Dyson WashG1 Review: What We Think of Dyson’s New Wet Floor Cleaner

Children are messy. They leave behind a trail of dirty socks, crumbs and sticky spills everywhere they go. Eventually, their fine motor skills will improve and they'll stop using their pants as napkins. In the meantime, you'll need a quick and easy way to clean your hard floors. That's where the Dyson WashG1 Wet Floor Cleaner comes in.

The WashG1 cleans hard floors like a mop, broom, and vacuum in one. It has two tanks—a one-litre tank for clean water and a 0.8-litre dirty water tank. It also features two microfibre rollers that rotate in opposite directions to scrub and pick up both wet and dry debris. Instead of using suction, the rollers on the Dyson hard floor cleaner do the work. They deposit the dirt into a dishwasher-safe tray that is easy to empty and clean.

The handy touch-screen lets you choose a cleaning setting (level one, two or three, depending on how dirty your floor is). Or your WashG1 can self-clean so it's ready for the next spill. Plus, it includes a charging station because cordless cleaning is the best.

We put this high-tech Dyson floor cleaner to the test in a house with two kids who love crackers and peanut butter but refuse to use plates. It's not uncommon to find honey or jam spills, and between myself and the cat, there's plenty of hair on the floor.

Testing the Dyson WashG1 Wet Floor Cleaner

I tested the Dyson WashG1 on tile, hardwood and laminate. I used it in my bathroom, kitchen, halls and dining room. I cleaned up peanut butter, crumbs, cat and human hair, bits of paper, spilled tomato sauce and lots of sticky mystery stuff.

Features

Handle

The C-shaped handle on the Dyson WashG1 is rounded and smooth. It's easy to grip and guiding it over floors feels effortless.

Water tank

The WashG1 separates the dirty water from the clean with two different tanks. They connect securely to the floor cleaner's base and are easy to empty, refill and clean. Don't leave water in the tanks when the WashG1 isn't in use, because it will leak all over.

Brush rolls

The microfibre rolls are highly absorbent—with 64,800 filaments per square centimetre. They rotate in opposite directions when cleaning and clean water moves over the rolls with every rotation.

LCD display

The small display on the handle makes choosing between the three hydration modes easy. Or you can use it to set up self-cleaning mode when the WashG1 is on the charger.

Debris tray

After reviewing the instructional video, pulling out, emptying, and cleaning the removable debris tray is straightforward. Press a small red button to slide the debris tray out from beneath the floor cleaner.

Self-cleaning mode

The Dyson WashG1 cleans itself—meaning the microfibre rollers get a thorough cleaning. You still have to discard debris from the tray. Simply fill the clean water tank, choose the self-cleaning mode from the LCD and wait just over two minutes. All you have to do is empty the dirty water tank when the cycle finishes.

Battery

Like Dyson cordless vacuums, the WashG1 comes with a charging stand. The machine should last up to 35 minutes on one charge, but that time might be shorter depending on the cleaning mode.

Noise

This is a quiet floor cleaner. The sound it makes is not unpleasant and almost adds to the experience. It lets you know that it is hard at work. The Dyson WashG1 makes more noise when it's self-cleaning. Since it takes only a bit longer than two minutes, it's not very disruptive.

What was the setup process like?

Setting up the Dyson WashG1 is similar to setting up any of the brand's vacuum cleaners. You simply open the box—which is beautiful itself—and click the components together.  The user manual is short and to the point. For further information besides what each part does, you'll have to watch an instructional video.

Luckily, the video is short, easy to follow and well-produced. It shows the basics of using the floor cleaner and how the LCD screen works. If you have questions, there are FAQs on the website and of course, you can contact customer service.

How easy was the Dyson WashG1 to use?

This machine is a joy to use. Press the on button, choose a hydration level/cleaning mode and start scrubbing your floors. It glides easily around furniture legs and has one side that allows you to clean right up against walls or counters.

Filling the water tank is simple, and the way that the lid always lines up to the right place is kind of mind-blowing. You can use straight water or diluted detergent. Dyson strongly suggests that you should use "gentle, common household detergents and avoid using bleach or high-foaming formulation."

I generally clean one room or area at a time and put the Dyson back on the charger between rooms. So I haven't had to stop cleaning to charge the battery. But I have had to empty and refill the water tanks.

If you accidentally suck up something that shouldn't be in the floor cleaner—like a phone charging cord—things can get messy. Water continually flows through the machine, so if you have to pause to pull out the debris tray, you may be left with a puddle.

How effectively did it clean floors?

With only water, the WashG1 offers impressive cleaning performance. The colour of the water in the dirty water tank alone is enough to convince me. But most importantly, it gets the floors clean after one pass.

You'll have to go back and forth over the same spot a few times for sticky stuff. And some stuck-on debris may need to be scraped off the floor before the Dyson will pick it up. We cleaned up pasta sauce, peanut butter and even jam that I smeared into the floorboards for the sake of this test.

What maintenance is involved?

There's slightly more maintenance involved with this floor cleaner than a vacuum. Emptying and rinsing the water tank takes seconds. Clicking the tanks off the handle and back into place is easy.

You press a button to release and remove the debris tray. This part is a bit grosser than I imagined because the hair and dust get wet. So emptying the tray isn't as simple as holding it over a trash can unless you wait for everything to dry out.

But shaking the tray into the garbage and then running it under the faucet for a few seconds isn't so tough. Sliding the tray back into place takes a bit of practice but it's not difficult.

Finally, filling the clean water tank and turning on the self-cleaning setting takes less than three minutes. You don't need to wait for the cycle to end and you can empty the dirty water tank later.

Final Verdict

This is a great floor cleaner. As is the case with Dyson products, it's expensive. If you already have a vacuum you like and a basic mop, it might be hard to justify the splurge. Plus, it's not quite as fuss-free as you might expect.

However, it could be worth it if you want a machine that can quickly and effectively clean spills and dirt. The Dyson WashG1 means never having to fill a mop bucket or scrub your floors again. Now that's splurge-worthy.

Pros

• Smooth and easy to use
• Covers up to 3,000 square feet on a single charge
• Removes wet and dry debris in one go
• Cleans well even without detergent
• Self-cleaning design
• Takes up very little space
• Lightweight
• Handy battery charging stand

Cons

• The water tanks are a bit small
• You cannot leave water in the clean tank when the floor cleaner isn't in use
• Water leaks out of the clean tank all the time, making carrying it to different rooms drippy