When I bought my first robot vacuum, I thought my floors would thereafter be effortlessly spotless—endlessly patrolled by a 24/7 custodian, with absolutely no work required on my part. Today, there are never less than three robot vacuum cleaners installed in my small home at any given time. And yet I am definitely not doing nothing to keep my floors clean. While I’m certainly doing less daily upkeep, I would not say my floors are spotless, nor that I have been alleviated of all floor-related housework.
Here’s what I wish I’d known about what robot vacuums can and can't do, and how much human effort they require.
Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop $1,799.98 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $1,799.98 at Amazon Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop $1,499.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $1,499.99 at Amazon 3i S10 Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop $1,399.99 at Amazon $1,899.99 Save $500.00 Shop Now Shop Now $1,399.99 at Amazon $1,899.99 Save $500.00 Saros 10 Robot Vacuum and Mop $1,599.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $1,599.99 at Amazon Saros 10R Robot Vacuum and Mop $1,618.98 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $1,618.98 at Amazon Narwal S20 Stick Mop $499.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $499.99 at Amazon SEE 3 MOREYou'll have to rearrange your furniture
The Freo Z navigating around an air purifier on the floor Credit: Amanda BlumMore important than furniture relocation is the trend of having less on the floor, generally. If you like to let a laundry pile accumulate, have potted plants or a stack of books, you’ll end up relocating those items to give your robot better access. Corded items are particularly tricky, so the less cords on the floor, the better. Over time, I’ve learned to suspend the cords from the wall, and keep them wound as much as possible so nothing trails on the floor.
I was recently quite impressed with the Roborock 10R, which relied solely on AI assisted cameras. The navigation skills of the robot were great, allowing it to venture into tight and low spaces that other robots hadn't.
Robot vacuums can't clean near their docks
the robot can't navigate around the Eureka tower, so debris accumulates around it Credit: Amanda BlumIt's an unsurprising fact that robot vacuums can only clean where they can reach. Where they can’t reach, you’ll still see dirt and debris. All robot cleaners have a dock of some sort, and many now come with self emptying towers, which usually work exceptionally well at emptying the robots of dirt so you don’t have to do it manually. Given all of this automation, it's a bit ironic that the dirtiest place in your home might well be right around the tower or dock itself. As these towers are usually tucked into a corner or small space, detritus can easily accumulate around them, but the robot can’t move around the tower to clean it up. As the robot returns to the dock, it sweeps dirt with it, and it all eventually winds up at the foot of the tower.
This Roomba can't navigate into the small space underneath this plant stand, so instead it just kicks debris into the space. Credit: Amanda BlumThis is always going to be a bit of a losing game, however, which is why I still have a stick vacuum I use to quickly suck up debris from narrow spots the robot can’t reach, the corners and edges that the robot can get close enough to, and against the wall and thresholds.
The same way you might organize before a visit from a cleaning professional, you’ll find yourself pre-sweeping for your robot. While robots are reliable at getting up dust and small detritus like rice or cereal, they’re not great at large debris, which means anything larger than a standard dice cube. Pieces of mulch, pet toy fluff, kitchen scraps, bobby pins, and pocket change will all get caught in a robot's rollers and need to be fished out. Pre-sweeping is a way to avoid that annoying task by getting up larger items of debris and leaving the rest for the bot. (But once again allow me to praise the 3i S10 Ultra, which has excelled at vacuuming up larger debris than any other robot vacuum I'd ever tested.)
Even if your robot vacuum has a mop, you'll need to mop manually
This Roborock is starting to get up the muddy pawprints, but it takes many passes Credit: Amanda BlumRobot mops are great at cleaning up surface spills. What they’re less good at is scrubbing away stains and compound floor messes like mud or spilled food. While most robots can mostly get muddy paw prints up after a number of passes, doing so requires a lot of water, battery life, and time, and I’ve yet to find a single robot mop that is good at getting grime out of tile or wood floors. The robot simply can’t put enough pressure on the mop to really scrub the floor.
If mopping is your priority, I recommend highly Roborock models that have a singular vibrating mop pad, versus twin spinning mops. The Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra remains one of my top recommendations.
Robot vacuums are slow
Though still not particularly fast in getting to the spot you pin, Roborock's Pin and Go feature allows you to quickly place a pin on your floor map and the robot will proceed immediately to that spot to clean. This feature is available on all premium Roborock models, including the latest Saros 10 and 10R.
Roborock lets you put a pin on the map for the robot to proceed to Credit: Amanda BlumFor that reason, I'm still happy to have a Narwal S20, a newer model stick mop I can quickly grab, mop as needed, and then put back on the dock, all without having to get my hands dirty.
Robot vacuums occasionally require human intervention
Depending on how good a model you own, you will likely need to routinely unclog the rollers (the most common robot vacuum maintenance task). Your robot will also get stuck—sometimes because there is a new obstacle for it to navigate around, like a waylaid toy or sock, or a loose cord under the couch the robot gets stuck on it. Sometimes, it will simply gets lost. The bottom line is, even the best robots can’t be left on their own for weeks at a time. Most will require a human around eventually to get them back to the dock, clear the rollers, unclog it any clogs in the mopping system, and/or change the water in the dock.
If all of this hasn't scared you away from getting one, your goal should be to choose a robot that matches your home and needs, and that enough features that you won't be following it around every day, making sure it does its job.
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