Ever wanted to be able to vacuum clean your pets, but were worried they wouldn't be very keen? Dyson now has an answer: the Dyson Pet Grooming Kit. In fact, this has existed for a while, but only for use with its dwindling number of corded vacs – I must admit I had never heard of it. This is a new version, designed for users of cordless Dysons, and it is really ingenious. As if that were not enough, they also have a new Scratch-Free Dusting Brush, which is just about the softest brush I can think of, this side of a shaving brush, and an 'Awkward Gap Tool', which is basically an angled crevice tool. It doesn't get much more exciting than that, in the world of vacuum cleaner attachments.
Dyson has been repositioning itself as a brand that is all about innovation, in multiple fields. Its wearable air purifier and headphones – the Dyson Zone – is the most outré example of this. A batch of new attachments for your Dyson cordless vacuum is obviously less innovative than that, but it's much more within their comfort zone – and that of consumers, come to that. It's also cool to see how much effort they put into making a new version of accessories that are generally so prosaic. Dyson makes the best cordless vacuum cleaners around, and charges a premium for them. It's with cool new upgrades like these that they help to justify their cost.
Obviously when I say 'cool' there I mean, 'cool by the standards of vacuum cleaner attachments.'
Dyson Pet Grooming Kit
Ingenious retractable bristles make grooming more painless for your pet and for you
The Pet Grooming Kit consists of a large brush head with stiff bristles, an extension tube and an adaptor. You attach it to your Dyson V12 Detect Slim or Dyson V15 Detect Absolute, or another compatible Dyson vac, and you're good to go.
Dyson has carried out testing on all manner of pet hair, to determine how best to vacuum it up. Its tangle-free brush bar tech was developed using hairs from alpaca – those are some hairy beasts – as well as horses, donkeys and rabbits. Oh, and cats and dogs, more boringly. They've applied that learning to the Pet Grooming Kit.
Dyson says: 'Pet hair can carry pollen and other allergens all around your home. But Dyson has found that pet owners are likely to be unaware of the hidden impacts of their furry friends. By investigating cleaning habits from around the world, Dyson revealed that 1 in 2 pet owners allow their pets to sleep on their beds. Yet only 30% of pet owners are aware that bacteria and house mite faeces can reside on their pets.' So that's a good reason to groom your pets, I'd say.
The Pet Grooming Kit's brush head has precisely 364 bristles angled at 35°, which pop out when you grip the head. The brush flexes as you groom your beloved, reaching through your dog's coat to grab loose hairs.
I must admit, when Dyson showed me the Pet Grooming Kit, my first thought was, 'How are you going to get a cat or dog to put up with being vacuum cleaned?' but that is not, in fact, how it works. You carry out the grooming with the power off, and only then do you suction up the hairs and dander and whatnot that you've collected. It's pretty brilliant, as vacuum attachments go. But that's not all Dyson has to entice you…
Dyson Scratch-free Dusting Brush
Just look at it go
Dyson has long had the best attachment for dusting, but now it has a new and improved version. Its synthetic bristles are incredibly soft – almost reminiscent of a shaving or make-up brush – yet from my testing seemed to be very tough and able to resist me haphazardly smashing it into things. That's not its most impressive feature though. Check this out.
Yes! It's self cleaning!
The plastic collar of the brush can be pulled up. You then twist it to give the bristles a thorough clean. I haven't had a chance to really test this outside of Dyson's press briefing room yet, but it sure is a pleasing action. Dyson's spaces are very clean, so it was not possible to get the brush dirty enough to test the self cleaning.
And finally there's this.
Dyson Awkward Gap Tool
That's right: it's a wonky crevice tool. Dyson says this means it can reach areas other crevice tools cannot. It twists 22º, which is apparently the optimum angle for cleaning the hardest-to-reach places around your home or car.' It's 12.5mm wide and and 25cm long and has a secondary brush at its tip, 'to tackle the more stubborn of messes.' Okay.
Dyson Pet Grooming Kit, Scratch-Free Dusting Brush and Awkward Gap Tool: price and availability
This Dyson animal attachment is available now, from £65. View at the Dyson website. The Scratch-Free Dusting Brush and Awkward Gap Tool will follow later this year, price TBC. They'll come with new versions of selected Dyson vacs, and be available to buy on their own.
To find the latest offers, take a look at our Dyson discount codes page.
