Robot Vacuums - do they work?

[missy]

How are they on hardwood floors? Are they used mostly for carpets and such? How would you compare the noise level to that of the roomba?

They are great on hardwoods and much quieter than the Roomba IMO. But it could just be the constant noise of the Roomba when it is on that is bothering me as I dont know the decibel difference and it could be my misperception. But the vacuums (both cordless and corded) are way more efficient and powerful than my Roomba. And the vacuums are great on not just hardwood but area rugs too. But both our homes are mainly hardwood floors.

 

[mary poppins]

We initially purchased a Roomba that used a circular motion on the bottom of the device to collect debris. We quickly noticed circular scratches on our wood floors so we returned it. We are now happy with our irobot mop which collects debris by having a cloth or pad on the bottom push the debris along its traveling path. You can use it wet or dry. It is very quiet, collects as much debris as is on the floor without problem because there's no collection bin and it does not scratch the fllor. It moves in a methodic manner that optimizes coverage and adjusts well to obstacles so and I haven't seen it get stuck. That being said, we only use it in the master bedroom as the other areas of the house have too many obstacles for it to be effective. I sweep the rest of the house.

 

[MarionC]

I love mine. I have a thing for robotic toys, especially if they are cleaning : )
What I particularly like is that hearing it work gets me into cleaning mode...my little robotic support system. Haha

Who has a roomba running at 2am? I wouldn’t be able to sleep. They do bussle about. And just think how much poop there must have been to leave all those trails. Hm.
I don't think the robot is the problem, I think the dog has issues lol

Missy, I know, I know. I was a great advocate of the Roomba. I use it for long periods of time, especially upstairs so I don’t have to lug the big vac up, but then I put it away and forget about it. Right now mine is on sabbatical...

 

[kathley]

We initially purchased a Roomba that used a circular motion on the bottom of the device to collect debris. We quickly noticed circular scratches on our wood floors so we returned it. We are now happy with our irobot mop which collects debris by having a cloth or pad on the bottom push the debris along its traveling path. You can use it wet or dry. It is very quiet, collects as much debris as is on the floor without problem because there's no collection bin and it does not scratch the fllor. It moves in a methodic manner that optimizes coverage and adjusts well to obstacles so and I haven't seen it get stuck. That being said, we only use it in the master bedroom as the other areas of the house have too many obstacles for it to be effective. I sweep the rest of the house.

Oh no, that would be terrible if the roombas scratched hardwood floors!

 

[mary poppins]

Oh no, that would be terrible if the roombas scratched hardwood floors!

It was disappointing but not devastating. They were surface scratches, not deep, but still nothing you would want all over the house or even in part of one room. We watched it the first time we tried it so quickly saw the damage and turned the machine off.

If you get a device that doesn't have cloth bottom, I recommend purchasing at a store that has a liberal return policy. Costco and Bed Bath and Beyond are both good for that purpose. Watch the maiden voyage to spot any issues as they occur and you should be good.

 

[GliderPoss]

We got one and at first it seemed amazing but after 6 months it's like it got dumber... stuck in odd places, battery always ran low even after charging, never seems to pick up all the dog hairs properly etc. I just got annoyed with the noise and ended up vacuuming properly each weekend anyway!

 

[kathley]

We got one and at first it seemed amazing but after 6 months it's like it got dumber... stuck in odd places, battery always ran low even after charging, never seems to pick up all the dog hairs properly etc. I just got annoyed with the noise and ended up vacuuming properly each weekend anyway!

It looks like a lot to consider before purchasing one of these!

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Late to the party, but I wanted to chime in on some specific questions :

Does the motor burn out if that happens or does it just overflow all over the house?

Mine stops and tells me:"please empty roomba"

will knock right into the cat bowls and spill everything

Ours came with two invisible fence devices. Either you can create a fence between the two or use each one as a virtual stop around which (1m diameter I think) it won't approach. It has never failed so far. I think you can buy those separately if none came with the device.

If it gets stuck and I am not home to free it, does the battery just

No, it'll stop and tell you it's stuck. I had read horror stories about ruined hardwood floors caused by 2hrs non stop rotation in the same spot, but it has never failed.
We have a cheaper model (350€..?) and are really happy. It does what I thought it would do and keeps my place cleaner between vacuuming. It doesn't substitute regular vacuuming, though.
Eta: it gets under all my sofas as well. Major plus!

 

[kathley]

Late to the party, but I wanted to chime in on some specific questions :

Mine stops and tells me:"please empty roomba"

Ours came with two invisible fence devices. Either you can create a fence between the two or use each one as a virtual stop around which (1m diameter I think) it won't approach. It has never failed so far. I think you can buy those separately if none came with the device.



No, it'll stop and tell you it's stuck. I had read horror stories about ruined hardwood floors caused by 2hrs non stop rotation in the same spot, but it has never failed.
We have a cheaper model (350€..?) and are really happy. It does what I thought it would do and keeps my place cleaner between vacuuming. It doesn't substitute regular vacuuming, though.
Eta: it gets under all my sofas as well. Major plus!

Kipari, thank you for your review!!

 

[missy]

Just coming back to this thread to see if you have made any decisions yet @kathley. I just vacuumed and I have to say I find it (I'm weird lol) very satisfying to vacuum and get all that dust and cat hair that accumulates constantly. What a lot of cat hair this round sucked up. Satisfying indeed. I love my cordless Dyson. Vacummed 2700 square feet with relative ease in about 20 minutes and it's (if I may say so myself) looking good.

 

[kathley]

Just coming back to this thread to see if you have made any decisions yet @kathley. I just vacuumed and I have to say I find it (I'm weird lol) very satisfying to vacuum and get all that dust and cat hair that accumulates constantly. What a lot of cat hair this round sucked up. Satisfying indeed. I love my cordless Dyson. Vacummed 2700 square feet with relative ease in about 20 minutes and it's (if I may say so myself) looking good.

Hi missy! What I currently use is just a dust mop for hardwood floors that I have to use one of those hand-held battery vacuums to take off the dust from the mop; over and over again! And I never feel like it does a thorough enough job especially under beds. So that is when I came up with the idea of the roomba as I visualized them getting all of they way under beds and doing a better job. But after reading the posts, I don't feel it is the right choice for us. I have decided on the cordless vacuum and ironically, spent my lunch hour today trying to figure out which Dyson to get. Biggest criteria, is that they can't scratch the wood floors. I am so glad you posted again, because now I need help on which Dyson to choose! I only have a toy poodle, so I don't need one that is designed for long-haired pets. But for some reason, we seem to have our share of dust on the floors, maybe from the dryer? I can't decide between the Dyson V8 or the Dyson Cyclone, or perhaps I am missing something about another type of Dyson that would work for us. It needs to be cordless though. So, I am asking which one?

 

[missy]

Hi missy! What I currently use is just a dust mop for hardwood floors that I have to use one of those hand-held battery vacuums to take off the dust from the mop; over and over again! And I never feel like it does a thorough enough job especially under beds. So that is when I came up with the idea of the roomba as I visualized them getting all of they way under beds and doing a better job. But after reading the posts, I don't feel it is the right choice for us. I have decided on the cordless vacuum and ironically, spent my lunch hour today trying to figure out which Dyson to get. Biggest criteria, is that they can't scratch the wood floors. I am so glad you posted again, because now I need help on which Dyson to choose! I only have a toy poodle, so I don't need one that is designed for long-haired pets. But for some reason, we seem to have our share of dust on the floors, maybe from the dryer? I can't decide between the Dyson V8 or the Dyson Cyclone, or perhaps I am missing something about another type of Dyson that would work for us. It needs to be cordless though. So, I am asking which one?

I love our cordless Dyson pet vacuum...we own three of the cordless. 2 at the beach house (one upstairs and one downstairs and one here) and they might all be different models as we bought them at different times. All of them from Costco. And I am very pleased with all of the vacuums. We also have the corded Dyson but I don't use that one (Greg does and so do our cleaning people) which is more heavy duty emphasis on heavy and why I don't use it lol. But the cordless does a great job and I usually vacuum often and it is a breeze with the cordless. We have mainly all wood floors and they have never gotten scratched with any of our vacuum cleaners (including the Roomba). Our hardwood floors in New York are not hardy floors as far as hardwoods go (my dh chose them and well let's just say I wouldn't choose them again) and still look good after 15 years so the vacuums have never caused any damage or issues to our floors.

So I guess I am saying I highly recommend Dyson cordless but cannot say which one is best for you. Do you belong to Consumer Reports? If so read the reviews and see what you think. And check out the reviews on Amazon for the models you are considering and that should help you narrow it down. Good luck and happy vacuuming.

 

[kathley]

I love our cordless Dyson pet vacuum...we own three of the cordless. 2 at the beach house (one upstairs and one downstairs and one here) and they might all be different models as we bought them at different times. All of them from Costco. And I am very pleased with all of the vacuums. We also have the corded Dyson but I don't use that one (Greg does and so do our cleaning people) which is more heavy duty emphasis on heavy and why I don't use it lol. But the cordless does a great job and I usually vacuum often and it is a breeze with the cordless. We have mainly all wood floors and they have never gotten scratched with any of our vacuum cleaners (including the Roomba). Our hardwood floors in New York are not hardy floors as far as hardwoods go (my dh chose them and well let's just say I wouldn't choose them again) and still look good after 15 years so the vacuums have never caused any damage or issues to our floors.

So I guess I am saying I highly recommend Dyson cordless but cannot say which one is best for you. Do you belong to Consumer Reports? If so read the reviews and see what you think. And check out the reviews on Amazon for the models you are considering and that should help you narrow it down. Good luck and happy vacuuming.

Thank you for your help and I ordered my cordless Dyson and it should be here in 2 days. For those who might want to consider a Dyson, their website has a nice sale going on right now!

 

[missy]

Thank you for your help and I ordered my cordless Dyson and it should be here in 2 days. For those who might want to consider a Dyson, their website has a nice sale going on right now!

You're very welcome and I hope you love it!

 

[lyra]

We just bought the Dyson cordless V10 absolute yesterday. I was really worried about battery time, but it seems good. We bought an additional 7 year warranty on it from Best Buy (Canadian only?). Plus, we used my husband's business Amex points to buy it. I was scouring reviews and worrying, then I thought, what the heck, we aren't really even paying for it! We have 1 area rug in the family room, and I was shocked! to see what came out of it. Ugh. So for us, this was a good purchase. It was our long haired chihuahua who filled the cup repeatedly.

 

[kathley]

We just bought the Dyson cordless V10 absolute yesterday. I was really worried about battery time, but it seems good. We bought an additional 7 year warranty on it from Best Buy (Canadian only?). Plus, we used my husband's business Amex points to buy it. I was scouring reviews and worrying, then I thought, what the heck, we aren't really even paying for it! We have 1 area rug in the family room, and I was shocked! to see what came out of it. Ugh. So for us, this was a good purchase. It was our long haired chihuahua who filled the cup repeatedly.

Another reason why I chose the Dyson; people are really happy with theirs. I am looking forward to a better cleaning experience than what I was having to go through!