Ever since Dyson launched the highly anticipated Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine, we’ve been trying it out all over the house, testing its capacity as a two-in-one vacuum cleaner and mop.

While most of Dyson’s vacuum cleaners are exclusively made for dry floors only and don’t include any mopping functionality, the Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine adds a new attachment to the mix: the wet roller head.

This wet attachment essentially mops the floor and picks up liquid spills with ease, supported by Dyson’s newest software, which is currently only available on the V12s Detect Slim Submarine model.

In combination with the classic vacuum cleaner heads for dry floors, this wet roller attachment allows for a full deep clean of the entire home, vacuuming and washing with a single device by simply switching out the heads in between chores.

Having tried and tested it for the last couple of months, here’s our honest review of the Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine.

Dyson Submarine: Vacuum cleaner and mop in one

For a start, the Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine is easy and straightforward to set up, just like any Dyson vacuum cleaner. Assembling the parts is very intuitive, including the new wet roller head, which clicks neatly into place like all the other attachments. Filling the tank with clean water was also simple enough and didn’t take us long.

The only aspect we struggled with in the beginning was getting the wet roller to soak up the water. It took the machine a little while to fully wake up and start absorbing the clean water to hydrate the roller. Once it got going, however, the process was smooth and consistent and it hasn’t let us down since.

Traditional mops tend to wet the floors too much, leaving them wet and slippery, whereas we found that the Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine uses just enough water to clean the floors, allowing them to dry almost instantly and extending the time before you need to refill the tank.

Wet spills and debris are picked up very efficiently, which is especially handy if you’ve already vacuumed but realise while mopping that you missed a couple of spots. The debris is neatly extracted into the waste bin so there’s no need to worry about it getting distributed all over your floors.

What’s unfortunately not quite so efficient is the extraction of dirty water while cleaning. If your floors happen to be quite dusty, the wet roller should be able to absorb the dirty water and release only clean water from the tank, but a bit of dirty water occasionally sneaks its way back onto the floors.

We noticed that this tends to happen when the bumping into a corner, the impact releasing some dirty water. It’s not a huge deal as a pass with the Dyson can easily clean it back up, but it’s nonetheless a bothersome flaw that surprised us.

The wet roller is also not quite the right tool to get rid of stubborn stains. It does loosen them eventually, but it takes some patience as the roller is relatively gentle. If there’s a particularly tough stain, we recommend vacuuming and mopping the floors with the Submarine and then scrubbing out the stain with something more specialised.

The Dyson Submarine is versatile and low-maintenance

The Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine is suitable for all sorts of hard floors around the house. This includes tiles, stone, wood, ceramic, vinyl, linoleum and laminate floors.

Detergent can be used with the Submarine as well if diluted, which is something we really appreciate as it isn’t the case with every wet vacuum on the market. Dyson recommends following the manufacturer’s guidance regarding the recommended dilution, as each detergent is different, and never using it without diluting.

We also appreciate how easy it is to clean and maintain the Submarine. Simply remove the attachment head, extract the roller and wash it with some anti-bacterial detergent. It’s not necessary to fully dry it before use since it’s a wet roller, but we recommend leaving it to dry before storing to avoid mildew build-up.

Of course, the vacuum cleaner also comes with Dyson’s other attachment heads, like the popular laser-enabled Fluffy Optic cleaner head, which makes invisible dust visible on hard floors, as well as the detangling head. Read our previous review of the original Dyson V12 Detect Slim Total Clean here to find out more about these attachments.

Find out more about the Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine at dyson.com.sg.