Our robot vacuum story: one loser, one winner
Last year at Christmastime, Lisey announced that her present to our household would be a robot vacuum.
I had never seriously considered buying a robot vacuum, but Lisey:
- doesn't like sweeping
- strongly dislikes floors full of crumbs
So she thought a robot vacuum would be the perfect solution.
At first, I was all, "Why would we need a robot vacuum? We have a broom and dustpan!"
But now that I've had one for a while, I have to say that I have overcome my initial skepticism.
And since I had asked you all for opinions back in December, I've been getting emails here and there asking what we ended up buying.
Thus, today's post.
The first try was a miss
The first robot vacuum we bought was a Shark and boy, this one did not work well for us at all.
This model runs on an entirely random basis, and while this might work well in a house with very few walls, it was kind of a fail at our house.
It would head into the kitchen, bump a wall, and promptly leave the kitchen.
(And the kitchen is where we wanted it to be the most!)
Also, it kept getting stuck in an endless loop at the end of our hallway.
While this was entertaining, it wasn't particularly helpful.
Plus, it was a little tricky to keep it off of our shag rug in the living room; we just vacuum that one by hand, since it tends to choke a robot vacuum.
Our second try: a win!
Next up, we tried a RoboRock vacuum and this one was a huge improvement.
Instead of randomly moving around the house, this one has a sensor that actually maps your home and cleans it in a sensible fashion, making sure to cover all the floors.
If you want to get fancy with it, you can use the app to have it clean only certain rooms, but I usually just press the start button and let it clean the main floor of the house.
Does it do a good job?
I'm pretty impressed by how well it cleans! Every time I empty the dust bin, I am amazed at all the stuff in there.
The Roborock has a little flexible arm that extends out while it's cleaning, so it does do a pretty good job of getting crumbs out of the edges and the corners.
It's not quite as thorough as what I do with my regular vacuum, but I'd say it's more thorough than what I typically accomplish with a broom and dustpan.
When my mom saw our vacuum, she asked, "Does it dust the baseboards?"
And I said, "No. But neither do I!"
Ha.
You should know that my mom is a much more thorough housecleaner than me; she uses the hand tool to dust her baseboards every time she vacuums.
Me? I do it once in a blue moon.
Does it clean multiple surfaces?
Yep! I mostly have hard floors in my house, but it automatically senses the change when it comes across a rug, and the suction level changes as a result.
And it does a pretty good job on our three carpeted rooms.
Do you still have to use your regular vacuum?
Yes. Despite the fact that I am not as meticulous a housekeeper as my mom, I do still get out my big vacuum to do a more thorough cleaning about once a week.
The robot vacuum can't get way back in corners, it can't get the dust off of windowsills, it can't suck up hair behind the toilet, and so on.
But for maintenance in between the more thorough cleanings, this vacuum is great. It replaces the daily sweeping habit, not the once-a-week vacuum habit.
If you have little kids, I think this could be especially helpful. One of my cousins has the same vacuum that we do, and it's great for the daily sucking up of the Cheerios that are inevitably sprinkled on her floor. 😉
Should you get a robot vacuum?
Well, I would say that this is definitely a nice but not necessary household item.
Is it handy? Sure.
Does it do a good job? Yep.
Could you accomplish much the same thing with some physical effort and a regular vacuum +broom? Yep.
So, I think this decision comes down to how much disposable income you have and also how much you need extra help keeping your floors clean.
If you have the money and you want the extra help, then go for it.
If you don't have the extra cash to buy a robotic vacuum, don't sweat it. There are plenty of other ways to keep your house clean!
And if you do get one, I would most certainly pay the extra $100 or so to get one with a mapping sensor. Otherwise, I don't think it's worth buying one at all, especially if your house has a lot of walls vs. a lot of open space.
At the time of this writing, there's a $130 coupon for the Roborock on Amazon, but you could also check warehouse clubs and eBay refurbished to compare prices.
I have no experience with a robotic vacuum cleaner whatsoever, but I love that you are an early riser in a convenient timezone. This allows me as a European to read your posts during my morning coffee break!
🙂
I have thought about getting one as I also hate sweeping, but in a home with kids that drop lots of little things on the floor like Legos, I didn't want the robot to suck everything indiscriminately.
My sister has a robot lawn mower that she absolutely loves. That said, I have heard of little critters that can get damaged by them. She luckily hasn't had a problem with it.
Recently, I also saw a robot window washer in the store, this one would be awesome for homes with tall windows!
@Kristina,
I have the same problem with all the tiny toys. We’d need some sort of Lego-induced damage warranty for a robot vacuum.
You inspired me to start my Roomba (who we named Hilda) to vacuum my upstairs as I read this morning. I will bring her downstairs to start when I go to work. It's awesome to come home to a home mostly vacuumed/swept without having to do much work. I too still have another vacuum and use it for corners, behind and under things that Hilda cannot reach. Agreed that it's more like the work of the broom/dust pan but with the bonus that it doesn't fluff up all the dust and hair that just then re-settles on the floors. It was a great Christmas present- something I wanted but couldn't justify spending the $ on and it keeps on giving- like 3-4x week!
@Lindsey, I had one for downstairs that I liked having so much, I bought a second for upstairs. ($50 preowned off of FB Marketplace). One less thing I have to do--run the robot vac upstairs.
We have one that just sits there basically because of the same problem you mentioned: it doesn't get everywhere and that frustrates me. Why bother having it if it's not going to get into the nooks and crannies where all the crumbs are!
And it is loud. Since I work at home - and a small home at that! - I found it to be a distraction.
It does get stuck on the bathroom thresholds, which is also a problem. Even when I move it off of the thresholds, then it looses it's thinking and returns back to the dock instead of finishing the other room! I have to go around and close doors before I start it.
The dog is afraid of it too!
Maybe I should just read the booklet it came with and learn to program it and run it when I'm out of the house for a while. LOL
Several months ago, we got a Roomba when they were on sale at Costco and it has many of the same features that Kristen describes. We love it. It does a thorough job and while it doesn't make it into every space, it does easily go under the beds and couches. The spaces it doesn't get would not be reachable with a regular vacuum, either. We, too, are amazed how much it picks up from floors that look pretty clean. While it is definitely not a necessary tool, it is very useful. We're very glad we got it.
We got the same Roborock before having the baby. I agree entirely with your “verdict”. The only thing that’s a bit annoying is having to put up chairs and hide cables so the robot can really work.
@Maggie, we had only one spot, which was behind a sofa, where cables were an issue. My husband got clever and laid down a length of wood that he painted black and notched to fit up against the rear legs of the sofa. It covers the cables securely and we can't see it in the darkness behind the sofa. The robot can now merrily whirr around under there and not eat any electric cords.
We have a Eufy we bought two years ago and we love it! We have a large great room with hardwood floors and two hairy dogs (plus hubby and I both have long hair). I run this every day and am amazed at the hair and dirt it picks up. I feel the house is much cleaner since we got it.
We were gifted a roomba a couple years ago and it did not work out for us, the biggest issue being the toddler and the dog were absolutely terrified of it! I also found it a bit annoying though, maybe I didn’t give it a chance to learn our floor plan, but it felt like it took forever and I didn’t like listening to it. I definitely thinking running it while you aren’t home would have resolved most of the issues I had with it though.
We use our Roomba every day & love it! It’s 27 months old & still works great.
We have the shark I robot and love it! It has the same features mentioned like scheduling, mapping, etc. it even empties itself every time it docks, so I don’t have to think about it! I empty the dock every now and then, that’s it! We love ours so much we ended up getting a second for upstairs. It can get caught on many things, but that reminds me the suction is good and our 4 kids have learned that they need to have things picked up when Rosie or Rex is running. We pick up messes around the house before bedtime and I set it to run before our household is up. Doesn’t wake us up and floors are clean!
I have no experience with these vacuums, other than a friend saying that it saved her sanity and possibly her marriage. And that her cat loves to ride it!
@MB in MN, A cat riding a robot vacuum is truly amusing. I'm sure there are videos of it online, but it would be much funnier in person.
Your post remined me to start our vacuum. I wonder how many were started because of your post?
We have a Shark that has the mapping features. I received it as a gift from my husband.
It works really well for us. We have a large one level home with wood floors, tile and several area rugs. It picks up really well.
I like the fact that mine goes to it's base and empties itself. It's a real help when I don't have the time to vacuum everything. Sure helps with the dust too!
I'm very impressed with how much dust and fuzz ours picks up!
Have the same one and love it. 🙂
We have a Neato that I routinely use and love each time I vacuum. I let it do the kitchen and den, and the bedrooms. I do the rest. We finish up at about the same time. Every now and then the Neato misses a bit, but I go around with my little handheld Black and Decker and take care of that. Easy. The thing I like most about the Neato is I don't have to bend way down to get say, under the couch or the bed. That's the best quality it has, I'd say, saving me from bending down or up and down off the floor a few times.
We also have a roborock and I love it. We only have hardwood and tile all over the house and knowing the vacuum is there to take care of the daily cleanup has opened up my time to be better about doing other maintenance tasks. Ours has the mopping function, which is ok but not amazing for in between steam mops. I run the roborock almost daily and tell it where to go - the kitchen and breakfast nook for sure, since the kids (and I) spill a lot but then also often the entryway since there's a lot of dust there. I use it on the upstairs bedrooms about once every 2 weeks and for that, I go around and sweep anything that's caught in the corner (a lot of hair makes its way to the edges of rooms - we have 3 girls at our house too). I, too am always surprised at how much it picks up. It's really thorough - probably more than I'd be in my rush to get the job done. It's convenient that I can turn it on from my phone; I've set it while we're away from the house and even in the middle of the night when insomnia has woken me up.
All in all, I'd recommend it. It's kind of pricy but I justified it by saying that it's freeing me up on a daily basis so that I can rotate the weekly tasks throughout the week. The only area it can't do is the stairs. So I sweep the stairs and then turn on the roborock to pick up the dust at the bottom. Easy peasy 🙂
I have a Deebot that was a gift from my son and it's downstairs. I run it about once a week or so (in addition to dragging out the regular vacuum once a week) and it does a great job of cleaning up on my rugs and hardwood floors. I was so impressed with having a robot vacuum, I got another one (not a Deebot) off of FB Marketplace for upstairs. It does a pretty good job and well worth the $50 I paid for it (preowned). I have four cats and there is so much fur. These help quite a bit.
We have a Roomba and love it! It was pricey, and I felt a little skeptical when we purchased it because I wasn't sure it was a total necessity. However, we have wood and tile floors throughout our house, two pets (a cat and a dog), and my husband and I work full time. Therefore, the floors collect quite a bit of hair and dust, and we don't spend much time vacuuming or sweeping during the week. I have the Roomba set to run every weekday when we are at work. When I empty the dustbin on it when I get home, it is always full! I love coming home to clean floors--it does a great job on the maintenance cleaning we don't have time for. We've had it for about a year, and I am now convinced it was a very worthwhile purchase for us!
We have the roborock and love it, as well. We originally had a different brand which didn't work well at all. Thanks for sharing this review. I am sure a lot of your readers will benefit!
We have a bissell. I got it because we have a husky. They shed constantly, having one that is specific for pet hair saved him. I was drowning in fur bunnies. Lol
We had one, I think a Roomba, and it was only okay. Then we got a new sofa and after repeatedly getting stuck under the sofa, it stopped working.
We were moving and busy so instead of trying to repair it, I gave it away on Nextdoor to someone who was willing to try the repair. I'm sure I'm not the only person who gave up on theirs, so if you are willing to work on it, look for a free one.
I've had a Eufy for a couple years, and I really like it. I use it in the main living area of our house, which has a mixture of hardwood, slate, and throw rugs. Unfortunately, it recently stopped working. I'm going to take a stab at replacing the internal battery, but I haven't worked myself up to it yet. I will need to disassemble the whole thing.
My husband got me a robot vacuum one year for Christmas (the most expensive unexpected present ever) - and it is great. It keeps the general animal-hair level down, and I like that - but I do have to set it to go every day when I'm gone, because I don't love the noise. It got turned off by accident last week and I could tell!
My method is dogs for the Cheerios and robot vacuum for the dog hair!
We have a Neato and love it because we have two cats and three long-haired small dogs that live indoors. When I used to sweep the laminate and tile with a dustmop and then follow up with our very good canister vac, I'd put the vac away and invariably see a pet hair tumbleweed go whisking across the floor. This does not happen with the Neato, which we named Thing after the disembodied hand butler on the Addams Family.
I do use the canister vac to get behind doors and in a few other places where Thing cannot go, but otherwise he's a little workhorse who keeps us fluffball free.
I love my robotic vacuum, a Deebot we call Spencer.
The robot does a fantastic job. We run it daily.
In fact it is my 8 year old chore to start it and put up the chairs.
Had one of the first Roombas probably twenty years back.
The dogs continuously attacked it.
Too much noise for me.
We got one without the mapping sensor and hated it. It made a lot of noise and would run for hours in our small apartment. We're retired so home most of the time thus having to deal with it running.
I love how so many people have named their vacuums! We did too - ours is named Pebble since it's round and flat and because it's a RoboROCK. I do think of it as our little friend - I feel sympathy for it when it gets stuck or gets confused about where it is. Is that weird?
@CrunchyCake,
We named ours "Mr. French"
Ours is named too! The girls came up with Traelynn. And I don't even know if I spelled that right.
@CrunchyCake, we named ours ‘elf’
@Kristen, Mine is named Alice from the maid on The Brady Bunch” & my sister named hers Alice from “The Jetsons.”
Ooh, I like the Jetsons reference!
Woah. This is kinda interesting...what is it about these vacuums that make us all want to name them? Is it because they're called robots??? I never named my hoover or my dyson or really any other appliance/device.
Well, my kids name a lot of things that other people don't necessarily name. Like...Sonia names all of her plants! Ha.
I have forced hot water heat in my house so I don't have many skirting boards. I do have a lot of memories of my grandmother cleaning those with a dry mop. But yeah, I only vacuum them once in a while.
A robot vacuum wouldn't work well in my house as too many small toys end up on the floor.
How are they on energy use? as in-- Is this more phantom power wasted? When they are docked, are they always charging and ready to go?
These are good questions and I have no idea what the answers are!
I did a home trial for a new type of robot vacuum that also mopped. I'm not allowed to say the brand, but it's been mentioned in the comments. My house has two floors, so I would either have to tote it upstairs or get two. That was one strike. The dustbin was too small and the thing would shut down before the job was finished, until I emptied it. That was two strikes. The mopping solution cannister would run dry before it finished mopping my floors. That was three strikes. The mapping program at first was really wonky and inaccurate as far as my home's layout, and the map would not be retained, so I had to re-map the house before I could clean my floors for three weeks, until customer service got it working right from their end. That was four strikes, so at the end of the trial, I returned it and got $75 for having tried it and given my opinion.
I also found it frustrating to have to move cables, wires and chairs. If I have to do that every time I start it, I might as well take the time to run the vacuum. I really wanted it to work well, because if it had, it was mine to keep, for free, but it just didn't work out for me. I might one day try again, but right now, I'll stick with my regular vacuum.
People have mentioned their dogs being afraid of their robot vacs. Our very old corgi hated our first one and barked at it. The rescued long-haired dachshunds that came after him either ignore it or give it a respectful distance. The oldest one tried her trick of just ignoring it when it was on a path next to her (she considers it beneath her to get out of anyone's way), and it yanked a hank of fur out of her tail. She stays out of its way.
I have 3 Roombas, but we have a 2 story house that's pretty large. I will probably retire the oldest one this year. The newest i7 is capable of doing the work of 2. It maps and has the empty bin so it can run, empty itself, recharge and start again without intervention. Plus, we have 5 dogs in the house and it is amazing how much hair it catches. To me, it's definitely worth the cost.
We have a Roomba that’s at least 20 years old. It came with the virtual wall cones to define the area to be vacuumed. I’ve bought 1 replacement battery and 1 set of replacement brushes. Speaking from a personal mobility standpoint (multiple spine issues), this vacuum has been a godsend!
I have Roborock S4
I couldn't live without it. I am 80 years old and it's hard for me to run the sweeper.
I've have set up and mapped out the house. When I go to bed I press clean and in 32 minutes it's done.
I recommend doing it when there's no motion going on in the house or when you leave to go away you can start it.
When I get up my house is spotless. I have no complaints and it has been a lifesaver for me. I have had it since last xmas. The only thing I wish it would dust my furniture too.
I highly recommend it. It's the best investment I've ever made and truly love it and I know you will enjoy it too.
I have carpet, hardwood floor and tile and it does an excellent job on all..
I do empty my dust Pan every time. not necessary I just do it. I can't believe how much dirt and dust is in it. I only have a 1000 ft² apartment. I know my regular sweeper would not get this much dirt out when it
Vacuums. I make sure that I keep the sensor's wiped off too and the roller clean. I never have anything wrapped around the roller.
It is really wonderful, I have a dog and it picks up all the dog hair.
I like it that it has different speeds for cleaning and you can tell it just to clean one room. If you don't want the whole house done just do one room..
I do bathroom carpet after taking bath. Or if I spilled something on kitchen floor. You can also mark off places you don't want it to clean.
You won't be sorry for this investment it also has an 800 number that you can call if you have questions on how to set it up or if you just have questions, they are wonderful..
Its a good investment, I wouldn't trade it for anything.. Good luck and enjoy.
Pierre, our Roomba, does a great job. I do still vacuum every week or two to get some spots, but it is great for keeping the pet hair and dust bunnies under control. We run it when we are gone so the noise is not a problem.
I got a Shark on clearance at Meijer, aka Sharky. I bought it mainly due to the price & it would do the work for me. I have all wood floors with some room carpets. I am sorry I did not buy one sooner. I love it! It pays for itself when it vacuums the basement, that's such a huge time saver. Next time I will get a mapping one.