How Useful Is Your Robot Vacuum Cleaner?

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

Do you like it and use it often? Is it effective on wood floors? Tile floors? Does it wet wash some floors?

And does it go under your dining table and around the chairs?

I am thinking of getting one and would love input from real users! THANKS!

AnnieBelle · ‎05-12-2017

I really like the robot vacuum for wood/laminate/hard surface floors. It picks up all the dog hair and the under-furniture dust bunnies. It will pick up surface lint and such from flat pile carpet, but I still use my upright for a better clean on rugs. I recently got the Bissell Spinwave, which also washes the floor. I'm happy with the job it does. I'm sure it's not as spotless as if you got down on your hands and knees to scrub the floor, but it's just fine for my requirements.

tucsongal · ‎03-10-2010

We got our Roomba from QVC about a year ago. I absolutely love it, although it is noisier than I anticipated. Our entire house is vinyl plank flooring with some rugs(a couple have to be moved because the Roomba catches on them but most are fine). I move our dining room chairs out so Roomba can get to the pedestal area. It goes under the sofa, beds.

I watched it closely at first because there are a few areas where it could get stuck, ie on the backs of our recliner bases. I just placed weights there to block it.

I run it once a week and it’s amazing how much dust is picked up. We don’t have any pets but there’s a lot of dust in the desert 🌵. Our house is small and I do half, let it recharge and then do the other half. Sorry, that may be more than you wanted to know lol.

patbz · ‎03-10-2010

We've had our Roomba for 3 years. Our son gave it to us as a gift (I'd never have bought one) and we love it! We have bamboo floors and two long hair doxies; we run it as needed ( sometimes daily ).

Ainhisg · ‎03-09-2010

Useful? Don't even get me started on how much I love, love, love, love, LOVE my robot vacuum!!! I have a Roborock E4 available on Amazon. Huge dust bin, huge battery, great CS, parts available on Amazon. The E4 vacuums in a back and forth motion--not in a ping-pong ball fashion like some lesser vacuums. There's no radar on it, so it is less expensive yet uses an electronic eye to know where it has been. One charge will vacuum our 1700 sq. foot house--lots of carpet and tile. It has an amazing brush where long hair hardly gets caught in it. I don't know how it does it, but the bin will be full of hair (mine and our two dogs) but hardly any will be wrapped around the brush. Roborock also makes vacuums with lidar if you want to go a bit more expensive. There's an active FB community to help with any issues, too. Check out the reviews on YouTube by Vacuum Wars of the E4 or any other Roborock products. I got mine at a promotional price when it first came out, but if it died tomorrow, I would be ordering another E4 at full price if I had to. I can't go without it! The lowest I have ever seen it priced is $180.

It does not map nor let you block off rooms. I do have some areas to which I don't want it to go and some things I don't want it trying to go under, so I take about 10 minutes before I run it to "pre-clean." I put barriers where I need them, make sure cords are put up, make sure the pups haven't dripped water from their water dish, etc. Then I turn it loose, and away it goes! It takes 90 to 110 minutes to clean our 1700 sq. ft. house. I use it three times a week.

ETA: My model does have a mopping system available, but I don't think it would work very well. It is my understanding that robot combination systems just basically drag a wet microfiber cloth around. Check out Vacuum Wars on YouTube for his review on mopping vacuums.

ScrapHappy · ‎03-28-2010

I really like mine. I have a Shark. I have a very large 3 story home with carpet and tile on top floor where bedrooms are, all hardwood on middle floor, and carpet and tile in finished basement. We liked it so much, we have 1 Shark for each floor.

eadu4 · ‎06-14-2011

I purchased one for my daughter and she LOVES it. Says it works great! I still have my Kirby I'm waiting until we upgrade the flooring in the spring (take out the carpets) and then I will probably invest in one.

Lucky Charm · ‎03-09-2010

Every day use.

Two cats.

Every day use (worth repeating).

It does go under dining room tables and chairs. I start mine in a particular corner in the dining area, let it clean that corner and then move one of the end chairs to that area. I do pull out the other dining chairs from the table, but you don't have to.

I love that it goes under beds and occassional chairs that you'd have to move otherwise to vacuum.

My homes are nothing but hardwood and tile in the baths. No carpets except bathmats. Normally I pick up bathmats to wash daily, but roomba will go over them and they are thick.

I don't use Wifi for mine or the *hidden walls* or whatever they are. I use a long piece of driftwood to partition off rooms, so it concentrates on a room as long as I want it to.

Otherwise it will go from dining room to living room, to kitchen and back to dining room. Whatever it wants to do. But....! I want it to run for about a half hour in each room. My homes are small and mine can do the entire downstairs in 3 hours.

I have 4 Roombas. They don't wash floors---I do.

FastDogWalker2 · ‎03-10-2010

Very useful! I have a Roomba. I use it in the bedrooms in our home. After I dust and change the sheets, I close the door and let it go. It does a great job and saves me lots of time. I don't use it in the "open concept" part of our home that has wood floors - too many opportunities to get stuck. Because I have two constantly shedding dogs, I vacuum the wood floors usually 2 x a day with my Shark. It goes under dressers, beds and night stands so I think it would go under dining tables, etc. HTH