The instructions seem to be aimed more at mechanics than at technical duffers such as myself.'Running the cleaner off the cigar lighter means that it will work for longer than the others, but it can't, of course, be used in the house. 'I thought I should put on an overall like a Kwik Fit fitter's to use this. Katie Stanhope thought the Formula One-inspired image of the Dirt Devil both macho and naff. Ideal for boats and caravans, too.'On the minus side, though, the fan belt has to be removed in order to fit the attachments, making it by far the most complicated to use. Daniel Grey said: 'Brilliant at getting up dog hairs and everything else from the car.' John Fordham agreed: 'It has lots of bits to add on in order to probe those elusive corners that conceal sand, shattered madeleine cakes, pulverised crisps and so on. 'Without the attachments these cleaners are very blunt instruments when it comes to attacking the awkward bits.' John Fordham commented: 'This one has a shorter battery life than some of the others, so it is not such good value.'**DIRT DEVILpounds 39.99This cleaner, which faintly resembles a set of black-and-white checked bagpipes, was very effective at picking up dirt. 'This is a big disadvantage,' said Katie Stanhope, who had not cleaned her car interior since buying it four years ago.

The Hoover is lightweight, but it has one annoying feature: 'The 'on' switch will not stay on by itself so the thumb can get tired holding it down,' said Robin Blake.It also has no attachments to reach hard-to-get-at corners. 'Dash is probably not the right name for this machine - it's too cumbersome,' said Katie Stanhope.**HOOVER DUBL DUTYpounds 29.99This cleaner has the advantage of picking up liquids as well as dirt, so it is particularly useful for people with children, who are likely to spill soft drinks in the car It can be used in the kitchen as well. Two panellists criticised the Goblin Dash's weight: 'Very heavy and awkward - no good for a family car,' said Daniel Grey, who didn't find it effective at picking up dog hairs. This model also has an extension for getting into nooks and crannies, and an upholstery brush. One feature our panellists really liked is a display showing how much life is left in the battery before it has to be recharged. These marks were then converted into a best-buy rating.**GOBLIN DASHpounds 22.99This was the cheapest device of all, and the best value for money - but its performance did not quite match that of our two favourites.

The fifth, the Dirt Devil, runs off the car cigar lighter - less versatile, but it will run for longer.THE PANELJohn Fordham, motoring correspondent of the Independent on Sunday; Katie Stanhope, researcher; Daniel Gray, chauffeur; Robin Blake, scriptwriter.THE TESTPanellists gave the cleaners marks for effectiveness at picking up the dirt, how convenient they were to operate, how good they were at getting to inaccessible bits in the car, and value for money. They used them to scour crevices, burrow under seats and creep around fiddly corners to see which was most effective in devouring the dirt.Four of the cleaners, which run on batteries that need to be charged for several hours beforehand, can be used around the house as well as in the car. As well as being small enough to manoeuvre easily around the car interior, these hand-held vacuum cleaners do not need to be plugged into the mains. We asked a panel of motorists to try five of these hand-held cleaners, ranging in price from around pounds 20 to pounds 50. Back in the real world, however, a car vacuum cleaner can be useful for keeping the detritus at bay. Nicole, no doubt, as part of the personal grooming that we witness in the current series of ads, has her car whisked away for a regular valet service. It's scarcely imaginable, when Nicole flaunts her latest lover in front of Papa, that underneath the seats of her shiny Renault Clio lurk cracked ballpoint pens, scrunched-up petrol receipts and an unsavoury matt of fluff and hair.