Dyson Groom Tool November 2010
Dysoning the dog
Do you have a hairy dog? And do you have a Dyson? If you can answer yes to both questions, you might want to consider the new Dyson Groom Tool. It’s the manufacturer's new dog grooming brush, which attaches to the end of a Dyson vacuum cleaner and sucks dog hair away as you brush.
The new Dyson Groom Tool is a self-cleaning dog brush that attaches to the hose of Dyson vacuum cleaners. We gave the tool to two Which? employees to try out on their dogs.
How the Groom Tool works
It sounds like a God-send for dog owners - grooming a dog indoors is usually a sure-fire way of guaranteeing a hairy floor and the need to vacuum straight afterwards.
The Groom Tool is a grooming brush designed to keep homes with pets cleaner by sucking dog hairs straight from the brush into a Dyson vacuum cleaner. While grooming the dog, the suction is split so it sucks loose hair away, while not attaching itself to the dog’s skin.
Releasing a thumb-operated button on the back focuses the suction on the head of the Groom Tool, and it’s this that sucks the hair away from the brush leaving a clean brush and the hair in the Dyson.
We gave the Groom Tool to a Which? researcher and our video producer to try out on their dogs at home. The video below shows how our video producer got on.
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Dysoning the dog
We also gave the tool to one of our researchers, who owns a hairy three-year old Labradoodle that needs to be groomed every day.
Grooming the dog is usually done outdoors, primarily because of the amount of hair he loses every day creates a cloud of yellow hair.
For this reason the Dyson Groom Tool really appealed to our researcher, who said: ‘It’s not much fun grooming the dog outside in the dark in winter, and whenever you groom a dog outside, there’s still the need to sweep up the hair.’
Attaching the Dyson Groom Tool
Our researcher’s dog loves being groomed, but doesn’t like vacuum cleaners - he leaves the room the moment it’s switched on.
Our researcher says: ‘Like many dogs, he’s not keen on the noise. But the sight of the Groom Tool, which looks much like any dog brush, kept him interested while I took my Dyson DC18 to pieces to attach the Groom Tool.’
Setting up the Groom Tool seems like a lot of effort just to brush the dog. To attach it you first need to free the hose from the body of the vacuum cleaner, then detach the rigid hose end to attach the Groom Tool to the flexible hose-end.
But the good news is that by the time the dog was being groomed, he seemed to have forgotten about the noise of the vacuum cleaner.
Grooming with Dyson's dog brush
Grooming easy-to-reach areas, such as the dog’s sides and back were easy with the Groom Tool, and the stiff stainless steel bristles lifted away a lot of hair, but not noticeably more than the other dog brushes our researcher had used.
But it was a struggle to groom him all over because the Groom Tool needs to be attached to the vacuum cleaner, and because of this, the hose gets in the way. This made reaching under his tummy and hind quarters a struggle.
Dyson says the Groom Tool is for use on long- or medium-haired dogs, so for this reason our researcher wasn’t able to use it on his dog’s short-haired legs. So thoroughly grooming our researcher’s Labradoodle wasn’t possible, but he was impressed with the results when grooming the animal’s back and sides.
Effective on back and sides
Despite being a bit hard to use, the Groom Tool is suited to occasional indoor grooming and does a good job. Hair captured in the brush was sucked away the moment the bristles were retracted, and there didn’t seem to be many hairs left around the dog after he was groomed.
Overall, our researcher thought the Groom Tool is likely to be popular with some dog owners but it didn’t convince him to give up on his old dog brush, as grooming the dog seemed quicker and easier the traditional way, even if it involved sweeping up afterwards.
According to our researcher: ‘Having to dismantle a vacuum cleaner to be able to groom the dog seems a step too far. And if the Groom Tool appeals to you, remember you’ll need a Dyson vacuum cleaner to attach it to.’
The tool costs £40 and is available to buy online from Dyson and in Conran shops now, or nationwide from high street shops from Spring 2011.
Pros: Effective on the easy-to-reach areas of a dog’s coat
Cons: Hard to manoeuvre because of the hose, expensive, not for use on short-haired dogs
Looking to buy a Dyson vacuum cleaner? There are reviews for 14 upright and cylinder Dyson vacuum cleaners in our review. You can find out more about buying the best vacuum cleaner in our vac video buying guide.
