The latest in the Dyson canon of products is the Hard DC56 vacuum cleaner, and it’s a lot like the company itself: Self-cleaning and technically way ahead of the curve. The Dyson style is to tackle a specific user pain point–whether it’s in cleaning the home or the hands–and offer a more streamlined alternative. The Hard DC56 is here to change the way we clean hard floors, making it a one-tool, one-tiered tidy solution.

“Cleaning hard floors is a problem because you have to vacuum the dust and debris first,” James Dyson tells Co.Design. “And then whatever you use to get the grime, whether it’s a bucket or a mop, that’s a separate machine. It’s a pain of a process.”

The Hard DC56 is a powerful vacuum and mop all in one: It suctions up the spilled coffee grinds then gives the floor a thorough wipe down two seconds later. Sure it has something in common with the rhymes-with-Differ; it uses the same disposable wipes to clean tiles and wood surfaces. But it wouldn’t be a Dyson product if it didn’t feature some serious tech to wipe the floor with the competition. Like the company’s Airblade Tap, the hand washer-and-dryer designed for public restrooms, the Hard features the company’s squeaky-clean star of tech innovations: The digital motor.

For the Hard vacuum cleaner, that translates into a fast dual-function tool with no cords (a common Dyson feature). But more important, it’s one of the early fruits of more than seven years of work done by Dyson to perfect the motor. “The motor is the key to so much,” he says. “If you have a motor that’s much smaller and more efficient and lighter than anybody else, suddenly products become so much more interesting. They become more powerful.”

– Patented cyclone technology: Root Cyclone™ technology
– Suction power: 28 AW in normal mode / 65 AW in max power mode
– Movement type: Cordless vacuum cleaner
– Cleaner head: Double-edge cleaner head
– Bin capacity: 0.09 gallons
– Dimensions: 44.1 x 7.9 x 9.84 x inches (HxWxD)
– Weight: 4.86 lbs

producer: dyson
period: 2013