The Dyson PencilWash Is the Most Nimble Floor Cleaner I've Ever Tested – But Don't Expect It to Handle Big Cleans

The Dyson PencilWash is a sleek, lightweight hard floor cleaner that promises clean floors with minimal effort, using only fresh water and a fast-spinning mop roller. It's one of Dyson's latest releases that focuses primarily on hard floor cleaning.

On test, the Dyson PencilWash certainly lived up to its name as a near-effortless appliance to use, but its cleaning performance left much to be desired. However, if you're looking for a gentle cleaner to handle daily messes on your hard floors between your weekly cleans, then this is perfect.

If you're in the market for one of the best vacuum-mop combos to streamline vacuuming and mopping for truly spotless floors, the PencilWash may not be for you – and I'd recommend other models from Dreame and Tineco that have shone from our rigorous testing sessions.

My One-Minute Summary

The Dyson PencilWash is a smooth, maneuverable wet floor cleaner that is so lightweight and nimble, it almost feels like it's an extension of your arm. It's sleeker than other vacuum-mop combos out there, and its metallic, bronzed aesthetic would make a nice addition to a kitchen or laundry room.

However, it's only really useful as a light, gentle cleaner. It can't handle thick spillages easily, nor can it pick up medium or large debris. It takes repeated passes to clean stains, and its suction is a little poor when it comes to picking up residue that's stuck between any cracks.

In reality, this means you'll still need your best vacuum cleaner, as well as a regular mop, to be able to deeply sanitize your floors.

At a similar price, I would recommend the Dreame H14 Pro or the Tineco Floor One Strech S6. Both vacuum-mops clean much more thoroughly, while being less messy to empty, and with a charging station that cleans and dries the mop roller to avoid bacteria buildup.

Dyson PencilWash: Specifications

Dyson PencilWash: Design and Features

The Dyson PencilWash is a slimmer, more stylish vacuum-mop than those popularized by brands such as Dreame, Tineco and Bissell. It has a sleek, metallic aesthetic, with a bronzed orange wand that will blend nicely into chic kitchen interiors and laundry rooms.

Other than the floorhead and the coloring, it's designed almost the same as the Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones, Dyson's latest and slimmest cordless vacuum:

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Both models are part of Dyson's latest push to release sleek appliances that can easily blend into the home, take up minimal storage space, and are lightweight and effortless to use.

Like most vacuum-mop combos, the PencilWash has multiple suction modes, but only two: Normal and MAX. There is no dirt detection, so it won't adjust its cleaning based on how dirty your floors are.

Instead, when you need to spot clean stubborn stains, press the MAX button, and the roller will clean using more water for five seconds. Or, you can hold it down to use for longer.

The Dyson PencilWash is designed to be used with just water, but you can use the Dyson 02 Probiotic Hard Floor Cleaning Solution (that costs $23.99) for a more thorough clean. It isn't included with the initial purchase.

The roller spins while being continually refreshed by clean water from eight hydration points, while a fine scraper removes dirty water and debris with every spin.

The Dyson PencilWash keeps all clean and dirty water within the floorhead, so it doesn't move up through the machine, eliminating the need for a filter and minimizing potential durability issues.

However, this means that the water tanks are tiny. Compared to the 20-30 fluid ounces you'd typically expect for each tank, the PencilWash has a 10.1 fl. oz. clean tank and an 11.5 fl. oz. dirty tank.

The vacuum has a maximum runtime of 30 minutes, and charges on the charging dock in around two hours.

What is the Dyson PencilWash Like to Use?

The Dyson PencilWash has the best manoeuvrability out of any vacuum-mop I've tested. The straight handle offers natural, controlled movements, swivelling around objects and into tight spaces with ease.

That, in my view, is this vacuum's greatest strength. It's a lightweight and nimble appliance that can swiftly mop hard floors, removing light debris and liquid spills.

But after testing the Dyson PencilWash throughout my home, which has a mix of tile, wood, and laminate flooring, I felt that it was only carrying out a light clean.

On normal mode, it felt as if the mop roller wasn't cleaning as thoroughly as a regular mop. There was occasionally a thin, dry gap in the cleaning path, showing that the wet roller wasn't always consistently touching the floor, and afterwards, the floor still felt a little sticky, and by no means sanitized.

This may be improved with the addition of the Dyson 02 Probiotic Hard Floor Cleaner, but even if so, the suction wasn't strong enough to pick up many visible pieces of debris on my floor. Onion peels, crumbs, and other debris were either left on the floor after repeated passes or sucked up only to fall back out of the floorhead minutes later.

I wouldn't rely on the PencilWash to be your home's only wet floor cleaner, which may be somewhat excessive considering the $350 price point. But, if you're happy to always vacuum first, and perhaps spray some of your own cleaning solution on the floor to help with the deep clean, then the PencilWash could make a sleek, easy-to-use addition to your cleaning toolkit.

Dyson PencilWash: Cleaning Tests

I tested the Dyson PencilWash using our standardized vacuum-mop tests, to assess its ability to clean up messes of different consistencies and sizes. This includes ketchup, mustard, chunky pasta sauce, a raw egg and its shell, and milk and cereal.

I first attempted to clean the ketchup and mustard stains in normal mode, but a significant amount of residue was left behind. But unfortunately, in MAX mode, the results were quite similar.

The PencilWash cleaned the majority of the mustard in about four passes, but it then took a lot longer (and cleaning from different angles) to get the mustard that was between the cracks. Plus, watery mustard residue seeped out of the floorhead, meaning I had to go over the patch a few more times to make sure that was cleared, too.

This problem persisted when cleaning ketchup, too. As the vacuum passed through the ketchup stain, mustard residue spilled out of the floorhead again. This is indicative of the dirty tank design. It isn't completely self-contained; rather, it is essentially a drip tray with no secure lid, allowing dirty liquid to easily spill out.

The stain removal performance on the ketchup and pasta sauce was similar to that of cleaning mustard. Most of it was cleared in three passes, but it took longer to vacuum between the cracks and what had spilled out of the floorhead.

Attempting to clean the egg, milk and cereal demonstrated how poorly the PencilWash handles debris. Granted, these can be challenging tests for even the most robust vacuum-mops, such as the Dreame H14 Pro, but the PencilWash was virtually unable to vacuum any eggshell pieces or cereal crumbs, leaving me to wash the entire floorhead by hand to remove the stuck-on mess.

To summarise, the PencilWash can clear sauce spillages faster than your regular mop, but for any debris, you'd be better off cleaning it by hand.

Dyson PencilWash: Setup and Maintenance

Setting up the PencilWash was a quick process. Attach the handle to the main wand, insert it into the charging base, and plug it in until fully charged (for me, this took two hours).

The charging dock doesn't clean or dry the roller. Instead, the floorhead must be removed and placed into a separate drip tray (pictured above), while the 'Pencil' wand attaches to the charging station.

This doubles the floor space needed to store the vacuum. But more importantly, it makes the floorhead more easily prone to unwanted odors, bacteria and mold growth.

Dyson recommends that you rinse the roller and the floorhead parts after each use, however there's no way to do so without getting your hands dirty:

The dirty water tank is essentially the entire bottom of the floorhead, so all of the vacuumed-up mess gets into every part. Each part is small and needs to be taken apart by hand.

Thoroughly cleaning the floorhead after every use would undoubtedly minimize the risk of smells and bacteria growth, but as it's such a messy process, this would naturally be an off-putting step for many, especially when alternative models such as the Dreame H14 Pro and the Tineco Floor One Stretch S6 can be emptied and rinsed largely without having to touch the mess yourself.

That said, every part is small and therefore easy to rinse with minimal splashing, even if you have a small sink.

How Does the Dyson PencilWash Compare?

The Dyson PencilWash costs $349.99 at Dyson. That's more affordable than the $600 to $800 you can typically expect to pay for flagship models from brands such as Dreame and Tineco, but still quite a high price when you consider the PencilWash's lackluster cleaning performance.

The Dreame H14 Pro, our best-on-test vacuum-mop, cost $699.99 when released, but now you can find it for around $350 to $450 at Dreame. It cleans more thoroughly than the PencilWash in every way – handling thick spillages and large debris as easily as small stains – and it also self-dries the mop roller to avoid bacteria growth and odors.

The Tineco Floor One Stretch S6 is another great option, with similar maneuverability to the PencilWash, including the ability to lie completely flat. It costs $349 at Tineco, and again, cleans more effectively than the PencilWash, with more robust debris pickup, and a less messy emptying mechanism.

For more vacuum shopping advice, learn how the best robot vacuums from our rigorous testing sessions can make your weekly cleans less intensive.