The Dyson floor cleaner I’ve been waiting for is out now

Dyson’s brand-new, slim and manoeuvrable wet floor cleaner is out now in the UK. It’s called the PencilWash and it’s priced at £299.99.

You can get yours from Dyson. It’ll be available from 14 March in the US for $349. It’s the mopping equivalent of Dyson’s slender PencilVac, which you can buy from Dyson UK for a pricier £429.99 and Dyson US for $449.99.

These prices are very reasonable for a Dyson machine, albeit expensive for a mop. But it might just be worth it.

The PencilWash is slim, with a 38mm handle, and light at 2.2kg (4.85lbs). Despite its slender build, it can wash up to 100m² of flooring before you need to empty its tanks and recharge it. It also has a removable battery, which you can swap out for longer cleaning sessions.

Both floor cleaners are powered by Dyson’s tiny, new Hyperdymium motor, which is only 28mm in diameter. That’s what allows them to be as slim as they are. But I’m much more excited by the prospect of the PencilWash than I was by the PencilVac.

That’s because there are fewer compromises needed to make an ultra-slim mop than to make an ultra-slim vacuum. Vacuums need to be able to suck up all manner of debris and hair. And a narrow vacuum is much more likely to clog. Even a model with rollers designed to spin hair away, such as the Fluffycones on the PencilVac, will still potentially struggle with pet or human hair.

Not so the PencilWash, which doesn’t draw up any water or debris through the handle. Instead, there’s a 300ml clean water reservoir in the base, and dirty water and debris are flicked away with each spin of the roller into a second tank, which is easy to empty and clean.

The PencilWash cleans using a high-density microfibre roller, which will help to scrub stains away. And it has two hydration modes to ensure quick-drying floors.

I’ve tested a lot of wet vacuums and for me, the biggest issues are weight and manoeuvrability. While typical wet vacuums do away with the mess and hassle of manual mopping, they create issues of their own by being somewhat less than nimble. They can’t get anywhere near the edge of room, or under furniture, and they have the turning circle of a 14-wheeler truck. If you have an apartment or smaller home, it doesn’t always feel worthwhile to drag one out.

The PencilWash, on the other hand, is compact and all about manoeuvrability. You can use it with a single hand and it lies almost flat (170^o) to get right under furniture.

I’m looking forward to reviewing it 9in the near future, so check back to see how it performed in our tests.