As my house is not exactly small and the entire house as well as quite a large expanse of covered terrace area - is all tiled and generally needs dusting or sweeping almost daily as well as wet cleaning at least once a week - the latter of which which can often take up most part of a day if I do it all at once - someone suggested - that I look into getting one those new robotic floor cleaners that will vacuum and mop the floors - whilst I'm doing something else. However although initially excited at the prospect - having now investigated quite a number of models - I have to say that I'm far from impressed - as although very impressive in the sense that you can program them to work even when you are not home - as well as the fact that they will take themselves back to their docking station once finished or if they are running out of energy - they appear to be nothing more than an aid - much like the smartwatch is to the phone - particularly as they apparently don't do the job very well and only make the surface look good temporarily and because of that - it is recommended to still regularly use - a traditional vacuum cleaner as well as a mop and bucket. So as I'm currently not at all convinced that it would be worth buying one - as at this moment in time I feel it would be a total waste of money - my question is - has anyone got or used one and if you have - do you have anything positive to say about robotic floor cleaners ?
My daughter's house is also hardwood on the main floor which needs to be cleaned daily. I have done that floor in the past and it is an all day job. I thought of getting her one of the robo cleaners also to help reduce the amount of work for her. Like you I have not found a cleaner that seemed like it really did the job I would purchase the floor cleaner for.. When you find a cleaner that works please post here your review.
I wouldn't bother with one, personally. As small as they are there is no way they are sucking things up as a traditional vacuum cleaner. You could buy a really nice upright model for what you would pay for one of those robotic vacuums. Not to mention there are going to be spots that it simply cannot reach, which means dust will continue to accumulate in those areas unless you sweep them yourself. Plus, would you really want this thing buzzing around all day while you're at home - possibly getting in your way or tripping you if you're not careful? On a more humorous note, I've heard of some mishaps with these, when people with pets would let them operate while they were off at work. Long story short, the dog would crap on the carpet and the Roomba would spread it all over the place, lol.
The best floor cleaner I have ever used is dawn dish soap and water. It works like a charm on linoleum, carpets, and hard wood..I discovered it when I ran out of floor cleaner years ago. And I haven't bought floor cleaner since.
My house has got a wooden floor, so I don't really have a need for a vacuum cleaner at all. To be honest, at this stage, I would regard a robotic vacuum cleaner as a luxury. If I lived in a large house that required extensive vacuum cleaning, I might consider investing in one. But then, it might be cheaper and perhaps even more thorough to employ a house cleaner who comes once a week and takes care of everything.
I don't know about robotic floor cleaners but I maintain my faith in our housemaids. They clean our house 2 times a day and they can also do some other chores. Besides, their main line of work is a housekeeper, that means they would be guarding the house when we are away. But there's a downside to it... when the housemaid is dishonest.
I know what you mean. Its like babysitters. You can have so much faith in them, and they can seem so honest. But after you've gotten them paid and they're gone, you can find out she has gone through all of you drawers and jewelry box. Its so hard to know who you can and can't trust to be in your house.
I had a Roomba and a Scooba, and I really loved both of them. Rooma is great for vacuuming on either carpets or on plain floors. If you only want it to do certain rooms, then there is a little kind of electronic eye that stops Roomab from leaving the room. It can go under low furniture that it is almost impossble to get a vacuum cleaner underneath, and all of the way under the bed, which is not do-able at all with most vacuums. Scooba, on the other hand, is the robot that actually scrubs the floors, and it works great with white vinegar and water. Again, the little electric eye keeps it in the room that it is supposed to be in. While they may not get into every bit of the area each time, they do cover most of it, and you can let them wash or vacuum as often as you want; so everall, they do a better job than if you were doing it yourself, but only every now and then. The main problem that I had was with the Roomba It would get underneath somthing, and then get stuck. When that happens, it beeps at you; but then you have to get it back out of wherever it is stuck. If there are not obstacles on the floor for Roomba to get stuck on, then this would not be an issue. I think that it would just be up to each person whether they like having a robot or not.
I've never heard of the Scooba, and wasn't aware that their were robotic floor scrubbers, just vacuum devices. I'm sure they have their uses, but this house is boxy, so it would probably not make sense here, and it would probably fall down the stairs, as well as scaring the cats. If I had the money, I would pay someone to come in and deep clean every so often, and then upkeep in between those times would be much easier. It would be nice to be able to have a device that cleaned the floors, but it's just not practical for this house.
Very many thanks Happyflowerlady - your comments are very much appreciated and particularly so in the case of the Roomba Which was originally my first choice - until - I was informed by a few people who had the Roomba 770 - who although happy with the awesome job it did in dealing with all the girt and fine dust that we get with our windy arid climate - there were some significant downsides to consider - such as - apart from being extremely noisy and incredibly slow due to its efficient cleaning - its dustbin was way too small for the task and also that it had a regular tendency to get stranded on the way back to its docking station - which as further investigations revealed that they were not the only ones experiencing those problems - somewhat put me off. However although previously put off buying a Roomba and the Dyson 360 Eye is currently at the top of my list on the vacuum side - I have to say that your very positive comments are now leading me to think that I may just have to have revisit the Roomba models again - especially as - you didn't mention anything about yours being excessively noisy or that it took an incredibly long time to do the task or that you ever experienced any of the other problems previously mentioned. With regard to the Scooba - I'm still out on this one - as although I've heard mixed reviews on this including many as positive as yours - some of the main disadvantages for me - are that it is said - that because of its short battery life its not really man enough for large floor areas - particularly as - apart from not cleaning as efficiently as its energy reduces - as it doesn't take itself back to a docking station - it generally conks out in the middle of the floor every time it runs out of energy - as well as the fact that you are restricted to what detergents you can use are also a bit of a drawback for me. To be honest finding a suitable floor mopper/scrubber is proving to be the biggest problem - as although there is a reasonable amount of choice and there are even some that both vacuum and mop as well as have dual tanks - I haven't yet come across one that functions well enough to convince me to buy it - which is unfortunate - as its the mopping that is the most arduous task - particularly as it takes almost an entire day to get it done.
I love the idea of a Roomba. I have hardwood floors throughout my house and I don't mind sweeping and swifting the floors and washing them by hand but I love the fact that the Roomba gets under the bed. I have such a hard time cleaning under our king size bed. This would solve that problem. I wasn't sold on getting one until I read that post. Now I'm going to go out and look into it. The Scooba is new to me. I've never heard of one. I would love to see what kind of job it does before buying it.
Yeah. I never thought about it but I guess it would be risky to have a housemaid. The only way it would definitely work is if you didn't have a lot of things in your house so that way you can keep track of everything you have but even then it would be difficult most likely because sometimes the police may not treat theft as seriously as they could.
I wanted one when they first came out but now I am not sure. If you still have to use the vaccum or mop than what's the point of spending all that money on it? Doesn't make really sense than. So, unless I use one and get to see how it works for myself I think I will stick to the old school way.
The Roomba that I had was not noisy at all; in fact we barely noticed it. As for the small dust bin, that is true; and it would not be very practical if you are vacuuming a very dirty floor. However, if you vacuum your floor and get the main dirt off of it, then you can use the Roomba every day or two, and there is not that much dirt and hair for it to pick up (unless you have a lot of shedding pets). It was just part of my daily ritual to "turn Roomba loose" and let her run around the living room or the bedrooms every day. If the floors were dirtier, then I just cleaned out the little dust-catcher; but usually I only had to do it once after I was done vacuuming with it. When I lived in a small mobile home, we had to store things in any available place, and it was hard for the Roomba to get around in there. It was hard for me to vacuum or sweep in there, it was just too small of a home; and I didn't use either of them when I lived there. So, each person just has to look at their own situation and decide if having the robot cleaner would work or not. With stairs, you would have to use the electronic eye to barricade Roomba from falling down the stairs, or you could also just put up one of those baby gates and then it would be safe.
