Small hand held vacuum cleaner

[Canardly]

Any recommendations for a small hand held that actually works? Mainly for dust removal duties but some more grunt for stairs would be good. We have a Miele for general use, which is very good but far too heavy for the nooks and crannies. Years ago Hoover sold a small hand held cabled model that would have been perfect, but no longer unfortunately.

[hellymedic]

Don't search the British Medical Journal for 'Hoover Dustette'...

[Canardly]

Now of course I had to do that. I wasn't really thinking of extra curricular activities Helly. 

[Kim]

I've got a *checks notes* https://makitauk.com/product/dcl281fzb

It's handheld.  It sucks things up, though nowhere near as well as a decent upright.  I bought it mainly on the basis that it uses the same batteries as my other power tools, rather than some dedicated battery which will be crap, slow to recharge and/or hard to replace.  It's made of plastic, though Makita-quality rather than Dyson-quality.  And it's got membrane switches, which will probably be the part that dies first.

Mostly gets used for the stairs, small spillages and sucking up swarf.  Occasionally handy for getting gratuitous mud/grass out of hire cars.


As ever, not a recommendation of Makita's battery system if you're a light user (they can brick themselves if allowed to deep discharge).  Though by having a vacuum that uses them, it ensures I have reason to charge them regularly.

[Kim]

Hoover Dustette

I remember one of those gathering dust on the shelf in my grandma's spare room...

[Hot Flatus]

Don't search the British Medical Journal for 'Hoover Dustette'...

Well he did say...

Any recommendations for a small hand held that actually works? Mainly for dust removal duties

Mainly   

I remember as an 11 year old perusing my dad's  BMJ mag and finding the now legendary report on the sudden influx of penile laceration injuries being presented at A&E and being linked back to the launch of the Hoover Dustette. Turns out it had a set of blades at the other end of the nozzle.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1713722/?page=1

[mrcharly-YHT]

We've had a dyson handheld for about 10 years. Replaced battery twice in that time (now on non-dyson batteries).

Works ok.

[Sergeant Pluck]

We have a "Black and Decker PV1820LGB 18 V Lithium-Ion Compact Pivot Vacuum" which is mostly very good and the best we have had. Powerful, good battery capacity and longevity, quick charging. Negatives: loud turbine-like whine, slightly awkward to empty.

[robgul]

I have an Einhell cordless vac https://www.einhell.co.uk/p/2347120-te-vc-18-li-solo/ for my workshop - like Kim, purchased as it runs on the same battery platform as a number of other power tools.  Works very well.

It gets used in the workshop for sawdust etc but Mrs robgul sometimes uses it around the house in nooks and crannies where the (dreadful, over-priced, over-designed) Dyson can't reach.  Battery life is pretty good.

[Polar Bear]

Reminds me of adverts for the Black and Decker Dust Buster.

Never owned one but are you looking for corded or cordless?  My concern with all things cordless is YABMB or Yet Another Battery Management Burden. 

I was thinking about a small handheld for similar reasons and made a note to see what small corded machines are on the market but my tuits haven't come in yet.

[rafletcher]

We have a VAX cordless thing that converts to a hand-held, and that works well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vax-OnePWR-Cordless-Vacuum-Cleaner/dp/B083ZY3KFK

[Mrs Pingu]

We also have a Dyson which gets occasional use. Though if it died I would probably get a Makita now because I have the batteries and I've fallen out with the Brexity git.

[rogerzilla]

I was given a Dyson Animal handheld.  It wouldn't suck the skin off a rice pudding.  My old Black and Decker Pet Dustbuster was better but there's no equivalent new model.

[Mrs Pingu]

I had the exact opposite experience. My first hand held was a B&D and it was shit and fell to bits.

[yoav]

The only practical use of a handheld small battery powered vacuum cleaner is to suck up hairs off the body of an anaesthetised patient on the operating table after shaving the skin prior to surgery. Our orthopaedic surgeon OTP will hopefully be along soon to confirm.
Around the house, they are useless. Not enough suction. I have a Shark battery powered hoover which can be used with a small nozzle in handheld mode, but this is neither small or light (or cheap).

[chrisbainbridge]

The only practical use of a handheld small battery powered vacuum cleaner is to suck up hairs off the body of an anaesthetised patient on the operating table after shaving the skin prior to surgery. Our orthopaedic surgeon OTP will hopefully be along soon to confirm.
Around the house, they are useless. Not enough suction. I have a Shark battery powered hoover which can be used with a small nozzle in handheld mode, but this is neither small or light (or cheap).

eh no.  We use sticky pads which are like gloves.  I would definitely not want to use a vacum machine in a sterile air enclosure as it would just blow bacteria about.

[rogerzilla]

I had the exact opposite experience. My first hand held was a B&D and it was shit and fell to bits.

To be fair, B&D product lines seem to be random and unrelated.  I suspect they buy whatever they fancy from a Shanghai trade show.

[SoreTween]

I've got a Vytronix, one of these:

https://vytronix.com/products/vytronix-nibc22-cordless-22-2v-3-in-1-vacuum-cleaner

It's an awful lot better than I expected it to be at the price probably helped by the powered beater bar (as in electric not parasitic off the suction).  For the odd whizz to reduce the cat hair here & there or pick up a dry spill it does fine.  Fully and easily dismantle-able for cleaning out, the battery is removable and genuine replacements are £23 direct from the manufacturer.

When it comes to the stairs though there's no messing about, it's out with the Miele cat & dog with the narrow carpet beater head.  The Vytronix will do daily dust, fluff etc reduction across a few rooms on a charge but it doesn't replace a corded for the fortnightly deep clean.

[Mr Larrington]

I had the exact opposite experience. My first hand held was a B&D and it was shit and fell to bits.

To be fair, B&D product lines seem to be random and unrelated.  I suspect they buy whatever they fancy from a Shanghai trade show.

Miss von Brandenburg's old man used to work for a subsidiary of B+D but his bit supplied fasteners to the automotive industry 

[yoav]

The only practical use of a handheld small battery powered vacuum cleaner is to suck up hairs off the body of an anaesthetised patient on the operating table after shaving the skin prior to surgery. Our orthopaedic surgeon OTP will hopefully be along soon to confirm.
Around the house, they are useless. Not enough suction. I have a Shark battery powered hoover which can be used with a small nozzle in handheld mode, but this is neither small or light (or cheap).

eh no.  We use sticky pads which are like gloves.  I would definitely not want to use a vacum machine in a sterile air enclosure as it would just blow bacteria about.

To be fair, that was some years ago. More recently, I think we just used a piece of sticky tape.
This of course means, that there are absolutely no uses for a small, cheap, hand held, battery operated vacuum cleaner 😉

[quixoticgeek]

I've got a *checks notes* https://makitauk.com/product/dcl281fzb

It's handheld.  It sucks things up, though nowhere near as well as a decent upright.  I bought it mainly on the basis that it uses the same batteries as my other power tools, rather than some dedicated battery which will be crap, slow to recharge and/or hard to replace.  It's made of plastic, though Makita-quality rather than Dyson-quality.  And it's got membrane switches, which will probably be the part that dies first.

Mostly gets used for the stairs, small spillages and sucking up swarf.  Occasionally handy for getting gratuitous mud/grass out of hire cars.


As ever, not a recommendation of Makita's battery system if you're a light user (they can brick themselves if allowed to deep discharge).  Though by having a vacuum that uses them, it ensures I have reason to charge them regularly.

Second this, tho I don't think mine's a membrane switch. I have found it incredibly useful, mostly as it's so easy to just grab, rather than taking out the sporn of Cthulhu that is the main vacuum.

J

[Hot Flatus]

I was given a Dyson Animal handheld.  It wouldn't suck the skin off a rice pudding. 

Surely ideal for your purposes 

[rogerzilla]

I was given a Dyson Animal handheld.  It wouldn't suck the skin off a rice pudding. 

Surely ideal for your purposes 

I'm looking for something that can suck a lawnmower through a garden hose now.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Shame I just took our last ever Dyson to the tip.  It worked every other Saturday when there was an R in the month and the year was divisible by two.

You could have had it for nowt.

[Jaded]

We also have a Dyson which gets occasional use.

Presumably, when it works, you are bagless?