roomba

I think there are a few Roomba owners on here. Are you still happy with your roombas? I've been thinking about getting one so I can schedule nightly cleanings, but I'm worried about it not holding up well.

[medpedspouse]

Re: roomba

We have the 560. I think it is great on floor but horrible on carpet. I just do not think it has enough power to suck up the grime the dogs bring in. It has held up even after our dog put his giant paw on it to stop it. I might be more enamored with it once we remove the carpet and switch to all hardwood floors.

Re: roomba

Ours gets caught on the tassles of our rugs constantly and gives up. So then we have to go rescue it and get it to start again. Unfortunately, this requires us to watch it and check in on it, which is completely the opposite of the convenience it's supposed to provide. So if you have tassle-less rugs, it's fine for quick cleaning. But overall, I'm not super impressed. DH likes to run it to claim he's contributing to the household cleaning, but I think he just likes it because it's yet another toy. We've had it for a little over a year now, and I still drag out our regular vacuum 9/10 times to clean.

Re: roomba

A friend has one and loves it. BUT they don't have dogs and have one toddler who is not as messy as my kids ( :huh: ). He showed me the cannister that collects the stuff and the size of it was enough to convince me that it wouldn't work for us. They use it on a lower pile carpet and laminate floors but no area rugs.

[Sheherezade]

Re: roomba

We have the Roomba and the Scooba. The Roomba recently broke after about 18 mos. in service. We've been happy with its performance. We only have hardwoods and few area rugs. We take up the area rugs when we run it. (They are small scatter things.) We do have a dog and three cats, plus the kids. We mostly use it for pet hair maintenence. You have to empty the tray for debris several times during the run, so it isn't totally independent. You need to be around to manage it. The Scooba has been amazing for the bathroom and kitchen floors. SO far no problems there, but you do need to manage it as well. It needs the water tank emptied and refreshed a few times per run.

[medpedspouse]

Re: roomba

One cool thing about the roomba is that it gets under the computer desk - which is an area where I would have to move the desk in order to do the same job. I think that area only got cleaned 3-4 times a year because the desk is heavy.

Re: roomba

I'm interested to hear more about the Scooba. I know several people that have and love the roomba, but have heard mixed reviews about the scooba. My first floor is about 1/2 hard wood / 1/2 carpet w/o wall dilineation, so I'm worried my carpeting would get scooba'd.

When I was investigating the roomba I was convinced by the salesperson that it works best for families w/low pile carpet, and low-shedding animals.

[medpedspouse]

Re: roomba

I'm interested to hear more about the Scooba. I know several people that have and love the roomba, but have heard mixed reviews about the scooba. My first floor is about 1/2 hard wood / 1/2 carpet w/o wall dilineation, so I'm worried my carpeting would get scooba'd.

The Roomba I have comes with these little gizmos that create "virtual walls" and they are great. My floor right now is half tile and half carpet and I mostly use the Roomba on the tile. I am thinking the scooba should have the virtual walls too. see below.

http://store.irobot.com/product/index.j ... 45.2174938

When I was investigating the roomba I was convinced by the salesperson that it works best for families w/low pile carpet, and low-shedding animals.

well, now I know why the Roomba does not work for me. I've got shaggy dogs and carpet.

[Sheherezade]

Re: roomba

We have no carpet, but plenty of dog and cat fur. Roomba did OK with the fur - particularly with the pet hair attachment kit we bought. It's a bigger brush head and a cleaning set. I think the fur gets clogged up in the brush and stops it up. We clean our brush head after every run. As I've said, we do have to empty the cartridge two or three times a run. I think of Roomba as a kid vaccuuming nearby - he needs assistance to do a good job, but he can vaccuum while I'm doing dishes and laundry. It also helps to limit the amount of space assigned to each "run" by closing doors, using virtual walls or putting up blockades. In a limited area (say two rooms) he makes more passes and does a better job than if he's doing the whole first floor.

Scooba has been great for us so far, but he needs guidance as well. I'm so lazy that I would prefer the multitasking robot helper over mopping or vaccuuming myself - but it is a personal choice. Scooba does a great job on my OLD wood kitchen floor and our two tiled floors (bathroom and family room). I'm not sure I'd use him on the wood once we've re-done and sealed them. Then, I think he'd be a tile only guy. BTW, I use Mrs. Meyer's cleaner in the Scooba with no difficulties. Scooba comes with all kinds of warnings about using other cleaning solutions besides Scooba brand or white vinegar - but I tried the Mrs. Meyers and it works fine. Smells great, too.

Re: roomba

Thank you, everyone! I think I'll go ahead and buy a Roomba from Costco so that I won't have a problem returning it if it doesn't do the job.

I plan to mostly use it on our wood floors....white dog + dark floors = pain in the a$$. Our dog has super short hair, but it really shows up on the hardwoods so they need to be vacuumed daily. I can hardly keep up with the vacuuming now and I know things will only go downhill once baby #2 arrives.

Re: roomba

I'm in love.

I was at Costco the other day and couldn't resist picking up a Roomba. It works great on the hardwoods and doesn't get caught up in the fringe on our rugs. It does a good job on the carpets, too. I'm sure the suction isn't powerful enough to do a deep clean, but it does pick up everything on the surface so the carpets at least look clean in case we have unexpected visitors.

I had the Roomba run while we went to the park this morning and it was so nice to come home to a clean kitchen floor.

Re: roomba

It works great on the hardwoods and doesn't get caught up in the fringe on our rugs.

I wonder if they've improved the model? I get sooo annoyed that our Roomba gets caught so often on the edge of the rug and the fringe.

On a side note, I tried out my brother's Dyson over the holidays. I loved it and seriously fell in love. When we move in a few months, that will be a top priority for me!

[Meenah]

Re: roomba

I want one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Two dogs, two cats, all hardwood floors. Does it go from room to room if on the same level, as in hardwood family room to kitchen vinyl?