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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

Robo vacuums

18 replies

mumofthree20 · 18/10/2016 11:08

Does anyone have one of those little robot vacuums that go around on their own?

Hoovering is a bit difficult for me sometimes and with 3 kids a cat and a dog I was wondering if one of the little robot vacuums would be worth the money? I've found them starting from £60 but it's still quite a bit of money to throw away if they're not that great.

OP posts:

kimlo · 18/10/2016 11:11

My grandmas got one and loves it. I would like one but the cats would think it was something I had got for their entertainment and it wouldn't last long.

GrendelsAunty · 18/10/2016 11:17

I have one, it's good on the wooden floor but struggles with thick carpet.

IamSwitzerland · 18/10/2016 11:47

Watching with interest. Names and prices please...

ppeatfruit · 18/10/2016 13:00

We have a roomba, it's sitting unloved under our hall table. We have a lot of rugs with fringing and it bloody EATS it . (dh was blaming my hair while he was cleaning the roller under it fgs ) .

The special things that are included to stop it going where it's not wanted are not enough! We haven't programmed it correctly and it was starting up at 3am making it's little jolly noise and going off wherever it wanted to.

To stop that I have turned it upside down like a stranded tortoise!!!!

ppeatfruit · 18/10/2016 13:03

I'm getting fed up with bloody hoovers tbh. I prefer spraying the dust with sweet smelling lavender ess. oil and water and sweeping up now!! To be fair we do have a very dusty stone house.

PhoenixJasmine · 18/10/2016 14:04

I absolutely love mine, it's a Roomba, don't know which model, a 500something I think. It has without exaggeration changed my life. It does my downstairs every morning whilst I'm at work, and then I set it upstairs a few times a week as well. With a dog and 2 cats, almost everywhere carpeted and working full time it makes a huge difference to how clean my home feels, and as a knock on effect how happy I feel when I get up in the morning or come in from work. I do a weekly top-up with the normal vacuum to do corners, stairs etc. You do have to make sure the floors are clear of wires etc and clear the rollers of hair afterwards as well (I have waist-length hair, it's my hair that's the problem not the animals!)

It's an investment but so so worth it for me at least, when floors are freshly done every day, everything feels cleaner.

RatHammock · 18/10/2016 14:14

I rather fancied one until I read this.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/15/roomba-robot-vacuum-poopocalypse-facebook-post%3f0p19G=e?client=safari

My dog has never had an accident in the house but there's always a first time.

Spanielcrackers · 18/10/2016 14:25

I have a neato botvac. It was great for the first four weeks. It now constantly bleats about it's dirt bin being open, or it can't see, or it's in a constant loop of "Thank you for cleaning my dust box" when I haven't.
I have to take it apart almost every time I use it and spray the sensors with a can of air duster. It is stupidly sensitive to dust for a sodding vacuum cleaner.
There is no local customer support. You phone a number in the UK and get connected to someone in the USA.
Buy a Roomba.

ppeatfruit · 18/10/2016 14:36

The roomba also gets full VERY quickly Spaniel It sounds very similar to yours. The roller brushes get worn out fast too.

We've got a handheld dyson which gets my goat too, ( Dh falls for the advertising ) it fills up before it's done less than half of our sitting room. Then won't go. Thank goodness he cleans it out.

urbanas · 18/10/2016 17:31

I've got a Vileda robot cleaner and it's quiet good on the kitchen floor but it struggles a fair bit on the thicker carpets.

FireflyGirl · 20/10/2016 10:54

Vileda relax, with a toddler and 2 cats, and I'm still shedding hair from being pregnant.

We have laminate in the through lounge/diner and (f)utility room, and (not thick) carpet in the hall and bedrooms. I have to do corners and it will sometimes miss random bits, but it mostly does a good job and it's definitely been worth the money. I love being able to turn it on when I go out and come home to a vaccuumed house.

ChishandFips33 · 23/10/2016 21:20

Roomba, with pets - I just set it away manually after making sure there's nothing it can trod through and spread everywhere!

SpookyMooky · 23/10/2016 22:03

Cats are fine with it, but we have too much furniture that's just the wrong height (coffee table, sideboard) or has too many legs (table and 6 chairs) so it can get under but gets stuck. Also it leaves quite a lot of stuff behind - if you vacuum a carpet after the roomba's been round you'll pick up a fair amount. I think this is because it's essentially a sweeper rather than a vacuum cleaner. So ours is not well used. And obviously it can't do stairs.

It is awesome, however, at picking up bigger bits and hair, and ours is an older model so the newer ones may have improved. It also makes DH and the kids very happy and more likely to vacuum, which is a huge positive!

ArieltheMermaid1720 · 23/10/2016 22:11

I've a roomba 630 and I love it. It's one of the best things I have ever bought for the house. I love that it can be happily whirring away while I get on with something else eating biscuits and drinking tea. I'm actually saving for another so I can have one upstairs and one downstairs. I really hate hoovering. I'd love one of the ones that mops the floor too.

ArieltheMermaid1720 · 23/10/2016 22:12

Oh and mines programmable so it hoovers daily when I'm out at work.

BertieBotts · 23/10/2016 22:13

We have a cheap one. It's fine but the battery doesn't last for that long and it doesn't have any fancy features like being able to set virtual "walls", or charging itself.

DH loves it. I like it but it is noisy and letting it run takes much longer than just vacuuming yourself. But it's OK if you run it in another room or when you're going out. And we use it much more often than we ever actually vacuum.

minijoeyjojo · 23/10/2016 22:22

We have the neato botvac and I'm not awestruck by it. It's ok. It doesn't do a fantastic job of cleaning, although granted we are having building works done so it's more dirty than most houses. The main issues I have are: 1) I can't find a good time to run it as I'm a sham so it's not like I'm out for work. If we run it at night the dog barks and wakes me up and I can't deal with that. 2) the house has to be bloody tidy, I have a 1 yr old DD and I can't see how it'all cope with all her toys.

Currently it's sitting unused - I much prefer my dyson v8 cordless. Ok I have to hoover, but it takes no time at all and I don't have to put every bloody thing away first so it's probably actually less time consuming.

shovetheholly · 24/10/2016 12:35

I am a big fan, and I've had three to date. My current one is by far and away the best I have experienced - it's the Neato Botvac connect and it cleans brilliantly. It's not far off my Miele Cat and Dog in performance. Previous models I've owned have been OK but not as good.

You do still need to hoover (especially for the very edges of carpet) but only once a week or so. The rest of the time, I just use the botvac.

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