PeteFree.comDyson “Animal” Vacuum Cleaner — Review
© 2011 Peter Free
01 March 2011 (update 15 May 2019 — scroll to bottom)
Heavy, unwieldy, and not for everybody — but good for large expanses of carpet or bare floor
The Dyson Animal vacuum cleaner shows evidence of having been designed by someone who doesn’t have to vacuum very often in ordinary domestic situations. It has too many negatives to be considered a well-balanced tool.
It is emphatically not for asthmatics.
But on large expanses of unobstructed floor, it is very good. Provided you don’t mind its messy emptying.
Negatives
(1) Heavy
Almost ridiculously so. This is not a cleaner for people who have stairs, and it is not one for people who value a blend of elegant design and function.
(2) Too-easily activated vacuum bypass valve
This valve activates whenever the Dyson sucks something and instantaneously won’t let go.
The valve diverts suction from the cleaner itself to the valve, which is located on the bottom rear of the machine. To deactivate it, one has to obstruct the valve's airflow very briefly or turn the Dyson off and on.
The valve on our Dyson is so sensitive that it activates in virtually every room for one reason or another. This sensitivity is the single most annoying characteristic of this machine.
(3) Maneuvers poorly
This weakness was probably the motivation behind Dyson’s newer Ball vacuum, which maneuvers much more easily.
(4) Awkward handle lock
To put the handle into operating position, one has to step around the unit and onto the front of the vacuum head. This is a feature that most other manufacturers avoid by putting a foot release pedal on the back of their units.
(5) Not good for throw rugs
When the handle is in operating position, one has to lift the pivoting head with an extended foot and leg and carry the whole unit onto the rug, otherwise the combination of the machine’s weight and suction will roll/fold/suck the throw rug up.
(6) Messy emptying
When opened, the removable plastic dust canister drops its load and dirt flies everywhere.
Emptying has to be done outside. And you had better know which way the wind is blowing — otherwise your clothing will carry a significant amount of dirt back into the house.
(7) Less than ideal tool operation
The removable rigid handle is too long for a good many things that adjustable tube lengths on canister vacuums do well.
For example, vacuuming window sills and mid-level window frames is difficult because the Dyson’s tube is far too long to achieve the proper angle of contact. A duster works better in these situations. Similarly, the Dyson doesn’t really work well on baseboards because it is too difficult to maintain the proper angle of contact.
(8) Poor tool storage
The Dyson’s three small tools are always dropping off because their snap-in retainers, especially the two for the round brush, are too small and too weak. (The large brush does not fit on the vacuum.)
(9) Messy maintenance
The plastic, holed filter inside the dust collection canister gets plugged, so one has to clean its holes with a toothbrush.
(So much for Dyson’s boast that this vacuum doesn’t lose suction. It loses suction for the same reason other vacuum cleaners do. The only difference is that, with the Dyson, you can see why suction power has dropped off and do something about it.)
There is another filter below the dust canister that has to be washed (with a subsequent overnight drying time) and occasionally replaced.
(10) Not noticeably better for animal hair than other vacuums that I have used
(11) Probably over-priced, given its many negatives
Positives
(1) Suction is good
But not dramatically better than other decent vacuum cleaners that I have used, like older Hoovers and newer Kenmore canisters.
(2) Works well on carpet and bare floor
(3) Durability of the basic framework and the dust canister is sound
This is good because the Dyson falls over backward easily, as when it is stored in a crowded coat closet and one pulls a coat out (inadvertently catching the Dyson’s handle and tilting the machine backward and down). So, I store the Animal sideways inside the closet.
(4) Expandable hose is part of the handle and is relatively easily converted to tool use
But the hose does not extend to the top a staircase as Dyson’s original advertising showed.
(5) Animal-hair floor brush is a nice, but not entirely successful, try
The brush has wheels and a thin row of stiff bristles on its perimeter. Pressing down on it, on the forward stroke, helps to tug hair out of carpet. Pressing down on the brush, while pulling it on the back stroke, pivots the bristles up so that the hair they caught does not go back onto the carpet.
Recommended for large expanses of unobstructed floors and not much else
My wife wanted the Dyson. We would now probably not buy another one, at least of this design.
On balance, I prefer canister vacuums, when faced with a combination of carpet and hard floors and heavy tool use.
In my estimation, the Dyson Animal’s (i) high price, (ii) unmaneuverable weight, (iii) messy emptying, (iv) hair-trigger suction bypass valve, and (v) poor tool storage make this vacuum cleaner a less than obvious choice for most domestic uses.
On the other hand, in expansive, uncluttered (almost warehouse-like) settings, the Animal functions extremely well.
Update (15 May 2019)
This Dyson was in storage for three years, while we were on assignment abroad. Thus, it has only been in relatively light service for six years, as of this update. Now, it's essentially kaput.
When we put it back into service, it began demonstrating irritating periods of non-suction. The only way to test for this is to uncap the hose top and see whether the motor is pulling air.
If one doesn't do this, you can vacuum the whole house, without realizing that the Dyson is not picking anything up from the carpets.
This glitch may reside with the air filter, despite its being washed regularly.
What is particularly annoying about the malfunction is that the Dyson's suction doesn't decline gradually. You cannot plan for it. Instead, it stops sucking, whenever its seemingly demented little mind wants to.
Neither can you (effectively) run the vacuum without the filter. When used that way, suction materially lessens, and the machine blows a lot of air out onto its operator. Presumably, there is a bunch of dust in that unfiltered flow.
What is worse, this vacuum cleaner's aggravating foibles and its close-to-laughable unreliability (over only six years) persuades me against buying another Dyson. The machine compares poorly in most respects with a 1970s metal Hoover Celebrity cannister vacuum that I owned for more than thirty years.
All told, given the faults listed in the initial review, I do not recommend the Dyson Animal.