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Roomba/robot vacuum cleaner questions

41 replies

TheBitterBoy · 30/09/2017 11:02

I hate hoovering with a passion. DH used to do it all when we both worked full time. Now I do most of it as I work part time, but not very often as I hate it! I am sure our house would be cleaner if I had a Roomba or similar. Does anyone have the Roomba that goes back to charge itself then carries on? Does it work okay? How do you work with upstairs/downstairs? Can you move it about day to day?
Also the eufy ones seem quite well reviewed and a bit cheaper, can anyone share their experiences?
Want to gather some evidence to convince myself and DH that it's a worthwhile purchase for us!

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TheBitterBoy · 30/09/2017 20:55

Anyone? Thanks in advance!

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moreismore · 30/09/2017 20:57

Bumping for you as I'm intrigued. I have friends who live abroad in open plan houses who have them but don't know anyone in uk with one...

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hibernatinghorris · 30/09/2017 21:04

I was thinking of asking for one for Christmas. I saw them on the other thread about loved household items.
I was going to ask how they cope with lego and the general shitty plastic toys that get left on the floor.

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SavoyCabbage · 30/09/2017 21:15

I absolutely love mine. My dh got it as he is in charge of hoovering and I thought it was a ridiculous idea but I'm completely converted.

It does all of the rooms that it can get to then goes back to the dock. Sometimes we don't bother moving the dock and we just move the room a then carry it back to,the floor where the dock it. I also trap it in the kitchen and then let it out again to dock itself.

It would probably Hoover up lego but having the room a has made my dc much more vigilant with their tidying.

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SavoyCabbage · 30/09/2017 21:17
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KatharinaRosalie · 30/09/2017 21:23

Yes, it goes back to charge. Love mine - we have 2 hairy dogs and otherwise had to hoover daily. We only use it downstairs but I see no reason why you can't take it up - it unfortunately won't climb stairs itself.

It would probably hoover up smaller lego pieces and other similarly sized items - not duplo size though, that would be pushed around.

Get one of the newer ones that actually hoover (i.e suck) not just brush.

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MujosMama · 30/09/2017 21:33

I used to have one of the square LG Hom-Bots (this was about 3 years ago mind when I was with ex-P who substituted gifts for affection but then only ever bought me gadgets that really he wanted. Tech might have moved on!).

I found that the suction was not very powerful at all, it did an OK job on hard floors but not good at all on carpet. Think DustBuster.

The little tanks to store the dust in are necessarily quite small because the robots themselves are quite small. So they need emptying frequently.

You have to manually lift them up stairs - they'll stop themselves from falling down one though which is quite clever.

They seem to get stuck on quite mundane items - mine would regularly apparently manoeuvre itself under a bar stool and be unable to get out. Or it would be able to get into a rug but the pile meant it couldn't get itself back off. Trailing wires are also a massive no no as they get caught up in the little rolling brush.

They are supposed to return to their charging base automatically but mine never could. It just seemed to either start to make its way back too late and run out of juice halfway or go in completely the wrong direction and end up stranded. I'd have to play hunt the Hoover when I got home and carry it back to its base, poor sausage

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user1488794856 · 30/09/2017 21:37

We have a eufy and I'm obsessed with it,does SUCH a good job...well worth the price tag

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jelliedeel · 30/09/2017 21:42

I have to go round after mine with a brush or the proper vacuum cleaner. It has as much cleaning or suction power as me wafting a newspaper. I wanted to return it as soon as I got it but OH thinks it's great for some reason. I have hard floors band have done many experiments with flour, salt, breadcrumbs etc. and each one has been more than disappointing.

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hibernatinghorris · 30/09/2017 21:47

Wires are another worry for me as we seem to have them everywhere!

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BobTheGoldfish · 30/09/2017 21:50

We have a basic Neato robot vacuum which is great. Cleans a single floor well as long as you remove obstructions and hazards. Will recharge itself if needed. Dust bin big enough for us.
We tend to use it downstairs 1-2 times a week and upstairs once a fortnight. No pets and no shoes which helps though.
Use a handheld vacuum (dyson) for the stairs and awkward spaces.

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TheBitterBoy · 30/09/2017 22:21

Ooh lots of replies, thanks everyone, very useful. User which Eufy do you have?

I'm working on the principal that a daily or every other daily robot Hoover will still be an improvement on at best fortnightly half hearted vacuuming on my part.

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SoPassRemarkable · 30/09/2017 22:30

I'm thinking of getting one but am worried about the rugs! Am thinking of increasing my working hours though and if I do I think I will have to get a roomba and ditch the rugs if I have to.

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hedwig2001 · 30/09/2017 22:56

I bought the iRobot 605 due to this thread.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3014706-Robotic-Vacuum-Cleaners
I love it, it has vastly improved my life!

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outnumbered77 · 02/10/2017 13:00

I've just ordered that one too hedwig. I'm hopeful for it to improve my life too!

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Happyvalley25 · 02/10/2017 13:08

I have a chronic health condition and bought a cheapie vielda (sp) one. It's very good as an in between clean but not as a full clean. It's been pretty life changing for me though. Also the kids are v happy to put that on but not so good sweeping

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another20 · 02/10/2017 20:03

I am interested in one -- but just seen the vast diff in price for the same brand from £800 (iRobot 960) down to £219 (might be another £20 off on a promotion).....£600 difference - is that justified?

ao.com/l/robotic_vacuum_cleaners/1/127-57-90/

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jemimafuddleduck · 02/10/2017 20:12

Are they any good on carpets?

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hedwig2001 · 03/10/2017 07:12

another I bought the iRobot 605 from appliances direct for around £200. It is a simple model, so no programming or remote starting.
You just press the button and off it goes. It works brilliantly.
Jemima It works very well on carpets.

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another20 · 03/10/2017 09:35

thanks hegdig does that one have suction? Read somewhere than some are just brushes and not suction.....

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lampert · 03/10/2017 09:50

I bought my eufy after seeing a thread on here. He's wonderful! He sometimes struggles to find his way home if he's in a different room from his dock but that's partly because we didn't have an open space wide enough for his dock near a plug. It's no buggy, if he can't find his way home I just pop him back. I love him and am amazed by how much he picks up.

One word if warning, you can't set him while you're out if you have a burglar alarm (unless you have pet sensors).

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PETRONELLAS · 03/10/2017 09:56

Love my Roomba. I didn’t even want one but it’s so good. I leave it on when I drop the dc at school, trap it in a room etc.
Mine has a spot function where it cleans a diameter of about a metre in a particular area. It does collect Lego but you can pick it out from the tank.
My main issue is that it’s not intelligent in that it doesn’t map the room which means it may go over one area ten times but completely avoid another. If it broke I’d definitely replace.

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CrabappleCake · 03/10/2017 10:06

We've got one - about 4 years old now and a basic model.

Pros - setting it cleaning every other day is better than my reluctant fortnightly hoover.
It copes with cat hair.
Fine with rugs.
Leave it to get on with it after picking up stuff that it'll swallow (phone chargers, cat toys etc).

Cons - you have to clean it out fairly regularly, especially if you have long hair - that gets wrapped around the brushes.
it doesn't do stairs.

But basically it's good - not life changing. And you still need a proper hoover.

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lovesmycake · 03/10/2017 10:27

We have a Roomba affectionately called Englebert Hooverdink. Alas he is utterly utterly stupid and having it is akin to having an elderly house pet. We regularly have to rescue him from the edge of a rug or from under a cupboard and some days when he is just mindlessly humming round and round in irritatingly small circles I push his little home button and let him go and sleep it off.

Occasionally he does a good job of cleaning the hallway and so we have decided to keep him, that and we once tried to give him away and he was returned politely a week later it seems that loveable though his idiocy is to us, to others he is just a shit hoover....

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another20 · 03/10/2017 15:11

Just ordered the 605 - paid extra for it to be delivered tomorrow - cant wait..........

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