Do I want a robot vacuum?

[GatherlyGal]

Am being driven mad by Labrador hair and considering options. Are robot vacs any good? Does it really just do it on its own? We have a mix of wood, tile and carpet and even the vacuum smells of dog so I need something.

Does it go from room to room? Any opinions very welcome.

Bump as I’d like to know too

Ha ha I have posted on loads of different threads about mine .
It's a Eufy11s ( their most basic model) and I love it.
I have had it 4 ish years and untill a few weeks ago it was still preforming great , one of the moters in the arms is a bit iffy so I got in touch with EUFY , their customer service is fantastic, they ran through a few possible problems and got me to send a video, the diagnosis was a warn out moter so I bought a new one under £20 .

It copes with carpet , laminate, tiles , lino, small ridges and bumps . The only thing it gets stuck on is my fake fur rug.

You need to be vigilant with laces , headphones, wires , and the likes .

Ps mine can not be programed to do certain areas like the fancy / expensive ones but I think it's a good starting point as some can cost a fortune

Yes. I have two and wouldn’t be without them now. My floors are all tiled so can’t comment on carpets

It’s a nah! from me. I borrowed mil’s roomba to try out and it was impressive but I was cheap and bought a basic eufy instead. We call it Goofy.

I’d like a really good one, that self emptied but I’d need a personality change to pay for it so I’m stuck with Goofy drunkenly staggering about, getting stuck on the door threshold, and lost on the way back.

We have a golden retriever and a robot vacuum. I run it about every two days (4 bed flat, wooden floor with some rugs). It's very helpful, but it doesn't clean perfectly - still have to use a proper vacuum about once a week for rugs (especially when the Ddog is shedding) and corners etc.

Very helpful thanks all.

Am quite tempted. It doesn't have to do a perfect job just keep on top of the dog hair every couple of days. Do you have to plug the base in each room separately or does it just know what to do?

We have one, 3 cats and 2 kids, mostly laminate floors with 1 carpet, its fab at keeping on top of the worst of it, ours is programable with an app, it was £20ish and I love it. Its a mopping one too, that's a bit rubbish tbh, essentially a wipe over with a damp cloth, but I'd never mop as often as we get the deebot to do it, so its still cleaner than not mopping at all.

My robot hoover is a marvel.
It doesn’t do everything, it can eat things it shouldn’t but it does work.
I can set it going and do something else and it will have made a difference to how clean the house is. It does not argue, roll it’s eyes or say “but I was just about to start revising” like other potential helpers in this house. He is a happy to help robot who I am very keen on 🤣

Yes you do. Mine is on a timer and comes out every day. I love him.

Yes, you do want one.

Can you afford one?

Are there any that can do uneven surfaces? I've got flagstones and floorboards which have edges and small ups and downs between rooms (old farmhouse). With dogs and kids and mud being an endless source of chaos, I'd love one - but I think I need a 4x4 one made by Landrover!

I absolutely love mine. It c.an absolutely cope with some.uneven floors and small ridges. We have a dog and a cat who shed and constantly bring dirt in and it works wonders. You still need to run the proper vacuum round now and again especially in the corners and edges if any rooms with carpets but it's totally worth it.

We had to get a new one recently and upgraded to a stronger suction with the eufy (never pay full price - there are always deals and on amazon at prime or other sales times it can be ad much as 40%). The stronger suction had been even more worth it and I recommend it. Also it seems to have a better battery life which can be helpful. If I am home I do room by room but ifni am going out I leave it on and it just goes into all the rooms. But does seem to take longer, and my old one wouldn't have had enough power to get it all done.

But there is still very much a difference I think between the main brands - roomba ans Eufy - and the cheaper models. Although the cheaper ones are catching up. A friend has a cheaper one and it works well but is much noisier than mine, for example.

Ours is also called Goofy!

I asked this a few months ago. Unfortunately I let DH sort it. We ended up with a Lefant, which does the job but is not brilliant. The app is maddening - I can’t actually use it. I’d personally get a better one or not at all.

Yes! I have a eufy 30C which I got on offer from Amazon a few years ago. So long as you keep on top of emptying the bin, clearing the brush and doing the filters I think it works really well. I had a very fluffy dog who moulted a lot and it coped well with getting the hair up on both hard and carpeted floors.

You still need to go around every once in a while to do the edges and skirtings but all in all a very good purchase!

The Roomba is great and we are happy with the basic model. I would definitely get a cleaning accessory -- from Amazon or ebay - which has a blade in to cut through hair on the roller. I am guilty of having long hair, no pets! DH cleans the brush whenever he empties the dirt container.

We have an old roomba (6 years? Maybe 7). He copes admirably with labrador fur as long as you clean out the brushes every now and then. Ours isn't programmable so you have to move him from room to room, but it still means hoovering the whole house takes 1 minute every 30 minutes, while I'm doing other stuff. He can cope with small ridges and changes in texture, he will get swirled up on a rug with long fake fur though. He's almost the best thing in my house (dog is best).

Right I'm going to do it.

@Furbfurbfurb I can afford one yes DH is the stumbling block he thinks its a gimmick. He does insufficient vacuuming to warrant a right of veto so I'm off to research which to get.

Thanks all

Let us know which one you get and what uou think of it as I am thinking of getting a second one yo do up stairs .

I wish the would invent one that can vac stairs too .

We had this EXACT situation. Dh kept going on and on about how he didn't think it would work and how he doesn't mind doing the vacuuming.... except he never bloody did the vacuuming. It all came to a head during Covid when he spent 4 hours doing the vacuuming.... clearly expected me to be pathetically grateful and not only was I completely bewildered about what took 4 hours, the actual argument exploded when I pointed out that in his 4 hours of vacuuming, he hadn't done a very good job.

We got a robot.

DH has shamefacedly apologised profusely and has, in fact, stopped commenting on decisions like this that I make except, occasionally, to say to the DC, "well, mum is always right on this stuff I've learnt so...."

Also, side note, I STILL do the bulk of the actual robot vacuuming. We also have a cleaner who uses a big vacuum fortnightly and gets the room corners/ceilings etc.

Funny @MsMarch. 4 hours?

I love how a job is easy until they have to actually do it.

Haha @MsMsMarch did lol at that ! We like ours OP and we have a black labrador so feel you pain.

@MsMarch 4 hrs ! Either he moved every bit of furniture in your 6 bedroom 4 story home or he vac'd using the crevice tool and put neat stripes in all the carpets 🤣

And yet, in fact, he did neither. And the one bit I had asked him to do were absolutely COVERED in cobwebs as it hadn't been done in ages and somehow in 4 hours of vacuuming he didn't get to it.

I was SOOOOO angry. And he was SOOOO resentful.

Covid. It was a shit time and put a lot of strain on relationships! Things are MUCH better now and I think that argument was a massive catalyst for change. For both of us. plus we got the robot!