form factor. This does actually make it feel smaller than previous Dyson cylinders and certainly helps when carrying it around and storing it. I initially had concerns about the strength of the wand as this seems to be a weak part on older Dysons - it's therefore nice to see that the wand's inner sections are made of aluminium and appear quite a bit stronger than I thought they'd be. The end sections are still plastic so whether or not they'll suffer in rigorous use remains to be seen.
I'm also a little concerned about other parts of the machine as it seems to be a bit over-engineered in places and under-engineered in others - the place where the wand clips to the cleaner body when not is use looks a little weak and I have reservations about the cable reel as it doesn't look like it's undergone any sort of overhaul since the early days. The DC20 does, at the very least, feel tougher than the DC05 so I'm hoping it'll give me little trouble but I'll aim to give an update after a few months when I've had a chance to explore the strength more fully.
Purely rating it at its cleaning ability, the DC20 has to be one of the best vacuums around, perhaps due in no small part to the very effective turbine heads. It's not the lightest machine around nor does it feel the sturdiest but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it over a cheaper and less well-equipped cleaner, including other Dysons.
Best Cyclon vacuum! November 24, 2008
V. Spurgeon (Plymouth, UK)
Just like all fine things in life are expensive. I've been using, Hoover DC04, then DC08 until that packed up on me. Before plunging into expense, went to some high street shops to feel and touch (would definately recommend doing so!), then bought this on Amazon = cheaper by 50 pounds! Unit is very sleek, thought through, cleaning perfomance is just short of unbeliveable, removing all dust and dirt is effortless. Pets don't mind the sound of this unit (unlike hoover!), although it's slightly loud but it's due to good suction power and turbo brush. Top marks and highly recommended
Great vacuum November 21, 2008
Vic (Kent, UK)
This is the first Dyson I've ever bought, after my dear Henry started to give up on me after 10 years! I read lots of reviews about which one to go for & I'm not disappointed I chose this one.
I don't have any animals but my own hair gets everywhere so I decided to spend the extra few pounds to get the Animal. I had new carpets installed 24 hours before the vacuum arrived and I have used it every other day since, I have already emptied it 3 times!! That's just in 2 weeks, it is amazing what it actually picks up. I hate to think what my old carpets were like, even though they seemed clean and I vacuumed regularly!
All in all a really good buy, I have taken a star away though, because of the hose-it is really annoying and does get in the way a lot. But it does wrap around the Dyson and 'stowaway' into a small space, so a small price to pay I suppose.
dyson dc20 animal stowaway September 9, 2008
debbie (uk)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
WOW! this morning before my dyson arrived i scrubbed all my carpets with a dry scrubbing brush to get rid of the dog hairs and then hoovered them (as i have been doing for months as our vacuum cleaner is rubbish)
when the dyson arrived i thought i would test it too make sure it works...wow! it picked up two canisters worth of dog hair..I amazed. i was a bit worried i had wasted a load of money on this cleaner..but it is worth every penny, its fantastic! highly recommend it to all pet owners who are fed up with having dog/cat fur over your black tops and trousers!
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