Dyson’s newest device for dealing with dirt in your home is the mechanical mop. Unlike the British engineering company’s flagship fans, hair dryers and vacuum cleaners, the new Dyson WashG1 underfloor washing machine does not feature precisely engineered fans or a finely tuned Hyperdymium motor. Instead, the mop relies on mechanical agitation to clean up wet spills, pick up dirt and debris, and deliver a really good clean on hard floors.
The WashG1 wet floor cleaning device — also called a mop — retails for $699.99 and is the company’s first dedicated mopping device. The battery-powered cordless mop is scheduled to be launched this fall. You can sign up to be notified when the world’s coolest mop is available on Dyson’s website.
While it’s definitely fancy, it’s not a smart mop – it doesn’t require robotics or app connectivity. And while there are plenty of companies that sell you robotic vacuum cleaners and mops that clean your floors for you, Dyson relies on you to promote this model. Dyson sells a vacuum and mop combo – the Dyson Submarine – but the WashG1 only serves one purpose: mopping.
But because it’s a Dyson, it’s been wonderfully redesigned to be the best mop in the world. According to Tom Moody, president of Dyson Home, the big problem that engineers set out to solve is that most mops spread dirty water across the floor when mopping – you know what happens when you put a mop in a bucket full of dirty water and then Spray it all over the floor while “cleaning”?
Dyson thinks it has solved this mystery by constantly pulsing clean water onto two working microfiber mop heads. Instead of the hard work of moving the mop back and forth by hand, the Dyson uses mechanical agitation with counter-rotating rollers to scrub away dried-on stains, meaning you just need to guide it when doing the heavy lifting. The built-in bristle brush scrapes larger debris you mop up, such as Cheerios, and discards it into a separate trash tray.
You still have to empty the dirty water and manually clean the waste tray (it and other parts are dishwasher safe). But the WashG1 can self-clean its rollers, so it’s ready to go the next time you need to clean your floor.
Although there is a small pump and the brushes have motors to power them, the lack of a large vacuum motor means the filter cannot clog. According to Dyson, this is one of the reasons why the WashG1 is much lighter than Dyson stick vacuum cleaners. It is battery powered, but again, since it doesn’t have a powerful motor, they could afford a smaller and lighter battery. Ketan Patel, Dyson’s technical manager for floor care, says the battery lasts up to 35 minutes and the 27-ounce clean water tank can mop up to 3,100 square feet in one go.
It’s safe to say that today’s mops aren’t great. The fact that the Swiffer is the best thing to happen to a hand mop in the last decade… says a lot. Dyson’s very expensive mop has a unique approach, and I’m very curious to see how well this $700 floor washer works.
Credit : www.theverge.com
