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Robot Vacuums - do they work?

kathley

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The commercials about Robot Vacuums like iRobots -Roombas look really tempting for me to get one. Especially when I come home from work and the last thing I want to do is vacuum/dust floors. However, the price on these can be pretty expensive. So, I am asking those of you who do have one of these devices if they really work. Do they do a good job of vacuuming and are you happy with yours. I have all hardwood floors, but we have allergies, so dust free floors are really important. Thank you for your reviews!
 

missy

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I have a Roomba. It does a good job but 1. it's a pain to clean the Roomba after it cleans the floors (for me anyway I know others who think it is easy to clean) and 2. I do a better job vacuuming and I am faster. The noise of the Roomba and time it takes isn't worth it to me but again I know others who love their Roomba.

tommymeetsroombie.jpg

At best it's an adjunct to regular vacuuming.
 

farrahlyn

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YES! When we moved into a bigger home i bought one (i read a bajillion reviews) and it's been an AMAZING purchase. We have zero carpet, two dogs indoors and two small children. The best part has been dog hair. my little dog has longer soft hair that is hard to get up and the vac does a great job of picking it up. i was SHOCKED the first time i ran it, i had just swept and mopped and it filled the bin. :shock: I did not, however, spend the money on a Roomba. i just chocked at the prices. I bought a Eufy and i bought it mostly because the product itself seems great and the customer service is pretty great. This is the one i have:
https://www.eufylife.com/products/variant/robovac-11s/T2108111

Pros: It's quiet, picks up dog hair easily, easy to clean the brushes
Cons: You need to empty the bin daily. The pattern is random but it does get the job done. It does get stuck under my coffee table and has to be rescued. It will suck up cords left lying around.

This is the newest model:
https://www.eufylife.com/products/variant/robovac-30/T2116111

In the end, all the cons are completely worth it for me. i work full time and i LOVE that this thing runs daily while i am cooking dinner, without me doing a thing. rescuing it from under the coffee table here and there is completely worth it.
 

Matata

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I agree with @missy. I have 4 cats whose life mission became devoted to torturing the poor Roomba. I could never leave it running in the house if I wasn't home. The canister is small and I don't know what happens when it fills and no one is there to empty it. Does the motor burn out if that happens or does it just overflow all over the house? It's good for cleaning small areas -- one or two rooms at a time -- so if you're content with that, it might work for you.
 

House Cat

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I have a Roomba 980 and I love it. It can handle my entire house with all of the pets. It’s great on the carpet, rugs, and hardwood. I’ve had no troubles with it at all. I’ve owned it over a year.
 

luv2sparkle

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I have heard horror stories about people that have had pets leave them a surprise overnight and the roomba runs through it and spread it all over the house. That turned me off forever.:-o
 

kathley

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Thank you everyone for your reviews!
 

peacechick

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My sister has one although she uses a Korean knock-off, not a roomba, and she loves it. In fact she just ordered a robot mop on Black Friday. These robots won’t work for me though cos my layout isn’t totally flat and we have too many things scattered on the floor. Maybe what I need is a housekeeper :oops2:.
 

House Cat

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I have the robot mop too. Not as smart as the roomba. I honestly don’t recommend it until the technology gets a little better.
 

missy

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rainydaze

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I have heard horror stories about people that have had pets leave them a surprise overnight and the roomba runs through it and spread it all over the house. That turned me off forever.:-o

:shock: ... :shock: ... :eek2:
 

vintageloves

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I have a knock off Roomba. It cost less than $200, and apparently has the same technology a rice cooker uses (fuzzy logic). I like it, and it gets the job done, but it bounces around like a loon and frequently skips over some rooms in favor of re-vacuuming the ones no one uses over and over and over. Because of how it works, it rolls out of open concept areas quickly but gets stuck in more enclosed rooms. I don't have to clean out the bin each time it runs, more like once every 5 times. I do have problems with the battery life, because I have a pretty large home and it dies before it can finish the downstairs. I can't run it when I'm not home, either, because it will knock right into the cat bowls and spill everything. I have to go around picking up everything off the floor before I run it.

I really want one of the newer ones that has smarter technology, but those run about 1K right now.
 

kathley

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I have the robot mop too. Not as smart as the roomba. I honestly don’t recommend it until the technology gets a little better.

Ohhh, good to know this!
 

jbake

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I have two young children, so the biggest benefit I’ve noticed, is they don’t want their toys “eaten” by roomba. So they actually do a really good job picking up the floor before we run it.
Otherwise, I agree with @missy. The noise & random pattern drive me a little crazy. It works best for me if I turn it on before going on an errand. It did tend to get stuck under the dishwasher. So I just put a chair in front of it now. It can fit in between the legs, but not under the dishwasher with the chair in the way. It does do a good job & saves me a little time.
My husband picked up a second one, but instead of using it in our lower level, we may give it to his parents for Christmas.
 

House Cat

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What i really love about the roomba is that I can turn it on and do other chores while it’s running. I tell myself I’m totally multitasking. Who else can vacuum AND do the dishes at the same time? Are your arms long enough to vacuum the bedroom and fold clothes at once?

It’s the little things that get my house clean. If I didn’t play these little games..we’d live in squalor. :cool2:
 

kgizo

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I realy like the Roomba to keep up with the dog hair. Agree that it is a bit noisy and annoying to clean. I usually run it when I’m not home. My house cleaners said that the Neato is the best of the knock off brands. Some models have devices that send out a signal and act as a barrier to keep the vacuum away from dog bowls or out of a room. Be sure to check for that in your research if you need one as models without it aren’t a real “value”.
 

farrahlyn

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What i really love about the roomba is that I can turn it on and do other chores while it’s running. I tell myself I’m totally multitasking. Who else can vacuum AND do the dishes at the same time? Are your arms long enough to vacuum the bedroom and fold clothes at once?

It’s the little things that get my house clean. If I didn’t play these little games..we’d live in squalor. :cool2:

i do the SAME THING :lol: my husband thinks i'm nuts but hey, it works for me!
 

JPie

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I have heard horror stories about people that have had pets leave them a surprise overnight and the roomba runs through it and spread it all over the house. That turned me off forever.:-o
Same here.

For those who haven't seen this:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/15/roomba-robot-vacuum-poopocalypse-facebook-post

Jesse Newton found out the hard way what happens when a robotic vacuum cleaner encounters a dog turd, and it isn’t pretty.

Newton’s Roomba is scheduled to clean the living room of his home in Little Rock, Arkansas, at 1.30am each day, so that the family wakes up to a clean space. That all changed this month when his puppy Evie had an accident on the rug during the night, leading to what he described as the “poopocalypse”.

As Newton explains in a graphic Facebook post, the Roomba ran over the dog feces and then continued its cleaning cycle around the house, spreading the mess over “every conceivable surface” and resulting in “a home that closely resembles a Jackson Pollock poop painting”.

“It will be on your floorboards. It will be on your furniture legs. It will be on your carpets. It will be on your rugs. It will be in your kids’ toy boxes. If it’s near the floor, it will have poop on it. Those awesome wheels, which have a checkered surface for better traction, left 25ft poop trails all over the house,” he said.

Newton was helpful enough to draw a diagram.

poopacalypse.jpg
 

kathley

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I realy like the Roomba to keep up with the dog hair. Agree that it is a bit noisy and annoying to clean. I usually run it when I’m not home. My house cleaners said that the Neato is the best of the knock off brands. Some models have devices that send out a signal and act as a barrier to keep the vacuum away from dog bowls or out of a room. Be sure to check for that in your research if you need one as models without it aren’t a real “value”.

Thank you for the information about the ability to send out a signal!
 

kathley

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What i really love about the roomba is that I can turn it on and do other chores while it’s running. I tell myself I’m totally multitasking. Who else can vacuum AND do the dishes at the same time? Are your arms long enough to vacuum the bedroom and fold clothes at once?

It’s the little things that get my house clean. If I didn’t play these little games..we’d live in squalor. :cool2:

I do the same thing! LOL. I plan on letting the "roomba" run during the day while I am at work. It will be so nice to come home to a cleaner house than when I left it.
 

kathley

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I have two young children, so the biggest benefit I’ve noticed, is they don’t want their toys “eaten” by roomba. So they actually do a really good job picking up the floor before we run it.
Otherwise, I agree with @missy. The noise & random pattern drive me a little crazy. It works best for me if I turn it on before going on an errand. It did tend to get stuck under the dishwasher. So I just put a chair in front of it now. It can fit in between the legs, but not under the dishwasher with the chair in the way. It does do a good job & saves me a little time.
My husband picked up a second one, but instead of using it in our lower level, we may give it to his parents for Christmas.

If it gets stuck and I am not home to free it, does the battery just run down, I guess? Or do the little brushes keep spinning in one spot until it is free or the battery is empty?
 

jbake

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If it gets stuck and I am not home to free it, does the battery just run down, I guess? Or do the little brushes keep spinning in one spot until it is free or the battery is empty?

Ours will send me an alert on my phone that roomba is stuck. If I’m not home to move it, roomba will cancel the job. I can start it again when I get home, so the battery doesn’t seem to run down all the way.
 

msop04

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Same here.

For those who haven't seen this:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/15/roomba-robot-vacuum-poopocalypse-facebook-post

Jesse Newton found out the hard way what happens when a robotic vacuum cleaner encounters a dog turd, and it isn’t pretty.

Newton’s Roomba is scheduled to clean the living room of his home in Little Rock, Arkansas, at 1.30am each day, so that the family wakes up to a clean space. That all changed this month when his puppy Evie had an accident on the rug during the night, leading to what he described as the “poopocalypse”.

As Newton explains in a graphic Facebook post, the Roomba ran over the dog feces and then continued its cleaning cycle around the house, spreading the mess over “every conceivable surface” and resulting in “a home that closely resembles a Jackson Pollock poop painting”.

“It will be on your floorboards. It will be on your furniture legs. It will be on your carpets. It will be on your rugs. It will be in your kids’ toy boxes. If it’s near the floor, it will have poop on it. Those awesome wheels, which have a checkered surface for better traction, left 25ft poop trails all over the house,” he said.

Newton was helpful enough to draw a diagram.

poopacalypse.jpg

I am currently in the pharmacy... All the patients in the lobby think I'm having some sort of fit, because I'm laughing so hard right now!!! LOLOLOLOLOL :lol::lol::lol::lol:

Both NP's and our office manager have asked me what's so funny... so I showed them. Now they're laughing and can't seem to be professional. After the day I've had, I totally needed the laugh - THANKS FOR POSTING!!! #thediagram :lol::lol:
 

msop04

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We have a Roomba... at first, we used it all the time and liked it. However, after 3 years, I've found that it's quicker for me to just vacuum -- and I do a much better job. I guess if you have a lot of wide open spaces and hard wood floors and such, then yeah, maybe... And though not nearly as funny as @JPie's story, we had an incident with our cats. I thought we were totally safe bc our cats use a litter box and all. Nope. We left for a weekend trip last year with our Roomba on auto for 3:00 PM, which was cool because we didn't have to worry about it waking our toddler... she wouldn't be there, so we'd have two reasons the house would be cleaner than when we left it! ;-) Well... evidently one (or both) of our kitties were super upset that we'd left them for more than a day, bc our Roomba had tracked their vom all over our floor. Thankfully, it wasn't that bad to clean up.
 
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LaylaR

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I keep fantasizing about getting one. And our vacuum broke last week and I was so close to buying the one from Costco... but then I encountered vomit, hairballs, litter pellets, and the occasional poop scoot that got stuck on Floofy's fur (we tried to give him a dignified name, he only answers to Floofy) and I acceded to the reality that it wasn't going to happen.

Costco had a Dyson Animal on sale so I got that instead. I figure if it doesn't work out I can always return it.
 

kathley

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I am currently in the pharmacy... All the patients in the lobby think I'm having some sort of fit, because I'm laughing so hard right now!!! LOLOLOLOLOL :lol::lol::lol::lol:

Both NP's and our office manager have asked me what's so funny... so I showed them. Now they're laughing and can't seem to be professional. After the day I've had, I totally needed the laugh - THANKS FOR POSTING!!! #thediagram :lol::lol:

The office is pretty quiet where I work until I starting laughing reading this. Then everyone came over to see what was so funny, and then they were laughing too. That was the end of the quiet office for the afternoon!:D
 

missy

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I keep fantasizing about getting one. And our vacuum broke last week and I was so close to buying the one from Costco... but then I encountered vomit, hairballs, litter pellets, and the occasional poop scoot that got stuck on Floofy's fur (we tried to give him a dignified name, he only answers to Floofy) and I acceded to the reality that it wasn't going to happen.

Costco had a Dyson Animal on sale so I got that instead. I figure if it doesn't work out I can always return it.

We love our Dyson Animal vacuums. We have the cordless and the corded vacuums. We love them so much we have both of them in both homes plus an extra cordless upstairs for the second floor. They are great vacuums IMO.


And Costco takes anything back so you cannot lose. One of our cordless vacuums stopped working right after a few years and Costco took it back and replaced it with the newer model. At no cost to us. You cannot beat that customer service IMO.
 

kathley

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We love our Dyson Animal vacuums. We have the cordless and the corded vacuums. We love them so much we have both of them in both homes plus an extra cordless upstairs for the second floor. They are great vacuums IMO.


And Costco takes anything back so you cannot lose. One of our cordless vacuums stopped working right after a few years and Costco took it back and replaced it with the newer model. At no cost to us. You cannot beat that customer service IMO.

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?
 
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