Do those robot vacuums actually work?

[DurhamDurham]

We're looking for ways to cut down the time we spend on housework, we both work full time and half the week we have our baby granddaughter staying with us.
Does anyone have a robotic vacuum and do they actually work? I'd love to come home from work and have the whole downstairs hoovered but it sounds too good to be true.
We wouldn't want to spend a fortune, probably less than £200 if that's possible so which ones come recommended?
I'm really hoping some of you have good things to say as I think they're worth looking into and could save us time but my husband thinks they're more hassle than they're worth.

Thanks!

I've seen good reports of them over on the Housekeeping board. I am tempted ...

They're brill. I couldn't be without mine. You will need to top up occasionally with the hoover for corners and stuff.

My mum has a robot mop and it’s incredible. Vacuums are typically a lot more expensive though and I’m not sure how good they are in the price range you’re talking about.

They have other uses too:
www.facebook.com/kineducom/videos/349807409101775/

I love ours, it's really good and we have solid flooring throughout the downstairs. The amount of cat hair and dust it picks up is incredible. Ours is a Eufy Robovac 11.

Yes! We have an Eufy Robovac too. It's great - just set it to do a room, come back later and it's done. It obviously won't be as thorough as if you do it yourself or if the floor is very dirty but it does a great job of cleaning everyday floor dirt build up.

I have a eufy too. DP hates it because it seeems to roam around mindlessly and there are a couple of places it gets stuck in our main living room. But he’s not the one who does the vacuuming day to day so he has no say

It does take a long time to do a room, but the beauty of it is that I can set it to go and can get on with other stuff while it does it’s thing.

It works pretty well as I pulled out all the furniture to properly clean after we had some diy work done and there was hardly any dust underneath. I’m eyeing up a robo mop too but think dp may not stand for that 😂

@troika
Get the mop! It’s so fab. My folks have 2 dogs so the floors get dirty really quickly - the IRobot Braava does a great job and is so quiet you don’t even know it’s on!

Ah that's great, thanks so much for all the feedback. Looks like it'll worth getting one, pleased I won't have to spend a fortune on one either.
Just wondering if it's worth getting one now or waiting until the sales on Black Friday, if I can focus on that it might stop me randomly buying crap I don't need 😆

Robo mop you say......now that would save A LOT of time in this house!

Adam an unexpected bonus, I did mention we have our baby granddaughter half the week. What could possibly go wrong 😆

I want one! I am very envious. Stupid husband said we cannot afford it.

Oh, they are all well and good until The Uprising happens.

Then one day, you'll wake up and your Eufy RoboVacs will have turned the toaster against you, whipped the fridge into a state of mechanoid rage and will be operating a splinter cell of extremist radical small appliances out of the cupboard under the stairs. Then we are all as good as dead.

Don't say I didn't warn you....

Ours is OK but it tends to eat electrical cables, gets stuck under the sofa and only works well if floor is completely clear of clutter.

Big good point well made, have you seen Breaking Glass with Hazel O'Connor.....it's a realistic prospect!

As long as the kettle doesn't turn against us it's a chance I'm prepared to take

watching with interest need to replace our old one which died a death a few months ago but torn between models I like the Eufy ones and the iLife but also the Roomba (and there's a special offer on those on the mumsnet black friday thread).

Anyone have any experience with the ones that use the clever camera tracking to map the room - is that worth the extra money over the good old random patterns!

I had a vileda one, £80 off amazon, it was great till his battery failed but amazon took him back and paid return postage.

I'd run it in the morning while getting ready for work.

We have a dog and I love ours for keeping the mess down to a full roar but I still vacuum a couple of times a week. I think the trick to not being disappointed is knowing in advance they won’t remove the need to vacuum, it’s an extra not a replacement

Just be careful if you have a dog . . . www.boredpanda.com/robot-vacuum-cleaner-spreads-dog-shit-everywhere/

😱🤢

I have a vileda one, it’s not a vacuum as in it doesn’t suck any dust up, but it’s like a robotic sweeper. It was about £60. It does a pretty good job of any tiled floors, so I tend to put it on in our hall, kitchen, foyer area, leave it an hour while I do other cleaning, and then the hard floors are good to mop. I put it on about 3 times a week while I’m out and it just chugs around sweeping up. I’d say it’s great for the money, saves time, but it’s not a life changing product like some of the v expensive dyson ones. The children call him Robbie like he’s some sort of pet.

And have you seen the lawn mower ones??!! They look amazing!

We got a sub €100 one to try it out and when we liked it we upgraded to a proper iRobot one. We knew which features sounded useful by then as well.

It's true it doesn't remove the need to vacuum entirely but we have hard floors everywhere and I honestly barely ever get the proper vacuum out any more.

We used to have an iLife one (about £170), which worked well, we've recently upgraded to a roomba 671 (expensive but very worth it.) We have pets and a young child who is always on the floor. Ours comes out at 2am and does the downstairs so that by the morning everywhere is lovely and clean. I wouldn't be without one now.

Can I ask if one would work for us? I have a hard floor with rug I the sitting room

We have an Roomba and love it. Had it about 3 years now.

You do need to remember to empty it more frequently - and to clean it and change the brushes occasionally, etc. It will then keep working longer.

They do like to spend a lot of time under sofas though!

We don't have another proper vacuum cleaner. We have a short handled handheld Dyson for the stairs, the sofa and for any stubborn bits.

We use it with carpet, wooden and vinyl flooring.

We have a botvac and I love it. I hoover myself once a week, run it 2/3 times inbetween. The amount of dog hair!

You do have to get into the habit of scooting round to pick up cables and stuff but that's just a couple of seconds.