BLACK+DECKER dustbuster FLEX Cordless Handheld Vacuum, Home, Pet and Car Vacuum (BDH2020FL)

Originally bought for the car , it really useful around the house - quick pick ups . Does a great job , and is a lot easier than taking out the Dyson Animal. Very highly recommended.

BLACK+DECKER BDH2020FL GEN 2 Flex VAC 20V MAX Lithium, One Size, Black, Grey For many years, I have owned a Black + Decker “Dustbuster” handheld rechargeable vacuum cleaner (similar to the current CHV1410L model) that I have considered to be one of the best designs I have ever seen for this class of appliance. It is ergonomically excellent, easy to use, has very good suction power and plenty of battery life so it does not falter halfway through cleaning up spilled bits and pieces. It is still going strong. But that vacuum is on one side of my house and I wanted another on the other side. In a moment of weakness a year or so ago, I picked up a “Dirt Devil” model of similar size and functionality at the local hardware store (which does not carry DustBuster products), which turned out to be a real turkey (in many ways). So now I was looking to buy the latest “Dustbuster” model CHV1410L, but noted something about it that would not work for me. While my old Dustbuster, when not is use, rested on its tail end on top of the charging base, the new model does not work that way, rather it hooks onto and hangs from a wall-mounted charger. I have an ideal tabletop location for the new vacuum, but no suitable wall space. While perusing Black + Decker’s Amazon store to see if they might have a model that charges like my old one, I ran across this “Flex Vac” model BDH2020FL, and it looked pretty good, albeit considerably more expensive than the CHV1410L. This “Flex Vac” vacuum is still a handheld model, and shares with other handheld vacuums the same limitations; it cannot hold very much volume of vacuumed particles before its ‘dust bin’ gets too full to allow continued use (without emptying first), it does not have any kind of ‘beater’ and thus cannot dislodge small items that have worked their way down into carpeting (a full sized vacuum cleaner is better for carpeting), and being battery powered it needs to be returned to its charge after use. Note that this Flex Vac is NOT a wet/dry vacuum. Using it to vacuum liquids would not be a safety issue (being only battery powered), but it would probably ruin the appliance. This vacuum is perfect for short, light jobs like cleaning up the kid’s spilled Cheerios, general small bits and pieces of litter when you don’t want to drag out the normal vacuum cleaner, light dusting and things like that. Resting on its table-top charging base, this vacuum has dimensions of approximately 12” x 7” (without accessory holders attached) or 12” x 8.5” (with them attached) x 9” tall. The charging base is very basic, just a molded piece of plastic with two electrical contacts on top which make contact with those on the bottom of the vacuum. The “wall wart” style power supply, unlike most such devices there days, is NOT “universal” and is only designed to work with 120VAC 60Hz, and it has a typical 2 prong North America plug configuration. I have one small gripe about the charging base design; while my old Dustbuster did not care which orientation the vacuum was in when set down on the charging base, this “Flex Vac” must be oriented properly in order for its electrical contacts to mate properly with the base. If they do NOT mate properly, the blue “charging” lamp on the base of the vacuum will not illuminate. There seems to be no facility designed into the vacuum and its charging base to assist the user to orient things properly, other than to look at the contacts and use them as a guide. There are two small plastic tool holders included with this appliance, and one or both of them can be snapped onto one side of the charging base, and any two of the included attachments can be stored on these, standing up vertically alongside the vacuum cleaner. Presumably the third attachment will be stored docked to the vacuum cleaner’s hose. The ”Flex Vac” is called that apparently because, unlike most other hand vacuums, it includes a built-in length of flexible vacuum cleaner style hose. The hose starts on the lower front of the vacuum and then wraps around underneath (passing through a channel on the bottom side), then wrapping up around the rear side of the vacuum, then its handle snaps into a channel on the top side of the vacuum. Pulling the hose handle up and backwards disengages it from the vacuum, and the user is then free to take advantage of the flexibility that the hose offers. The hose is quite short when not extended, but it easily stretches out to about 4 feet in length. This allows the user to do things like vacuum cobwebs from the ceiling while holding the vacuum in one hand, or rest the vacuum on the floor while reaching under the sofa to clean up crumbs that fell past the cushions. I am 5’8” tall, and with the “crevice” tool installed on the end of the hose, I can comfortably reach the normal-height ceiling of my house with arm outstretched. I cannot reach that far using my older Dustbuster handheld vacuum that does not have the hose. This version of the “Flex Vac” (BDH2020FL) comes with three accessories; the normal “nozzle/brush” tool, the “crevice” tool, and the “pet hair” tool. The “nozzle/brush” tool has a flat rectangular opening, similar to most other handheld vacuums, that is ideal for vacuuming up small bits and pieces from a floor, or which are laying loosely on top of a carpet, or cleaning up dust from a table top. It has a fold-back brush which normally remains stowed out of the way, but which easily flips around to the front where it can be useful in helping small items that might be slightly stuck on carpeting or other surfaces to come ‘unstuck’, or for light dusting of surfaces. The “crevice” tool is just like every other crevice tool ever made for vacuum cleaners, and is the longest reaching accessory provided. The “pet hair” tool looks a lot like a wide round shower head, with a soft rubbery surface having many bumpy protrusions resembling coarse brush bristles. These are designed to dislodge hair from carpeting and upholstery while still discouraging the hair from getting tangled up on the tool. I don’t have a pet, or much hair myself, so I have not been able to put this last tool to any kind of test. However, the nozzle/brush tool works just fine, as does the crevice tool. All three tools have molded detents where they fit into the end of the hose, and the hose has an end fitting with a spring-loaded button which releases a tab that normally fits into one of the detents. This allow the attached tool to remain firmly in place on the end of the hose, but at the touch of that button, the tools can be rotated until they snap into position at the next detent. I should note that there is a more expensive version of this product, the BDH2020FLFL, which also comes with a “floor head”, two extension tubes, and an adapter to join the end of the hose and the extension tube(s). With these items fit together and attached to the end of the hose, this vacuum takes on some additional functionality that resembles a normal floor vacuum cleaner, albeit one with a lot less power and useful operating time. According to the common user’s manual that is provided with both product versions, the floor head does have some kind of beater, but it seems that it is not electrically powered, rather it most likely is powered by the vacuumed air stream. My awful Dirt Devil hand vacuum also has a vacuum air powered upholstery attachment that is too weak to be useful, and I suspect that the beater on this Flex Vac’s “floor head” will also be useful for only the lightest use situations. Better to fire up a real floor/carpet vacuum cleaner for those cleaning jobs. The Flex Vac is turned on an off by a pair of push buttons located on either side of the handle in a position easily reached by the user’s thumb and forefinger on the hand that is holding the vacuum cleaner. Pushing the button with one finger turns the vacuum on and extends the opposite button, and pressing that button turns the vacuum off and extends the first button. All vacuumed dust and bits will end up in the dust bin (“dust container”) which is built a lot like a front-loading washing machine, with a similar swinging door having a latch on the side opposite its hinge. Press the latch button and the door swings open, and tipping the vacuum to that side allows whatever is in the dust bin to fall out into a trash container. The door itself is made of clear plastic, so the user can see how full it is. The door snaps shut easily after emptying the bin. To clean the pleated filter, the right side of the vacuum must be removed. This is easily done by pressing a button on the top of the right side and rotating the entire side a few degrees, at which point it detaches from the body of the vacuum. The filter is shaped like a paper cup, and has a fold-out wire handle that makes it easy to pull it away from the motor housing (which it normally surrounds). It can be tapped on inside a trash container to dislodge most of the dust and bits, then placed back over the motor housing, and the right side re-attached to the body of the vacuum. No tools are required for any part of this operation. There is also a disk-shaped “pre-filter” that can be easily removed and cleaned. In addition to quick, perfunctory tapping to clean the filters, they can be washed in warm soapy water and then allowed to air dry before being put back on the vacuum. The body of the vacuum, with the right side removed (along with the motor unit and the battery), is just a big plastic assembly, and it can be rinsed under running water to clean it, but this should normally not be necessary. The battery is a Lithium-Ion rechargeable type, and is integral to the motor housing assembly on the right side of the vacuum. It charges fairly quickly, and seems to run the vacuum for many minutes at full power. It has a built-in charge management circuit, which automatically changes from normal charging to trickle charging. According to the user’s manual, it is safe to leave the vacuum on its charging base all the time, no need to remove it when charging is complete. While normal charging is happening, the large blue lamp on the side of the battery will illuminate, and when normal charging is complete, the lamp will be dark. There is no direct way to tell the difference between a battery that has been charged and is now trickle charging, and a situation where the vacuum is not making electrical contact with the charging base, or the charger’s “wall wart” power supply is unplugged, or the AC power to the outlet is off for some reason. However, if the vacuum is removed from the charging base and run for perhaps 20 or 30 seconds and then returned to the charging base, the blue lamp will light again for a short while, so this method can be used to verify that all is well with the charging case and its wall-wart. The Flex Vac by itself weighs about 3.25 pounds. This tool seems to be of pretty good ergonomic and mechanical design. If my older DustBuster hand vacuum is any indication, it should have good battery life and continue to work well for many years.

Just what I wanted. Light enough to easy use. Nice attachments. Picks up alot. Runs a long time on a charge. Hose length is pretty good. Just wish the charging base was easier to use. Would be perfect if it plugged in vs sitting on a charging base. Seems powered enough to get most jobs done. Purchased to supplement my cordless vac which does not have a hose for dusting and getting into crevices. A bit more expensive than I wanted but I will use this daily. So all in all, A good find.

This is great for vacuuming out my car. Best car vacuum I've ever had. I have a big white dog, and she sheds a lot in my car. I used the pet attachment and it worked great. I really like the hose because the flexibility lets me get into tight spots with ease. I now also use it for small areas in the house, when I don't want to pull out the huge upright. Holds a charge well, and I pop in right into the charger after each use, so it is always ready.

I like this hand vac. Has decent suction. I like the hose feature which allows you to pop the hose handle off from the body holder and reach into a car more conveniently. If you were to do that with the hose handle permanently mounted on the body it would be hard to navigate smaller spaces. It has several attachments including a crevice tool, pet hair picker-upper, and the standard attachment mounted with a very modest brush which swivels in to or out of place on the attachment when needed. I wish the standard attachment were wider: at 2” wide I thought it was narrower than ideal, requiring more passes to cover larger areas. The unit is reasonably light, especially if used with the hose outstretched from the unit (requiring you to use two hands, one to hold unit, one to hold hose with handle. (I did not opt for the extra pipe extension that attaches on to the hose.) The body with hose is placed on a charging base that plugs into a standard outlet. You can keep it plugged in ready to go at all times according to the owners guide, which we do in the garage. The standard attachment tool we keep attached at all times. The other two attachments sit waiting for use in designated holders on the back of the base. We wish they held a little snugger since they can be knocked off easily, but they are easy to pluck off with one hand when needed for attaching to the hose handle. The curved hose handle can be disengaged from the unit to add in an extension pipe if necessary. The whole unit is sturdy enough, but it is plastic, so abuse like dropping it on a concrete floor could be trouble. The process of taking it apart to clean/replace the plastic pre-filter and washable light fabric filter is a little complicated but doable. Note that it is not HEPA filtration, so the exhaust isn’t going to be totally pure if you are vacuuming some hazardous stuff. And I wouldn’t vacuum up small shards of broken glass. It is reasonably quiet, at least compared to our heavy duty shop-vac. All in all, with a few small design changes could be perfect, but as it is, it is overall very good and would recommend. In the several weeks we’ve owned it, it has performed nicely.

I love this vacuum! It is the second one I have purchased. It's great for getting in difficult spots and the pet hair attachment cannot be beat! The battery lasts and entire car cleaning plus some. I hope Black & Decker keeps this vacuum in production. I highly recommend.

I think this is my first ever one-star review. The battery or the charging dock was defective. The battery would not charge. What was even more disappointing is that it was obvious that this was a returned item and resold. It didn't appear to be used but it was obvious someone had removed everything and tried to put it back together but wasn't successful. Everything was just a bit sloppily packed. I had a sneaking suspicion that was going to be the first sign of an issue. Sure enough it wouldn't charge. So either the battery or the docking station or both were defective. Black & Decker should reimburse me for gas money and time spent driving to a UPS store to return a product they sold that was defective. Don't they do quality checks? Looking through reviews others had the same problem. Also of important note: Even though the product was defective and clearly was a resold return, they did not refund my credit card. Instead they added a gift card onto my account. Very deceptive.

This little vac would get five stars but for the difficulty I had in cleaning out a clog in the hose. I noticed suction had decreased dramatically. There's a locking ring where the hard plastic piece meets the rubbery hose. You're supposed to be able to turn the ring counterclock wise to "unlock" the ring, then pull the two pieces apart, which would make it easy to check both pieces for clogs. I could not get the unlock to work (even checked the manual to ensure this was done correctly). Luckily, I had a long thin brush on hand so began to 'fetch' debris. The brush was long enough to reach almost to the unlock ring and into the hose a small distance. After about 30 minutes, finally, just when I was about to give up, a huge clog of dust and hair came out. I think it was located in the hose itself or possibly at the connecting point between the two pieces. Most would throw the vac out rather than go to the lengths I went to to fix this (took 30 minutes). Would recommend that B+D find an easier, more reliable way to separate the parts for cleaning. Otherwise, a great little tool.

Magnifique aspirateur sauf la prise c’est usa 🇺🇸 prévoir un adaptateur mes sinon il et parfait 👍

It really has good suction great for quick jobs around the home and your vehicle

購入してから、凄く驚きました。 コンパクトなクリーナなのに、凄い吸塵力で、車の掃除だけでは、勿体ないくらいで、ほんとに強力なクリーナです。 買って大満足です。

La aspiradora es muy compacta pero con buena potencia, no tiene problemas para aspirar polvo y pelo (no agua). La limpieza es muy facil con tan solo abrir su compuerta y vaciarlo adecuadamente en el bote de basura. Conviene de vez en cuando desmotar el compartimiento y los filtros para lavarlos con agua para que siempre funcione con normalidad. La bateria funciona bien para un "aspirada" a conciencia de la casa o auto, que por ser sin cables esto puede ser posible muy facilmente

Didn't want to give it any stars but it awarded itself with one, the Vac was delivered with the wrong plug for this country (UK) so can't use it.