Our In-Depth Review
Design
The Dyson DC14 All Floors Upright Bagless vacuum cleaner is a large machine that annihilates any debris or dust in its path. The modern design of this vacuum shows off the root cyclone technology that guarantees no loss of suction.
This is an upright vacuum, which means you simply turn on the power and guide the entire vacuum over the carpeting. You walk behind and push the vacuum over the floor area that you wish to clean.
Like most upright vacuums, the DC14 includes a hose on the back that attaches to different on board tools. This means you can clean areas that are under furniture, or things that aren’t on the floor with the vacuum.
With the additional three feet of Telescopic Reach the hose extends up to 17-feet. I have a vaulted ceiling and can reach up to the top with the help of the extended reach. The tools that attach to the hose include an upholstery brush, a stair brush, and a crevice tool.
Dyson specializes in bagless vacuums. The DC14 All Floors has a bagless canister that sits right in front of the upright vacuum.
You can see through the plastic canister, so when the 5/7 gallon container is getting full, you simply detach it. Make sure you hold the canister directly above the trash, because when you hit the red release button, all the dust falls down and out of the container.
There is one small HEPA filter included with this vacuum, but it never needs to be replaced. According to the manufacturers recommendations, wash out the HEPA filter every six months. This vacuum filters the air so effectively, my laser particle scanner, which measures to 0.3 microns of dust, registered zero particles coming from the vacuum’s exhaust.
Performance/Using the Dyson DC24 All-Floors Vacuum
When I first used my Dyson, I actually vacuumed up the floors with the old model I had. I wanted to truly test to see if this sucked up more than my cheap vacuum did. Wow, was I surprised.
After I vacuumed up the house with the Dyson DC14, the canister was filled with dust and debris my inferior model missed. It actually kind of disgusted me to think that I was surrounded my so much filth.
Now I feel much better about how clean my floors are with the Dyson. I also really enjoyed all the on board tools, the stretchy hose and Telescopic reach. It helped me clean all the nooks and crannies I couldn’t get to before.
Performance on Carpets
This is where the Dyson DC14 truly excels. It does an unbelievable job cleaning the carpets. With one pass, no matter the type of mess, it cleans up with ease.We crushed up some pretzels to test how it did with larger particles. It sucked up all this debris with one pass. It also was able to get right up against the corner so I didn’t have to use any on board tools for the carpeting.
Next up I tried a smaller particle test by dumping white flour on the floor. Once again, the Dyson cleaned it all up with one pass. It leaves a nice carpet trail in its wake.
If you are the type of person that needs to see the vacuum carpet path to feel your room is clean, use a Dyson for that excellent carpeted look. I got down on my hands and knees to investigate the carpet, and it looked fabulous.
I brushed the carpet around too to see if any flour or pretzel debris got pushed into the carpet instead of sucked up, but I didn’t see anything. The carpet was spotless.
Performance on Rugs
Sometimes your strongest asset can also be a weakness. This is the case with the Dyson DC14 All Floors super suction that never decreases. Rugs obviously rest on hard flooring. When I use my Dyson, the rug edges get pulled up off the ground at times.
Then an awful grinding sound comes out of my Dyson. I immediately turned off the vacuum because I thought I broke something. I didn’t. It just turns out that when the Dyson sucks up too much material into the rotating brush, the brush turns off creating that awful noise.
You can turn off the carpet option for the rugs and use the hard floor setting so this doesn’t happen. Another option is to start at the center of the rug and vacuum out towards the edge.
Vacuum right off the edge and then return to the center and start again. The rugs get super clean, but you have to use a little cleaning savvy to avoid the grinding noise.
Performance on Hard Floors
Once again I tested the Dyson DC14 with large and small particles. I probably went a little too large with my crushed up pretzels. It did a great job, but the larger pieces didn’t fit under the nose of the vacuum.
Normally, no one would be sucking up such large things, so I didn’t think this was a weakness. It did a good job with the flour too. It didn’t do as awesome of a job as it did on carpeting, but overall it cleans up hard floors very nicely.
Filtration
The Dyson filters out everything, and has a totally clean exhaust system. This means the dust that you suck up never comes back out. In fact, the exhaust of the Dyson DC14 is cleaner than the air that you normally breathe.
With my laser particle scanner, I can measure the amount of dust is spit out of a vacuums exhaust system. This laser scanner measures particles that are 0.3 microns in size or larger in the air. When I hold this tool up to the exhaust of the DC14, it registers zero particles in the air.
Edge Cleaning
It is really nice that this vacuum can get the hard floor and carpeting right up to the edge. I didn’t have to use the crevice tool at all for wide-open spaces that butt up against a wall or door.
It does work a bit better going at the edges from the side than butting the front of the vacuum right up against the edge of a room.
Attachments / Onboard Tools
There are three nice things about using the on board tools with the Dyson DC14. First of all, the tools are all stored right on the vacuum. You don’t have to go back and forth to your closet to get what you need.
Next, the three tools that you can use are very handy. There is the crevice tool for tight spaces, an upholstery brush for furniture or curtains, and a stair brush for carpeted steps. Once again, they all clip to the vacuum for easy access.
Finally, the Telescopic Reach and stretchy hose give you a reach of 17-feet. This is excellent for my home because of the vaulted ceilings.
I can reach up and get any renegade spider webs with ease. Also the stretchy hose is nice for getting into tighter spaces. I can use this vacuum for cleaning up the inside of my car.
One annoying thing about the design of the Dyson DC14 Bagless All Floor Vacuum is the fact that you have to totally unwind the cord to get at the hose and Telescopic Reach.
My wife doesn’t like wrapping it up tight anyways, so it really isn’t that big of a problem, but sometimes I don’t want to take off the entire 35 foot cord to use the hose.
Ease of Use
I purchased my Dyson DC14 All Floors vacuum cleaner over a year ago. There was minimal assembly required. The only thing that took some getting used to was using the Telescopic Reach.
You have to hold a yellow lever down and then pull up the Telescopic Reach. Then you can start using the hose or the on board tools.
The only other option for this model is switching it from hard floors to carpeting. All this knob does is activate the power brush for carpets, or leave it off for hard floors.
You can use the carpet setting for a hard floor, but the spinning brush could kick out a large particle instead of sucking it up. I recommend using the correct mode for each surface.
Getting Started
It was really easy to assemble the Dyson DC14 Bagless Vacuum. No tools were required. All you have to do is slide the wand into the hose.
Then you take the three on board tools and snap them into their respective locations.
Maneuverability
This Dyson All Floors model is pretty wide and bulky. It works great in open spaces, but since it is 14 inches wide, it doesn’t get into smaller spots. It also doesn’t have a low clearance, so it doesn’t get under furniture easily.
There are two large rear wheels that make it easy to move the vacuum around when you are cleaning, or just pushing the vacuum to the place you want to clean up.
It is a pretty heavy machine, so carrying it down the stairs isn’t real easy. I also don’t use the upright vacuum to clean the stairs.
I use the wand and hose with the on board tools to clean up my carpeted stairs. The crevice tool works nicely along with the stair brush for cleaning small debris and pet hair.
This vacuum is large, so when it’s not in use you probably have to dedicate a spot in your closet for it. It’s not going to sneak into any tight spaces.
Cord management and Length
This has a very long cord that is 35-feet. I often find myself vacuuming more than one room with the plug staying in one outlet. Even though it is long, it still wraps around the back of the vacuum with ease when it’s not in use.
Hose Management and Length
The hose is very elastic and easy to use. In order to use the hose though, you have to unwind the cord first. Then you have to pull out the Telescopic Reach.
You do have the option of detaching the Telescopic Reach and just using the 14-feet of flexible hose. This is nice for vacuuming up a car or other spots with tight angles.
Floor Selection
You have to adjust the floor selection at the bottom of the vacuum. There are only two settings. One is for carpeting and the other is for hard flooring. The carpet selection activates the floor brush, and the hard floor setting turns the brush off.
Noise
This vacuum is not super loud, but it is hard to hold a conversation without raising your voice. The Dyson DC14 is just a little below the noise level of an average upright vacuum.The decibel reader registered a noise level between 75 and 80 decibels.
To give you an idea of how loud this noise is, it is about how loud an average dog barks, or about how loud it sounds when standing on the curb of a busy road.
Maintenance
The beauty of a bagless vacuum is minimal maintenance. There really isn’t much to do with your Dyson to keep it operating effectively.
On top of the cyclone pack is the only filter. You can see the blue filter button right on the front of the DC14. Pull the lever up to expose the filter.
This filter is washable, and you only have to clean it out every six months. Make sure to let the filter completely dry out before you start vacuuming again.
Dyson suggests you wait at least 12 hours for the filter to completely dry. Then you can insert it back into the vacuum and begin cleaning again.
The HEPA filter is built to last the life of the DC14 vacuum. You won’t ever have to replace it. Also because it is a bagless vacuum you won’t have to ever buy bags or filters. No money ever has to be spent on filters or bags for the Dyson DC14 All Floors Vac.
Value For Money
I was skeptical paying such a high price for a vacuum, but the Dyson cleans up everything with ease. One year after I purchased it, it still has the same powerful suction. It does an amazing job on the carpets and cleans up large open areas with ease.
No matter how you slice it, paying over $200 for a vacuum is pretty expensive even though the Dyson DC14 does an excellent job cleaning. The silver lining is it doesn’t require any more money for filters or bags though.
Final Vacuum Verdict
The Dyson DC14 All Floors gives your floors an incredible clean. The suction power is amazing, and it doesn’t spit out any dust at all from the exhaust. The on board tools are also very nice.
This vacuum is ideal for a home with some open areas or large spaces that need cleaning. It cleans carpeting very well, so I strongly suggest it for a larger home with a lot of carpeted area.
It does clean hard flooring effectively as well all the way up to the edge. The hose is very long so it also can be used to clean up closets, under furniture, and even the interior of a car.
