Welcome to Clean Enough, a new kind of cleaning column for busy home cooks who have better things to do than scrub and sanitize around the clock. Every month, neurodivergent writer and mom Emily Farris reviews products that can help you stay on top of the dirtiest spots in the kitchen and beyond.
When I learned that Dyson released a wet/dry vacuum late last year, my first thought was: What took them so long? The brand has been at the forefront of floor cleaning for decades, and over the past few years I’ve watched both high-end and budget competitors release multiple mop vac models while Dyson…didn’t. And technically speaking, Dyson’s first wet/dry vacuum, the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine, isn’t even a mop vac. It’s more of a modular multipurpose floor cleaner. But it’s still worth considering.
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine at a glance
What is the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine?
The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine starts with an impressively powerful Dyson stick vacuum—the V15 Detect—and adds an additional wet mopping component that can be attached to the shaft just like you would attach a hard-floor roller or the carpet roller that fits on any other Dyson stick. The V15s Detect Submarine comes with all three heads (two dry and one wet), plus the standard Dyson cordless vacuum attachments.
Everything to do with wet mopping happens in the Submarine wet roller head; the clean water tank is in there and the dirty water collects there too. When you attach the Submarine head, clean water saturates the motorized microfiber roller to mop hard floor surfaces like wood and tile, and the dirty water gets pulled into a separate chamber.
So, is the Dyson Submarine a mop vac?
It’s not. A mop vac is a device that sucks debris off of a hard floor while simultaneously mopping the floor with clean water (and sometimes solution) and a soft roller brush. In order to use both those functions on the Dyson, you need to switch between different attachments, so it can’t do both at the same time. Still, it’s worth considering, especially if you live in a small space and only have room for one floor-cleaning device.
What I love about the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine
Suction power
Over the past three years, I’ve tested many mop vacuums—12 to be exact—that fit my technical definition of a mop vac. Though I consider them to be life-changing appliances, even the best mop vac sucks (in a bad way) at vacuuming rugs and carpets. Because it’s a vacuum cleaner first, the V15s Detect Submarine sucks in the way a high-quality vacuum should. And it has far more suction than the Dyson V8, an older Dyson stick model that’s still a good budget vacuum (especially because it often goes on sale) or my beloved V12 Detect Slim.
Space saving design
I can’t believe I’m writing this considering how much I love my mop vac, but as I write this in July 2024, I would choose the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine if I could have only one floor-cleaning device. Unlike true mop vacs, which charge and (often) self-clean on a floor stand, the Submarine uses the standard Dyson wall-mount for storage and charging, and the cleaning heads and accessories can fit just about anywhere—you can even fit two of them on the charging dock itself. While it doesn’t mop floors quite as well as the best mop vac (more on that below), it’s still far better than a manual mop, and it eliminates the need for multiple devices.
What I don’t love about the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine
Beyond the hefty price tag ($950 at the time writing), and the fact that the Submarine’s quick-start guide left me more confused than IKEA’s bubble people instructions, there are a few issues with this device.
Separate heads for different functions
There’s no suction in wet mode at all, so you need to vacuum really well before you start mopping. Because I have a big, hairy rescue mutt, for me this means first vacuuming my rugs with the Digital Motorbar head, then hitting the wood floors with the Fluffy Optic cleaner head. The Fluffy Optic head has a super soft, duster-like roller to grab fine dust and debris and built-in laser lights to illuminate what you can’t see with your naked eye (on my floors, it’s a disturbing amount of fur from a dog who gets groomed every other week). Only then am I ready to switch to the Submarine wet roller head. That’s a lot of reconfiguring, and most days I’m too lazy for all of that, so I usually just hit my rugs and hardwood floors with the Digital Motorbar head.
All of that said, when I do clean-clean the floors about once a week, it’s really nice to have all three heads. I have a 1,200-square-foot apartment and the V15 battery hasn’t died on me yet.
Only one wet cleaning mode
The Submarine head wets the microfiber mop roller via an “eight-point hydration system” (presumably eight tiny tubes), and it takes a minute or two of use for the roller to be fully saturated. Once it is, it’s wet and there’s only one wet cleaning mode so you can’t adjust the amount of water it’s using on the floor—which is kind of a lot, even though both the clean and dirty water chambers are pretty small compared to the tanks on true mop vacs.