The Dyson PencilWash Really Didn’t Do It for Me (and What to Get Instead)
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Vacuums aren’t a particularly fast-moving category, so it’s easy to get excited when something genuinely innovative comes along. Dyson was thefirst to make a cordless stick vacuumthat could replace a plug-in one. And with the PencilVac, its engineers have figured out a way to fit the entire vacuum into the stick itself, making for a nimbler cleaner that’s surprisingly convenient to use. The new PencilWash promises to shrink Dyson’s highly effectivefloor-washing technologyinto a similarly maneuverable package. While it nails the look and feel of its vacuuming counterpart, the PencilWash’s lackluster cleaning performance, finicky emptying process, and awkward dock design make it difficult to recommend at any price — let alone for $350.
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The PencilWash cleans easily, not deeply
The PencilWash cleans by moistening a motorized microfiber roller with clean water on one side, rolling it over a dirty patch of floor and scraping the refuse into a dirty-water tank on the other. The clean and dirty halves assemble separately, then slide together to form a cleaning head the size of a hardcover book, and should look familiar to anyone who has used aDyson Submarine series vacuumattachment. The head plugs into the battery-equipped control handle, and then you’re ready to go for up to 30 minutes of cleaning time. There’s a low-battery-indicator light, but unlike with the PencilVac, there’s no display to show the current charge level. However, the ten-fluid-ounce (300-milliliter) clean-water reservoir will run out before the battery dies in most cases, so keeping an eye on the liquid level through the clear window should be sufficient.
Using the PencilWash is quite satisfying while cleaning. Pressing the power button turns on the roller motor, which glides effortlessly over the combination of hardwood and tile throughout my apartment. At 4.9 pounds, it weighs less than half as much as the Wash G1 and is much more maneuverable than a wet mop. Pressing the water-droplet button briefly adds a bit of extra moisture for five seconds to help with tough spots, and holding it for a beat will activate this mode for 60 seconds to clean problem areas — but note that this will leave your floor feeling a bit damp. Otherwise, it’s a simple matter of pushing it around like you would a wet-dry dust mop, such as a Swiffer Wet Jet.
Just like a Swiffer, the PencilWash is fine for maintenance cleaning. Adding non-foaming cleanser (such as distilled white vinegar orDyson’s probiotic floor-wash fluid) helps, but, unlike the larger Wash G1, it’s never going to replace a proper mop and bucket full of hot water and Pine Sol or Simple Green. I thought a bit of elbow grease might help lift some of the tougher stains, but applying pressure only caused the motorized roller to stall out. Overall, its effect on floors is akin to that of mouthwash on teeth: a nice add-on to an already established hygiene routine, not a substitute.
Emptying the PencilWash is truly disgusting
If lackluster cleaning ability were the only downside of the PencilWash, I could see it being useful to some people who just want an easy way to touch up their bathroom and kitchen between visits from a cleaning service. But it’s such a pain to clean and empty that I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
After washing your floors, you have to take the PencilWash back to its docking station, clip on the drip tray, detach the handle, and leave it in the charging dock while you tend to the rest of the cleaning head. Next, you lift the whole thing to the sink, keeping it level — or else the unsealed dirty water reservoir might spill back onto the floor or onto your clothes. It only gets worse from there.
Once the cleaning head is safely in the sink, the manual says to disassemble it into its individual components, decant the dirty water, and wash each part thoroughly with soap and water. In the diagrams, the washing just happens from a magical spigot out of frame, but in real life, it’s your hands that do the washing. It’s every bit as involved as breaking down a saucy rack of ribs, except instead of barbecue sauce, every part of your hands is covered in varying levels of grimy mop water, tangled hair, and myriad other detritus from the floor — so it’s not like you can use a dishwashing sponge, dish towel, or even a counter rag to clean it off. It’s a task best performed with gloves and a stack of paper towels, which, in addition to being revolting and annoying, feels quite wasteful.
The PencilWash is an eyesore when not in use
Once cleaned, each part must be stood upright on the drip tray to dry fully before reassembly. So instead of an elegantly designed piece of floor-cleaning equipment resting in a charging cradle — like many of Dyson’s floor cleaning appliances — you’re left with a haphazard pile of parts taking up visual space on a cluttered drip tray. This is particularly confounding since Dyson has already solved this problem more elegantly in its other floor cleaners: TheWash+Clean Hygienefloor washer andSpot+Scrub AI floor cleaning robotboth have self-cleaning wet rollers with blow-dryers that activate automatically during charging.
This brings me to the PencilWash’s “dock,” which is really just a plug-in charger for the handle with a skimpy plastic cone around the base for stability — when the handle is docked, the whole thing looks like a giant toilet plunger. Once dried and reassembled, the cleaning head just sits on its drip tray, looking like an afterthought. Given the existence of Dyson’s Submarine line of vacuum-washer hybrids, it begs the question: Why isn’t this just an attachment for the PencilVac?
PencilWash alternatives worth considering
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A speed mop with rotating pads that cleaning columnist Jolie Kerr can’t stop recommending.
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Dyson’s first and strongest dedicated floor washer that cleans better than mopping.
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Dyson’s latest full-size floor washer has a blow-dryer in its dock. (We’ll review it soon.)
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