Hey everyone,
What are the best robot vacuums going around that actually mop (with a physical motion) and don't just push a wet piece of fabric around?
Thanks!
Robot Vacuum with ACTUAL Mopping Action, Not Just Sliding Water around
Lantigravity83 on 26/11/2022 - 11:46
Comments
Last time I checked the best mopping robot was one which does only mopping and no vacuuming.
But let me share something someone who had owned a tonne of these robots said.
Currently all robot vacuums and moppers will do a bare minimum job compared to actually doing it yourself. And with cheaper vacuum models it basically the equivalent of sweeping and letting air through your home. With mopping robots it's the equivalent of doing 1 run of the entire floor. There is no absolutely great magic product yet when it comes to cleaning robots.
Also the problem is everything else inside the robot takes up so much space the dust bin/waste bucket is always too tiny. My thoughts were technology needs to catch up so all those parts take up much less space and most of the robot makes up the dust bin/waste bucket. Together with this the docking station should be something you don't have to regularly empty. Maybe something that has a filter and empties most of the dust bin outside into the wind and only collects a small part of every vacuum. Also for a mopping robot some kind of dock that's connected to the water and sewerage system so it can clean, empty and refill itself without needing to empty another bucket.
I think most of the happy chaps with robot vacuums are pet owners. Pet hair is very easy to suck up and is also very noticeable when it's everywhere and then when it isn't after being sucked up. But what you really want to collect when vacuuming is fine dust dirt and other small debris.
Disagree with the statement. Unless you live to hand vacuum.
I might once have vacuumed once per week at best.
If you keep up that routine with a robovac then, yeah, the bin will probably get over full. But that's not really the correct utilisation of a robovac.Our robovac is scheduled to run daily. It does a great job, the bin is maybe half full and you can tell when you get home and it's gotten stuck on something cause the floors aren't clean. Even in this scenario, the bin is not full after 2 days of buildup.
Maybe a robovac doesn't do quite as good a job as a hand vacuum, but the difference is marginal, and in the real world, a fully vacuumed floor 1 of 7 days is definitely nowhere near as clean as a 90% clean floor 7 of 7 days.
My house is pet free, 2 kids though.
Well in my case I directly compared it to a Dyson barrell vacuum which is regularly on sale for around $399 or so.
Not comparing to one of those handheld V series Dyson's which seem to be so popular. The Dyson barrell vacuum has effortlessly powerful sucking power it removes hairs and dust right out of the carpets using suction alone without any motorized attachment. On hard floors it manages to completely remove all dust from edges and corners without having use any specific method.Honestly compared to that, even the most expensive of robot vacuums pale in comparison with sucking power.
I would say the amount of dust and debris the Dyson barrell manages to collect is just on another level compared to any robot vacuum. And while you say 90% clean 7 of 7 days compared to 1 of 7 days with a conventional vacuum. I think it's a bit different to that. I would compare it more to 50% clean 7 of 7 days, and with fortnightly vacuuming with the Dyson barrell I would say the floors stay clean for more than just a day, it's more like a week until I actually start noticing fine debris and dirt in some areas etc but of course I leave it slightly longer than that before actually vacuuming to keep things efficient.
But of course our living situations are different and so is probably our foot traffic and floor types.100% agree @esemce
We run our robovac at least once a day and I’m constantly amazed at how much it picks up
when ours broke we went a week without it before we decided we should just go and get another
It’s been a game changer
You sound passionate about vacuuming, but I think you say it best here:
Currently all robot vacuums and moppers will do a bare minimum job compared to actually doing it yourself.
For the vast majority of people, they just want floors that are "clean enough", which is what a robot vac will be good for.
This is true of most things that are automated - I'm sure that when washing machines were introduced, people said that they could do a much better job of hand cleaning their clothes, when automatic transmissions were introduced, people said that they could do a much better job of shifting their gears, when dishwashers were introduced, people said that they could do a much better job of washing their dishes…etc.
But it's not about the direct comparison, it's about whether the automated option does a "good enough" job and frees up time for people to work, play, relax, do their hobbies…etc. whatever is more meaningful to them personally.
"You sound passionate about vacuuming,"
I am. I love vacuuming 🙂.
"I'm sure that when washing machines were introduced, people said that they could do a much better job of hand cleaning their clothes, when automatic transmissions were introduced, people said that they could do a much better job of shifting their gears, when dishwashers were introduced, people said that they could do a much better job of washing their dishes…etc."
I agree with everything except Laundry washing machines. I think they do a much better job than a person could by hand in the same amount of time.
Just because you have a robot vac it doesn’t mean you can’t also vacuum manually every now and then.
I would say that unless someone has hardwood floors, a manual vacuum should be used in conjunction with an robot vacuum everyone once in a while.
Whereas one might vacuum every one or two weeks if they don’t have a robot vac, those who do have a robot vac could do a deeper, more thorough vacuum once a month or once every two months.
"Just because you have a robot vac it doesn’t mean you can’t also vacuum manually every now and then."
True.
But just going by the high prices of some of these expensive robots I just think the value vs function is not there personally.
But everyone is in a different situation so I can understand from an above comment how it could "keep the hallways clean enough" for very busy families especially if you have kids and pets.
Also depends on your standards I guess. I often walk barefoot through the house so I can easily feel dirt particles and such on hard floors as they stick to my feet and that bothers me if there is too much.
I just wanted to point out originally that they will not completely replace a normal vacuum cleaner.Just going by the yellow colour this is the Barrell vacuum I have I think https://www.ozbargain.com.au/product/dyson-dc37c-origin
Not a Big ball, but it's the larger barrell model. They used to have a smaller barrell but the larger barrell performs much better.I forgot to share a negative about the barrell vacuum. While the Cyclone dust bin is large and collects fine dust really well. After 3 or so years the dirt particles tend to scratch up the plastic on the inside which is not visible, but because of this some of the fine dust sticks to the outer walls as you empty the bin. A wash solves this for a decent period, but I just realised I am an idiot for not checking Dyson's available spare parts, you can buy just the outer transparent shell of the dust bin on it's own which is what I will likely do next.
I often walk barefoot through the house so I can easily feel dirt particles and such on hard floors as they stick to my feet and that bothers me if there is too much.
Don't have to be barefoot to notice! I notice it walking around sometimes - especially sand as it seems to stick inside the treads of particular shoes and you feel your feet sliding more due to the reduced friction.
As others have already said, the aim of a robot vacuum is to keep the place cleaner than it would otherwise be. We were looking at getting one as we simply aren't vacuuming/mopping as often as we would like. If a robot can do half as good a job as us it's a net positive, as we're simply not doing it often enough ourselves.
From my own research, the best moppers are those that have the spinning pads, and the best of those (and our reasons for not purchasing them) are below.
- Narwhal T10
- Vacuum or mop only, not both
- No roller bar on the vacuum (suction port only)
- Ecovacs X1
- App is allegedly hot garbage. Hardware is good though
- No spring force on the mop pads
- Dreame W10
- Build quality/warranty concerns
These are mostly based on videos from The Hook Up, Mr. Roombato, posts/deals on OzBargain, and scrounging around on YouTube and web search.
Narwal Freo looks good, but no auto-empty.
It vacuums and mops, with a mop lift on carpet- but no auto empty. Which is frustrating.
- Narwhal T10
We have the Deebot T9+ - the Ozmo Pro attachment is an oscillating mop head meaning it actually scrubs rather than just pushing the wet mop around. We have been very happy with it since purchasing last year around Black Friday sales. :)
https://www.ecovacs.com/au/deebot-robotic-vacuum-cleaner/t9-…We paid about $950 for this one and it has been great.
I got the Viomi v3 and it mops in a Y pattern. But if you are after something that mops a section then somehow rinses the mop, squeezes it out and does the next section, then I think you'll have to wait for some kind of humanoid robot 😊
The more expensive model on this deal has an oscillating mopping action. Might be what you're after?
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/740228