What exactly is the Dyson PencilWash, and should I buy one?

The Dyson PencilWash is a wet cleaner designed specifically for use on hard flooring, and it differs from most of today’s best wet-and-dry vacuums in a couple of significant ways. First, it’s ridiculously compact and lightweight — the motor and battery have been shrunk down and fitted into the handle, and the water tanks tuck inside the floorhead. Second, it doesn’t use suction, but instead harnesses a combination of hydration and agitation to buff away dirt, soak up spills, and generally get your hard floors sparkling.

It has only just been announced, and is a sister product to the Dyson PencilVac, which is also relatively new to the party. The PencilWash joins the WashG1 and Clean+Wash Hygiene in Dyson’s lineup of wet cleaners. So what do we know so far about the Dyson PencilWash? Let’s take a look…

Dyson PencilWash in use — (Image credit: Dyson)

Dyson PencilWash: design

Let’s break the design down into three parts: the handle, the floorhead, and the dock. The handle is 1.5in / 38mm in diameter and contains a shrunk-down motor. The top section of the broom handle is the battery, and it’s removable and swappable. On the front of the handle you’ll find the control buttons, plus a screen to show you which of the two modes you’re in and how much battery you have left.

Moving on to the floorhead. This contains two small water tanks — one for clean water, one for dirty — and a microfiber roller that’s densely packed with 64,000 filaments per square centimeter. You can use the PencilWash with just water, or mix in some Dyson’s-own, non-foaming 02 Probiotic hard floor cleaning solution.

Clean+Wash Hygiene and it turned out there was one — just the kind built for chunky rather than fine debris.)

Finally, the dock. This is just for charging the machine, and looks like a little cone. To dock, you remove the mopping floorhead and slot it into the top. There’s a drip tray provided to pop the damp floorhead on.

Dyson PencilWash specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Cleaner size (H x L x W):	10.5 x 7.8 x 45.6in / 26.7 x 19.8 x 115.8cm
Weight (empty):	4.9lbs / 2.2kg
Clean water tank volume:	0.3L
Dirty water tank volume:	0.36L
Max runtime:	30 mins
Dock features:	Charge only (separate drip tray)
Lie flat height:	170 degrees, to a height of 15cm
Floor coverage per tank:	100m²
Charge time:	3.5 hours

Dyson PencilWash: usability

I haven’t had any hands-on time with PencilWash yet, so you’ll need to sit tight for my full performance review. What I do know is that this cleaner is designed to be very easy to maneuver, and able to glide smoothly into tight spots and around awkward corners. It can lie near-flat to 170 degrees, and in this mode it’s just 15cm high.

It’s really very lightweight in general, coming in at 4.9lbs / 2.2kg. Even more notable is that most of the weight is in the floorhead. Dyson says the weight ‘in hand’, with the PencilVac resting on the floor, will be around 0.8lbs / 0.38kg.

Dyson says the machine will pivot by just twisting the handle. That’s certainly true of the Dyson PencilVac, which is the nimblest vacuum I’ve ever tested, by some margin. I expect this model to be slightly more cumbersome because the floorhead is (necessarily) chunkier and heavier, but I still have high hopes on the maneuverability front.

The water tanks are really rather small, so it likely won’t be well suited to big homes. A 30-minute runtime is on the shorter side for an appliance like this, but should still allow for a decent amount of cleaning per charge.

It’s very simple in terms of modes and features: there are two moisture modes, and that’s about it. Other wet cleaners offer a wider range of modes, and even things like automatic setting adjustment and steam or foam modes — as well as suction, for pulling up solid messes with more oomph. Another common feature that’s missing here is a self-clean mode, which would take care of some of the maintenance for you.

Tineco FLOOR ONE i7 Fold is a recent example — but as far as I’m aware, there’s nothing quite as shrunk-down as the PencilWash available from any other brand.

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.