Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal – Stair Cleaning

The Big ball is not a cleaner you want to be carting upstairs and cleaning each step individually. It’s too weighty to be easy to carry and the footprint is too large to sit comfortably on the average household stair. Thankfully, the infeasibly long hose and wand make cleaning the stairs from top to bottom possible without moving the cleaner. Even with the wand removed and the tools connected directly to the hose we still managed to span our entire flight of stairs going up to the first floor. While you would have trouble on very tall flights of stairs, for most homes the long hose is ideal.

We tackled our carpeted stairs with the supplied upholstery brush which, despite its compact dimensions, actually did a very good job. The head is designed so it can’t sit perfectly flat to the carpet, so it never gets stuck down with the suction power. For lots of stairs it would get a little frustrating in covering a larger area, but as this model has Dyson Turbine Tool that was always going to be our stair tool of choice.

This innovative head features two contra-rotating brushes that spin parallel to the floor rather than perpendicular to it like a traditional beater brush. This stops hairs in particular getting drawn in and wrapped around a traditional beater bar. Even those that do get caught in the bristles can be simply picked free once the brushes have stopped spinning.

The rotating action scrubs the floor surface well and again left our stair carpets looking buffed and lifted. This tool is big enough to cover a reasonable area per sweep, but is small enough to get into corners. And for pet hairs on carpeted stairs it simply cannot be beaten.

Contrary to the current trend of supplying dusting brushes so small they could double as a tooth brush, the dusting brush that slides down the crevice tool is a good size with medium soft bristles. For stairs with hard floors, as well as a bit of cobweb-busting on the way up or down, it is another well-designed tool.

Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal – Pet Hair

Homes with pets need a lot of extra help with cleaning. We got to test the Cinetic Big Ball Animal in the worst of British winter weather when our two dogs would often come in from a walk and deposit fluff, mud, leaves and occasionally small woodland creatures around the kitchen. Having ushered out anything still moving, the Dyson proved more than capable of clearing up everything from hair balls to mud dried onto laminate flooring.

On our test patch of carpet with mixed Collie and Labrador hairs scruffled into the pile, it cleared the area in a very respectable 10 seconds. There was no trace of hair remaining and even hairs embedded deep into the carpet were drawn free.

While not one of our regular tests, the beater bar action on laminate did a great job of getting up the worst in dry mud and debris like small stones. Even if you do get hairs entwined around the large beater brush, it can be removed, stripped down and cleaned in minutes.

On more challenging surfaces, like the stairs, the Turbine Tool proved faultless at picking up hairs and resisting getting tangled up with them. Depending on the covering on your furniture this tool will also prove useful on more robust coverings. We used it successfully on the heavy canvas material of the dog’s beds but the action is too harsh for more delicate soft furnishings and the sofa. Here the upholstery brush came into play, but it certainly doesn’t have the sheer cleaning power of the Turbine Tool.

Should I buy the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal?

Living up to its name, the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal upright is big on size, big on features and big on cleaning power. It powers through all cleaning tasks and its filter-less technology works at keeping air clear of fine dust while meaning you never need clean a filter again.

If you can handle the extra weight in the hand Dyson’s flagship bagless, fliter-less upright is as good as they get. For smaller houses, and those without pets, it is probably overkill though, so a more lightweight option may be a better bet.

Verdict

Big, powerful and packed with features, the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal is ideal for large homes with pets. Just be aware it’s a fairly hefty appliance.

Trusted Score