About DustFree
This site exists because “best vacuum” lists kept ranking suction numbers that cannot be compared — and still sent wet-mess kitchens a mop-pad robot.
Ethan Hale spent years in smart-appliance R&D before building a home floor-care test setup in Portland, OR. The recurring failure mode was not “people bought a bad brand.” It was buying the wrong class: a robot where stairs dominate, a stick where daily whole-home automation was the real need, or a mop-pad bot sold as a floor washer.
DustFree is the editorial site that came out of that work: start with a category path, then match models to home type, pets, and wet-clean needs — with manufacturer suction claims archived, not treated as a league table.
How we work
- Path first: vacuum type quiz (robot / stick / washer / combo)
- Then scene weights: scene matcher
- Catalog from PartnerBoost Joined US merchants, enriched with Affscrape listing fields
- Growing home-test ledger — full editorial pages allowed without ledger rows; numeric home-test claims are not
Full methodology and open HPR formula: How we rate →
Who writes and who reviews
Ethan Hale — Floor Care Robotics & Vacuum Testing Expert. Writes guides and rankings; electromechanical background; home-test setup owner.
Marcus Voss — Senior Home Appliance Quality & Reliability Reviewer. Technical peer review only; flat fee; no affiliate commission on recommendations.
Why class mistakes matter
Buying the wrong floor-care class usually means:
- Paying dock + bag costs for a robot that never finishes stairs or sofas
- Scrubbing greasy kitchens with a mop pad that cannot recover dirty water
- Trusting Pa/AW marketing as if brands shared a test standard
- Underestimating 36-month filter / pad / solution spend
The right path first — then the right SKU — is the gap we are trying to close.
We Always:
- Disclose affiliate relationships
- Label manufacturer claim vs home test vs editorial judgment
- Say when a class is a poor fit
- Update when buy paths or criteria change
We Never:
- Accept payment for rankings
- Invent home-test numbers without a ledger entry
- Cross-compare Pa/AW in scoring formulas
- Rank by commission rate
Start here
Take the type quiz, browse robot vacuums, stick vacuums, or floor washers, then read how we rate. Corrections: contact@dustfreetested.com.