Dyson DC20 Stowaway Animal Cylinder Vacuum cleaner

Due to having a new house (the 3 floor type they build now, cheers!), 3 messy children and 2 little dogs, one of which is white and moults terribly, I decided enough was enough, I needed help. After having upright cleaners in the past I decided to take the plunge and buy a Dyson DC20 Stowaway Animal Cylinder cleaner - BEST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE. Extremely strong suction, dog hairs gone (even the dog nearly went up it), very easy to use. It comes with an attachment for pet hair but I found the normal attachment was enough to suck the hair up anyway. Stairs are a doddle. The normal carpet attachment fits great on each stair and plenty of cable to reach the top. You can also vacuum under beds really easy as the end twizzles so you can lay it flat. There is a hard floor attachment which is great for laminate and tiles (although, again I just used the normal carpet attachment and it did the job perfectly). I vacuumed my whole house, 3 floors, 5 bedrooms and it looks fantastic! If you have pets, particularly if they moult you have to get this vacuum cleaner. You will not be disappointed. If I had to have one negative to say is that you just have to watch your paintwork as if you are not careful when you are pulling it around you could bang the skirting boards and mark them (but just be careful!)

I had heard people rave about Dysons and could never bring myself to cough up such a large amount for a Vacuum cleaner. 2 £50 cheapo cleaners later, a sea of dog hair having rendered them useless, I took the plunge. W-O-W!We borrowed a friends while we waited for it to arrive and managed to suck up 4 - yes 4 - containers full of pet hair and dirt in the first use. Our DC20 then arrived, and eager to set to, I was off! Just vacuuming (or should that become Dysoning? - after all hoovering is now parlance) 4 of our 8 rooms in the flat picked up another container full of hair - 3 days after our 4 container mega clean! This vacuum is simply brilliant.The compact design and easy to manoeuvre wheels, combined with the hose and turbine head make vacuuming a doddle. The turbine head just thrashes dust, pet hair and other detritus out of the carpet, leaving it cleaner than I have ever seen it. The hard floor tool made short work of the kitchen and I am now itching to try the skinny nozzle and mini-turbine head in the tighter to reach areas.In short, if you were reluctant to shell out for a Dyson and you have a pet, the animal range is a must. We borrowed a DC11 (I think) and purchased a DC20 - you will not regret it. Vacuuming is almost a fun activity now!

I bought this about 18 months ago, and after yet another frustrating vacuuming session, felt compelled to write something! From the start I have been disappointed with the suction on this - no better than any previous vacuum I have had. I also find that the only attachment that will really get pet hairs off rugs and carpets is the hard floor attachment! The carpet attachments are almost useless so I no longer use them. Would I buy a Dyson again? I don't think the extra money justifies it as the performance is no better than other makes. Certainly does not live up to the hype. At least I can be green and not use vacuum bags - that bit's great!

My previous model was the DC05 which was excellent so when the motor blew after many years I decided to upgrade to a newer model. A big disappointment, its much heavier, no greater suction and the biggest moan is that the tools fix straight into the end of the hose with no swivel. This makes the tools difficult to use as the hose is very stiff and to position the tool at certain angles like dusting you have remove it from the hose and refit at the right angle. The DC05 had a swivel on the end which made it much easier to use.The powered brush is getting slower and slower and will need replacing, the clip that holds the wand to the machine has spread so the wand drops off when you put the cleaner away. In all the DC05 was better.

The DC20 Animal is what I would consider to be an up-rated version of the old DC05, adding a collapsible wand and two brushbar-equipped turbine heads (one large and one small) to the legendary Dyson suck. Unlike the Motorhead DC21 and DC23, the brushes on the turbines don't turn using a motor but the sucking action of the vacuum itself, although this turbocharger rather than supercharger power doesn't appear to have a detrimental effect on the machine's ability to pick up hairs and other stubborn debris.Our Jack Russell sheds his coat at every given opportunity and if we don't keep the hairs in check they get everywhere and are difficult to remove from both carpets and upholstery. The turbine brushes have no problem picking up these hairs although in the case of the small turbine a little work on the part of the user is required to get every last one - the large turbine is a great inclusion and is far more effective on carpets than just using the standard floor tool. The brushes can also be turned off if you need to clean sensitive areas, which is another nice touch.With the DC20 you also get an ordinary (albeit a bit cheap) hard floor tool, a crevice tool, a brush and an upholstery tool, which given the effectiveness of the turbine heads (but perhaps with the exception of the crevice and brush tools) aren't the most necessary of inclusions but it's good to have them anyway. The DC20 lacks the core separator of the DC23, which I'm told is an even more efficient way of separating the dirt from the air, although I've never had a problem with any Dyson's cleaning ability so this seems to be a fairly unimportant omission. And despite looking huge, the bin is perhaps a bit small for use in larger homes as the cyclone system takes up a lot of the room in it. And, like many cleaners, I still find the DC20 a bit difficult to manoeuvre around the floor due to the fairly poor wheels.The DC20's main party trick is its ability to fold itself away, with the hose being folded around the body and the wand collapsing down into a more compact form factor. This does actually make it feel smaller than previous Dyson cylinders and certainly helps when carrying it around and storing it. I initially had concerns about the strength of the wand as this seems to be a weak part on older Dysons - it's therefore nice to see that the wand's inner sections are made of aluminium and appear quite a bit stronger than I thought they'd be. The end sections are still plastic so whether or not they'll suffer in rigorous use remains to be seen.I'm also a little concerned about other parts of the machine as it seems to be a bit over-engineered in places and under-engineered in others - the place where the wand clips to the cleaner body when not is use looks a little weak and I have reservations about the cable reel as it doesn't look like it's undergone any sort of overhaul since the early days. The DC20 does, at the very least, feel tougher than the DC05 so I'm hoping it'll give me little trouble but I'll aim to give an update after a few months when I've had a chance to explore the strength more fully.Purely rating it at its cleaning ability, the DC20 has to be one of the best vacuums around, perhaps due in no small part to the very effective turbine heads. It's not the lightest machine around nor does it feel the sturdiest but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it over a cheaper and less well-equipped cleaner, including other Dysons.