It's a brush similar to a regular vacuum, a long thin tube with bristles. Like I said I clean the vacuum about once a week, including checking that everything spins like it's supposed to. The wet/dry versions do look like they would be much more effective at keeping your house actually clean however when I bought mine several years ago those were still well over $1,000 and not yet a well-tested enough setup but I would have trusted it to have water going around my house without supervision. If my vacuum dies and I need to buy another one I will most likely buy a wet dry vac but I don't see a reason to upgrade for now as long as mine keeps the majority of the mess away. It's definitely not perfect, but a regular vacuum isn't perfect even if you do it three times a day you still going to have dirty rugs that need to be washed and a hardwood floor that needs mopped. The dust collector being about 1-2 cups worth of dust and cat hair when I change it out each week makes me feel very confident that it helps keep my house cleaner than I would be able to on my own, and for the roughly $300 I spend on it over 4 years ago, well worth the price.