My Review of the Dyson V8 and Roomba Vacuums + My Cleaning Tricks

If you follow along on Instagram, you know I debated getting the Dyson V8 during Amazon's Prime Day last week. I asked for feedback and hundreds of followers said how much they looooove theirs! Well, you all are very persuasive, so I got it while on sale! As a true Monica Geller and fan of new cleaning products, I've been vacuuming all weekend. Because it comes at a big price tag (currently $419 on Amazon), many folks are asking me if it's worth the money, so here are my thoughts after many hours of using it.

Note: this is not sponsored nor in any kind of collaboration with Dyson or iRobot! They have no idea I'm writing this or own these vacuums.

First, I want to explain my vacuum setup before the Dyson entered my life. We've been a Roomba and Dust Buster family exclusively for 5 years - no traditional upright!

The Roomba

I absolutely adore our Roomba. The way most people like to use it is setting it on a timer and letting it zip around the house cleaning while they're away, then it goes back to its charging station to hang out until the next clean. It knows not to push over lamps, not crash into furniture legs, and to focus energy where there's more dirt. It's super smart, but it will get stuck on certain things like my unusual dining room chairs that have cross bars on the floor (seen here). I got in the habit of cleaning the dining room by removing the chairs and letting Roomba do his thing, but then I started doing the same in other rooms. So, the Roomba became more of a part of my cleaning routine rather than a tool that runs while I'm out of the house.

Here's how I vacuum:

1. Dust with a classic wool duster starting high and working my way down
2. Clean tables and wipe surfaces - I just brush crumbs onto the floor
3. Pile lightweight furniture pieces atop others or move them to another room
4. Set Roomba in the center of the room and turn him on
5. Trap Roomba in the room by closing doors or setting up virtual walls
6. Go do something else!

Roomba makes my cleaning so easy because while the floors under the bed are being cleaned, I can be doing something else entirely. Either dusting another room or taking a break from cleaning altogether - I can even leave the house. I clean like this every couple of days one room at a time. It takes me 10 minutes of dusting and pickup work, then the room feels spotless later without much effort.

Roomba Pros:

• Super smart and doesn't damage furniture or walls
• Gets under the bed and low furniture pieces
• Cleans while you're away or not focused on cleaning
• Does a great job of picking up dust and dirt
• Has a small storage footprint

Roomba Cons:

• Doesn't clean stairs or upholstery
• Battery operated so it will run out of power and need charging
• Has a debris tanks that's smaller than traditional vacuums
• Some furniture pieces confuse Roomba
• Gets under beds, but can't fit in tiny cracks like behind the fridge

The Roomba does 90% of our vacuuming and it has done a stellar job all these years. We supplement with a handheld Dustbuster style vacuum for spot cleaning. However, the handheld isn't great. It loses suction, it's hard to clean, and it doesn't get into the nooks and crannies well. 

Enter, the Dyson V8 Vacuum

I've been looking for a vacuum that does it all, but mostly something to do all the cleaning that the Roomba can't do (dusting, upholstery, getting behind the fridge, fast spot cleaning, etc.).

A major must have in a vacuum was one that could be stored easily and we can grab in a flash. This one is ideal! I installed the mount in a small utility room off the kitchen but when we remodel, it will hide in a tall cabinet.

The best part is when you put the vacuum back in the mount, it charges instantly. No fussing with plugging in cords and you can do it with one hand. You can see the plug sticking out in the photo there, but you can see how it operates here.

The vacuum came with a bounty of attachments. While the price tag was steep, I definitely got an upright and a handheld in one. I love a good BOGO.

We have a natural wool rug in each room, but the rest of the house is all hard surfaces. The vacuum comes with a rug/carpet cleaning head, and then another one for hard surfaces. It's basically a soft paint roller that sweeps the surface to pick up the tiniest bits of dust. It feels almost like it's polishing the hardwoods.

There are a couple of brush attachments that can even replace dusting. I dusted everything in the house with these from the ceiling corners all the way down to the floor vents.

There's a bunch of nooks and crannies in our woodwork, so dusting is always something on my to do list. But might I replace my classic duster with a vacuum duster instead?

The mini roller attachment reminded me just how blue my velvet couch is. Take a look at that before and after!

I vacuumed the entire house and took a photo each time I finished an area. I'm admittedly disappointed that the house wasn't more filthy - I wanted to fill up the whole container for really gross demonstration purposes! The Dyson definitely did a great clean, but it also didn't leave me questioning the quality of my Roomba. At the end of the day, I'm confident they are both great at cleaning - each in their different ways.

If you're in an RSS reader, you'll have to click through to see the gif of my dust pile accumulating

Emptying is easy, too. Just pull up on the filter tab, and everything falls out.

Now, for the cons. Because nothing is perfect.

The pro is that it's cordless and I can take it anywhere, but the con is that the battery doesn't last a super long time. You can get 30-40 minutes out of it (or a mere 7 minutes on its max power mode). So, this won't be the vacuum of choice for cleaning the floors, walls, nooks, crannies, all in one afternoon. I tried on Saturday morning, and I could only do a couple of rooms at a time before needing to charge (which takes 3 hours to get it to max power again). I found myself still vacuuming on Sunday.

Thus, I recommend this vacuum for specific cleaning tasks one at a time like dusting all the artwork, cleaning all the floor vents, cleaning the car, vacuuming the rugs, dusting the floor. Each of those can be accomplished in one battery charge whereas a whole house clean can't.

The other con is it mildly hurt my hand. I had some redness on my knuckle from gripping it. It wasn't too bad, but I saw reviews of people with more sensitive skin reporting they got a blister. Since the body of the vacuum is where the handle is and you have to keep the power lever depressed, I naturally held it pretty tight. I'm learning to have a lighter grip, but it will never be an upright vacuum that you can push with your finger. I'm hopeful that if I adjust my grip and try not to vacuum the entire house in a day, it won't be an issue.

I love how easily the body of the vacuum stores on the mount, but it only has two spots to store attachments (plus a third attachment connected to the end of the stick) so there are three floating attachments that I put on a nearby shelf. It's kind of a bummer to introduce more clutter, but this handy storage adapter looks like a simple solution for keeping everything together.

In summary, here's how I feel about the Dyson V8:

Pros:

• Converts from upright to handheld super easily
• Lightweight and free of cords so its easy to grab
• Super handy mount that charges and keeps it off the floor
• Great suction and clean
• It's not too noisy
• The HEPA air filter controls dust well
• The hard floor attachment is great on hardwoods

Cons:

• $400+ is steep
• Battery doesn't last very long
• Causes hand soreness
• Attachment storage could be better
• Tank is small so it needs more emptying than a traditional
• It's no Roomba, so doesn't clean under the bed as well

Is it worth the price tag? Should you buy it? That's really your call and depends on how you like to clean as well as what vacuum the Dyson would be replacing or augmenting.

If you're interested in either the Roomba or Dyson, I've linked to where you can get them from your retailers. I know prices vary and each seller offers different sales, so they're each linked. Since Roomba has many different variations with different features now, I recommend researching on the iRobot website to decide which model is best for you before comparison shopping.

*hint* even though the Bed Bath and Beyond coupons say that iRobot and Dyson are exempt from their 20% off coupons, I hear they sometimes honor it in stores or do a price adjustment after you buy online. But don't hold me to it!

I hope that was helpful! Let me know if you have any questions. I'm happy to share a tutorial on Instagram if that helps anyone decide on the matter.