Dyson Digital Slim DC44 Tester feedback review thread – Non testers – you could win a Dyson

I used to pick up a phone and get a man in, then I retired....... Sigh. I have been learning housework and discovered that I HATE it. One tip I did get from a wise old Grannie of 98, buy a hoover for every floor of the house, stop carrying all that dust around. Stops you falling over the pipe too.

This Dyson thingy sounds good, bet it is exepnsive: all good hoovers are in my experience. I got to that knowledge via a pile of cheap but none too cheerful horrors that hit the tip within weeks. Yes the joke about changing the bag was made by my nearest and not always dearest.

Somehow I've never felt secure about bagless....... the testers seem secure though, so convince me.

Bicarbonate of soda gets rid of the smell of vomit from carpets, upholstery and cars. Neat science - it neutralises the acid. Clean sick off first (obviously!) and then try sprinkling on the bicarb powder, rubbing in and Dysoning off. Or wipe with a solution of bicarb.

the hardest place I've ever had to reach when cleaning is the top of the shower curtain rail!

We have a bed with very little clearance under it too Nfk - I have one of these which just fits under ours:

www.lakeland.co.uk/22444/Lakeland-Home-Microfibre-Mop

My big old upright Dyson has done good service but I find it impossible to use the tube attachment on the stairs - the machine fights back and is stronger than me. The DC 44 looks ideal for our little house.

But I have a place which is impossible to clean, even my highly intelligent Best Beloved can't figure it out. We have a wonderful Tempur bed which has less than a couple of inches clearance and a not overly large bedroom. Anyone out there have any ideas how to get to the fluff and dust piling up underneath? The best I've come up with so far is using the hair dryer to blow it within reach when it gets deep enough!

White vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are my favourite cleaning products. Vinegar for all glass/mirrors. Bicarb for smelly cooking pots and pans especially after fish, curry also great for fridges and microwaves, try sprinkling some over pets bedding to neutralise smells also good for smelly shoes.fshock

The balance challenge Really easy to use the Dyson one handed when vacuuming floors/stairs etc, but need to use two hands when lifting the Dyson up to ceilings.

The versatility challenge Have used all the attachments to access different places, e.g. sofa cushions/hearth/skirting boards. Click on and off very easily.

The cobweb challenge What cobwebs? They are no more ! Two otherwise inaccessible places have fallen to the Dyson. Hooray! (Although, truth be told I wasn't losing sleep over them, just found it a bit of an irritant that the dust was building up and spiders setting up home in places the Wonderful Man knew I wouldn't be able to reach when he created them.)

The family mess challenge Hordes of people live/visit here under normal circumstances and Christmas/New Year has been busier than ever. I find I grab the Dyson at the drop of a hat - mostly because it's so immediate - and floors are vacuumed and the machine emptied in the time it would normally take me to lug the other cleaner out, empty the thing before it can be used (no-one else is capable of course, so it's nearly always left to me) and plug it in. I love that the Dyson is cordless and empties so easily.

This Dyson is proving to be the handiest vac I've ever had. I've used it exclusively over Christmas and New Year, as it's so good for sliding into corners and under furniture. I used it for running over curtains and catching a few cobwebs this morning, then I vacuumed the dog's basket and cushion. It's ridiculously light. It empties in a moment, and being cordless, there's no hassle with a lead trailing under doors and furniture and getting stuck.

Oh and forget to say that both DS have cleaned their cars with it, the first time in months!

Lovely surprise when this was delivered, didn't get a chance to assemble as DH had done this within seconds of opening the package - as usual.
This is brilliant, so light & easy to use and so effective wether it was the bamboo flooring in my beautiful new kitchen, the rug in the lounge or the carpet on the stairs. Love the little ball like joint which makes it so manouverable.
The ease of use was perfect over Christmas, especially after meals with young grandsons - everthing clean & tidy in minutes. Also brill for clearing up after the unwrapping frenzy on Christmas evening, just picked up all the actual wrapping paper and the Dyson dealt with the rest - and there were 14 of us making a mess!
It's also kept the cat hairs at bay which helped visiting DD keep her asthma in check.
Thanks Dyson & Gransnet , and happy new year to everyone.

I've used the new Dyson much more then I would have used my other vacuum cleaner. Yesterday I had a houseful of guests and in between visits I found myself quickly vacuuming in the sitting room and hall. I also use the Dyson for cleaning the hearth and it's brilliant at getting the powdery ash residue off the slate.
I don't find the 'finger on trigger' to be a problem, but I do find the weight of the machine between my thumb and index finger results in a bit of a sore spot. Although for a maximum of 20 minutes use it isn't going to cause a real problem.

Having the Dyson has made me less anxious.

I did a big clean today, it being New Years Day, and the Christmas tree having been put out for a well earned breath of fresh air. I used my ordinary cyclinder vacuum cleaner because I wanted more than twenty minutes' worth.

Then up came GS aged 7 for a sleepover and we soon had a sprinkling of biscuit crumbs over the newly hoovered carpet.

I wasn't bothered though because it is so quick and easy to pick up the Dyson and, hey presto, the carpet is pristine again.

I had also been moving furniture around in the guest bedroom and wanted to hoover bits of the carpet before placing furniture in new positions. Again quick and easy with the Dyson and no need to lug the cylinder vacuum cleaner back out from under the stairs.

Agree the trigger can be a nuisance. I too swap hands because of an aching thumb.

Hardest cleaning job is underneath the fridge and range cooker. Tiny spaces and lots of spillages and crumbs. Really difficult to get to - hate to think what is down there. Last time we moved the fridge found the skeleton of a frog that the cat had brought in a long time ago!
Best cleaning tip use halves of lemons after you have squeezed out the juice for cooking and put them in a small bowl of water and microwave for a minute. Then wipe down the insides of the microwave with a damp cloth and accumulated grunge will easily come off. Plus leaves a lovely citrusy smell.

Oh, and I did do a 20 minute pre-visitor dash round, but was panicking too much to film at the same time! Managed to get rid of a lot of post-xmas debris before the battery went dead.

I actually picked the Slim up and ran it round the kitchen to pick up stray icing from the exploding rice crispy house before heading out today. Not my normal habit and a sign that it is easy to pick up and use. And quicker than hunting down the dustpan and brush which never seems to be in its proper place.

I would agree that a lock ON button would be useful - I did find I was swopping hands when using it to clean the stair carpet because my trigger finger was aching. That may be because I also had the biggest head on and the pole.

One of the hardest places I have found is the bit between the skirting board and the radiator, especially if the radiator pipes run underneath too, the dust seems to get trapped there (and having a black dog doesn't help with that too!)
My cleaning tip is invest in decent microfibre cloths, they take a lot of effort out of cleaning - and they're Green too

We have certainly had some really good products to test this past year what with this Dyson DC44 and the Hoover Globe that I tested we have been very fortunate,the write ups have even made me look at buying the DC44 for DDs house where something light and easy to use would be ideal for her when the children have finished in her kitchen saving her having to pull out the old heavy Dyson that I passed on to her.

I keep a bottle of vinegar in my cleaning cupboard, it is so useful for bringing a shine to glass, basins baths, mirrors and so on. Also much moe environmentally friendly than commercial cleaners.

Win a Dyson?

Hardest place to reach are my pelmets- i have very high ceilings in this Victorian house, and I'm only five foot tall!
Cleaning tips? Got to be good old fashioned washing soda. Cheap, cheerful, and it works so well for wet cleaning and adding to the washing. Tried and tested.

Happy New Year!

Only just found this, which is a pity as I'd love to give this a try. Am I too late?
I have a Dyson but while it is very efficient I find it far to heavy for me nowadays and lugging it upstairs is beyond me now.
Ah well, story of my life- I miss everything!!

SIL is in a wheelchair and she recently purchased the Dyson DC44 after seeing it advertised on television. I watched her whizzing around with it over Christmas...wow, it was amazing. No leads to get tangled, light to move, reaches high up for ceilings and shelves. So easy for her to use and empty and helps her to retain her independence. She said that it charges really quickly too and is the best vacuum cleaner she has ever had. Reluctantly, she handed it over to me to have a go. Although I couldn't find any dust to vacuum up as she had clearly captured it all, I am converted.

I have the other hand held Dyson without the extension, it is brilliant but definitely needs a trigger that stays in place as it tenses the hand holding all the time. I am certainly going to get another Dyson for doing the whole house as my old vacuum is so heavy.

First Impressions
Saturday 22nd December
The Dyson cordless DC44 arrived yesterday at tea time and I unpacked it with my four year old twin grandsons this morning. I thought I knew what to expect, as I have a handheld cordless Dyson already. However, this is much more powerful. It was charged up, ready to use and simple to assemble. The boys helped me and were pushing it around the carpet themselves within minutes. That demonstrates how light and manoeuvrable it is.

I looked at the Dyson booklet and commented to the children that you can even vacuum the dog, as it has a pet grooming tool that can be obtained. The glint in their eyes was priceless! To distract them from mowing down the poor dog, we did a little video about what it could do, and the dog went back to her basket.

We tried it on the sitting room carpet, slate kitchen floor and the stairs. It's very quiet and within minutes, the cylinder was half full with no effort at all. Crevices are very easy to clean with the crevice tool, and no matter which way you push it into corners and under furniture, the power does not reduce.

This is going to be so useful over Christmas, for a quick whizz round before relatives arrive, and the post-party tidy up. The spare bedroom's ceiling cobwebs will be done away with, without me waiting for my tall son to arrive and do the job. I will no longer have to carry the heavy Dyson vac up the stairs. It's powerful, but I have had it a few years so is one of the heavier ones. I hope this one lasts as well.

So far, I'm very pleased with this DC44. It looks attractive, is not at all cumbersome, and I can recharge it upstairs without having to organise space for it.

*I was picked by GNHQ to review this product, which I received for free. These are my own words and reflects my true opinion.

Old toothbrushes are invaluable for cleaning smaller spaces, eg. around the base of taps etc. Toothpaste, instead of household cream cleansers, makes an alternative cleaner. It brings up stainless steel spotlessly. When trying to clean small, very delicate ornaments try interdental brushes, they work a treat. Instead of using smelly Brasso for cleaning brass just use a cream cleanser such as Cif. When sprucing up dried/silk flower arrangements, sprinkle with salt, then leave a while and shake thoroughly. This effectively removes dust and dirt.