Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Vac of all tradesI own neither a cat nor a dog, but I know people who do and have heard stories of accursed, omnipresent tumbleweeds of hair. “It gets everywhere,” says my pal Lucy. “Our black Labrador sheds it like glitter – you find it in the corners of each stair, under every chair, in the washing machine… in closed Tupperware stashed in the fridge…” Fortunately, vacuum tech is doing an ever-improving job of dealing with this kind of menace – indeed, Miele has been putting out Cat & Dog versions of its popular vacuum cleaners for a few years now, bundled with attachments dedicated to picking up fuzz, fluff and floof.I have a fondness for Miele vacs, having sought advice from a cleaner a few years ago who immediately said “buy a Miele”, so I did, and they were right. This new Duoflex range of cordless stick vacs is supposed to match the power of its C3 bagged, corded vacuum cleaner, and this one certainly left my ageing C1 for, ahem, dust. Used with the standard long suction tube and electrobrush attachment, it made for an effortless whizz around the house, automatically stepping up its power for carpets and down again for hard floors, helping to prolong battery life. If you want, you can boost suction by pressing a button, but with standard household detritus it wasn’t necessary. In any case, either mode felt substantially less noisy than my existing Miele vac.Attachments are dedicated to picking up fuzz, fluff and floofThe suction tube and electrobrush detach with a satisfying click, and standard attachments (dusting brush, crevice nozzle, upholstery nozzle) slot in neatly. But it’s the Electro Compact brush that is specifically designed to weave that pet hair-sucking magic, partly by automatically bumping up the power of the unit from 160W to 210W. So I asked my neighbours, who have two dogs, if I could come over and vacuum their furniture, and unsurprisingly they were happy for me to do this. Much dog hair was collected, and subsequently emptied into their kitchen bin with a click of a release button. There was no charge for this superb service.Look outCleaning robots are ten-a-penny these days, but this was my first sight of a windowbot. There’s a natural fear that it’ll fall off the glass, but gravity is thwarted during cleaning by a combination of rapidly moving scrubbing pads and strong vacuum suction; additionally, it’s powered from the mains (with battery backup) so it won’t give up and drop off halfway through. Its trailing 4m power cable isn’t elegant, but the unit performs well, detecting not only the window frame but also the edges of frameless glass (eg, shower screens) and obediently returning to its starting point when it’s finished. You wouldn’t use it to clean small panes in sash windows, but for large expanses of glass it’s a winner.A mighty windDust is no friend to electronics, but gadgets are oblivious to this and attract disproportionate amounts of the stuff regardless. Our job is to step in before things overheat. When it comes to things such as keyboards, consoles, servers, fans and filters, that job is often done with cans of compressed air, but they lose their blasting power quickly and can expel liquid if they’re not held upright. Thanks to its drone-style motor, the maximum power of this mini-blower is ferocious, but the intensity can be dialled down with a slider positioned neatly under your thumb. A selection of nozzles lets you get into awkward corners, and it can be used as a handy inflator, too. One USB-C charge (2.5 hours) gets you 40 minutes of dusting.Good in bedNobody wants any insight into the details of my domestic hygiene, but I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t provide it. Suffice it to say that I used this device on my own mattress and was mildly disgusted by the quantity of oomska that gathered in its chamber – and that was with the task only half-complete. It’s a doddle to use: you just plug it into the wall and turn it on; hot air dries the mattress, stiff rollers beat it, a vacuum sucks up the filth and a UV light zaps the bacteria. A small display (facing away from you, annoyingly) indicates the humidity level and the presence of dust and mites. Next up, I’m going to attack the family sofa; my nose is already wrinkling apprehensively.An extended argumentSometimes, stains on kitchen and bathroom floors can only be addressed the old-fashioned way: ie, by getting down on your knees with a scrubbing brush. But this Red Dot Award-winning device couples the convenience of an adjustable, long-handled mop with a rotating, battery-powered head. The build quality feels solid, the torque is substantial, and it comes with some interchangeable heads that you can swap out depending on the job in hand. I particularly enjoyed going at wall tiles with the large flat brush, but there’s a smaller flat brush, a pointed one, a scouring pad, sponge and soft cloth too. The long handle is detachable if you fancy getting down on your knees with it – you know, for old times’ sake. @rhodri
