The Dirt Devil Gator – my new BFF for the holidays

Dirt Devil BD10165 Gator

Why is it that as soon as the floors get vacuumed, someone (*ahem – Mr. S) decides to drop crumbs all over the place? I LOVE the look (and smell) of the mansion just after it’s been cleaned.

I find that I REALLY need a hand-held vacuum to clean up every evening. There’s really no need to drag out the big vacuum when all of the mess is localized.

I’ve been using the same one for years with no thought about if I could be doing or using something better. So, when Dirt Devil offered to send me the NEWEST hand vac to review – I thought – OK, I’ll review it….BUT….a vacuum’s a vacuum. There’s really no difference.

My first impression of the Dirt Devil BD10165 Gator Energy-Star 15.6-Volt Cordless Handheld Vacuum Cleaner with Detachable Brushroll was how COOL the color is. I know that their “signature” color is RED, and amazingly my kitchen accents are all red. So, aesthetically it was PERFECT. I plugged it in to give it a good charge before attempting to use it. It wasn’t long before Clem offered me the opportunity to give this red hot vac a test drive.

Dinnertime always means that there will be kibble surrounding Clem’s “dining” area. As soon as my sloppy mini bull terrier stepped away from his bowl, I ran over ARMED with my newest toy. From the first push of the “on” button, I could hear the power behind my newest cleaning apparatus. It sucked up that kibble like there was no tomorrow. I immediately walked over the the trash, lifted the lid and pressed the “empty” button. Most of the junk that the Dirt Devil had collected just slid in to the trash, with little effort on my part (I did find that I had to “help” some of the dust that had collected towards the bag along into the garbage.

Armed with my new cleaning machine, I looked for other areas of the mansion that I could test it on. Mr. S was sitting in front of the TV enjoying some cheese and crackers. As usual, he tipped the plate slightly as he stood up, making the crumbs fly every which way……this was going to be a test for the brushrol. I slipped the beater brush onto the nose of my Dirt Devil. An easy fit, the brush started rotating around quickly, just like the one on my BIG vacuum. Since some of the crumbs had hit the scatter rug (I wonder if THAT’S why they call it a scatter run – the crumbs SCATTER). I liked the fact that having a brush on the end meant that I wouldn’t have to worry about the crumbs getting ground in. My “other” hand-held vac wouldn’t pick up from carpet or rugs and I’d either have to drag out the full sized vacuum just to clean a small area. Why even HAVE a hand-held if you’ve still got to drag out the big vac for rugs?

This little vacuum is going to be a godsend for the holidays. With dogs and kids running around, I can be assured that those little messes get cleaned up FAST!

The Good: As I stated above, I no longer have to drag out a full sized vacuum in order to do a small pick up of dirt on carpets. The beater brush works almost out-performs my old vacuum on this task. The one touch empty is a nice feature. There’s nothing worse than fighting with the dirt cup and having to re-clean everything because you’ve made a MESS. It also has a BUILT-IN crevice tool, so all you have to do is slide it out. I liked that as I’ve been known to LOSE tools that go with some of my small appliances.

The Bad: Unfortunately, because of all of these special features this little vac is a bit heavier that my old vac. It’s just not as easy to pick up and go as other hand-held vacuums. Also, the dirt cup doesn’t hold as much as a traditional hand held vacuum, so if Mr. S makes a bigger mess, I’d either have to use this vac in stages or still pull out the full sized one.

Overall: For convenience, the features on this model are certainly handy to have. The price point is fair and I think that having a beater brush on a smaller hand-held makes this small vacuum indispensable for picking up dirt left on carpets and rugs.

Thank you for Dirt Devil Vacuum’s for providing us with a free vacuum for this review. I was in no way compensated for this review and all opinions are my own.

Specs

ENERGY STAR approval rating

· Motorized brushroll for cleaning stairs, cars, and especially pet hair

· Gator Series^TM Dirt Cup for easy emptying

· Reusable filter – simply rinse to clean

· Powerful suction for quick clean ups

· Built-in crevice tool for cleaning tight spaces

The new Dirt Devil Handheld Vacuum Cleaner with Detachable Brushroll can be purchased through Amazon.com or at your local appliance store for less than $60.