Suck It To 'Em

December 2008

Winter is one of the worst times for keeping your car’s cabin clean, as mud and grit are trampled in. And dragging your household upright on to the drive to vacuum the debris isn’t always easy.

This is where hand-held devices shine. You can run them off in-car 12V outlets, rechargeable batteries and, in the case of one product on test, mains electricity. We tried 10 to see which best spruces up your interior.

Top of our wish list here is vacuum power. If the cleaner can’t suck, it doesn’t matter how cheap it is. We used sugar to replicate dirt, and looked at how many passes each product required to lift it all off our car mat.

Comfortable hand grips earned bonus points, and ease of emptying was also important – cleaners with stiff or loose dirt containers were marked down. Finally, the range of attachments and, for the cordless units, the battery life were factored into our final decision.

Verdict

THE predecessor to the Black & Decker unit won our previous car vacuum test (Issue 972), and it has repeated the honour this year – combining great performance, a good range of attachments and long power lead with a fine price. In second place is the Philips FC6092. This virtually matched its Black & Decker rival round for round. But it fell down on price, and didn’t have a carry case. Finally, the stylish Dyson clinches third position, with only the high price holding it back.

Top 3

1. Black & Decker Dustbuster Pivot Auto
2. Philips FC6092
3. Dyson DC16 Car and Boat

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