The first time I ever heard about Roomba, I just knew that I’d have one, one day. It’s not that I don’t like to sweep; I don’t mind at all. It’s the concept of the time it takes to sweep. The more time I have to do more meaningful things, the better.
I used to have an all-carpeted home, except for the kitchen and bathroom areas. Now, I have an all-floor home, which I love! Although, both options require lots of time vacuuming/sweeping. And really, who has time for all that when you have animals and kids?
One of my stipulations for getting a new dog was that we had to have all floor, no carpet. I’m the one home with the dog mostly, so my stipulations do count for something, right? Since carpet holds so much dander, my allergies would be one thousand times worse, and if there are any pet accidents (which always comes with a new puppy), the stains remain deep within the carpet no matter what shampooing device is used. Just save me the trouble, and let’s wait for floors.
It just so happens that our new home came with ALL FLOOR! Yay!
And ohhhhh, the dog hair.
I saw a meme that read, “Labs only shed twice a year: From January to June and from July to December.”
Therefore, there was another request from yours truly…
Roomba.
Ok, so maybe Roomba doesn’t have my whole heart, but she has a little piece of it. Yes, I said, “She.”
She isn’t perfect, but she’s like a little helper that you hired to do a decent job. You’re aware of her shortcomings, but you also desperately need any help whatsoever, so it’s okay if she messes up every now and then. You simply appreciate all of her help, especially since it’s the best she can do. And when she retires, you undoubtedly will hire another just like her.
The first thing I did was ask a few of my relatives who has a Roomba. So far, all of them have liked it enough for me to buy one! Then, of course, I did the normal online research. There are quite a few models out there, and there’s also quite a few vacuuming/sweeping robots on the market. Some of my relatives had bought the $1,000 models, but I wasn’t interested in paying that much. If I could get away with paying less, and still getting a great product, I was all in.
The more expensive models definitely have their really cool and extra capabilities, along with the phone app features. I’m not saying that’s what you should or shouldn’t buy – that just wasn’t an option for our budget at the time. I want to elaborate on the Roomba model that I have, and give you some insight if you’re considering getting one.
Does this mean I never have to sweep again? No. This does not mean that I never have to sweep again. But it does mean that I get to sweep less. I like less. To be clear – Roomba doesn’t sweep like a human, unless you’re a human that doesn’t sweep baseboards and corners.
Let’s face it, she’s not human. She does a GREAT job at keeping our floors clean enough to walk barefoot, and she’s good at picking up the drastic amount of dog hair that our dog loses.
NO JOKE. NO EXAGGERATION. This happened ↓
I swept and mopped the entire house one day. The very next day, I ran Roomba, and this is what she found! What in the world?!
So yes, I still sweep. Instead of a few times per week, I only have to sweep maybe once per week to two weeks. I still sweep the edges of my kitchen more often than that, since that’s where most of the traffic is. Other than that, my sweeping has reduced drastically.
You can set programmed days and times for Roomba to vacuum. I personally never use this feature, but many people do. The only reason I don’t is because I can’t always predict when I won’t be home to make sure everything is picked up – which leads me to the next thing.
Make sure things are picked up. Wires aren’t too friendly with Roomba.
Good thing is, she’s easy to clean out and untangle things from. The roller parts (with the yellow pieces) come out very easily.
If you’re worried about toys getting sucked up — no worries if the toys are big enough. If Roomba can roll over it (meaning, if it’s small enough), it will get sucked up. If the toys or wires cause Roomba not to work properly, it will just stop and wait to be unclogged. If the toys are too big to roll over, Roomba will either go around them or push them out of the way.
Have kids that leave toys out everywhere? We make make this a perfect opportunity to say, “Okay it’s toy pickup time! I’m about to run Roomba, and if anything is on the floor, she’ll suck it up for the trash! I need everything picked up! Look under the couches and get everything off the floor. Thanks!”
WARNING if you have pets. Like I said before, Roomba is great at picking up unwanted pet hair, but if you leave your pet out in the open while Roomba is running – beware. Pets have accidents, including the occasional vomit. If Roomba is running when your pet has any bodily functions, there’s a chance that Roomba will smear it everywhere. And for hundreds of dollars for a vacuum, that could be a real bummer. That almost happened to us when I left Roux out of her kennel for a quick trip to the store, and I forgot that I was playing around with the auto-clean and it was set for Tuesday (which was right when I left). Oops.
Needless to say, we’ve been having Roomba for 2 1/2 years now, and if she were to give out on us and break for some reason, I’m ready to buy another. Not a bad deal for $200 every 3 years, but I have a feeling she’ll last longer than that. If you haven’t noticed yet, I wait a while before I mention products because I want you to have a good experience too.
*This post contains affiliate links. Which means I get a little something something for the purchase of a product from a link on my site. But, I’ll never mention products solely for the sake of profit, and I only mention products I truly love.
This is the exact Roomba we have, and you can get it in two days with Amazon Prime here: Roomba 614
Andddd…. for a little laughter from the hubs…
Men, let me help you here: your lady wants a Roomba. You need a Roomba. Don’t be a turd and tell her she needs to sweep because it’s her job. Don’t tell her she has time to sweep, especially if she has kids. Maybe she wants to use that precious time to do other important things. It doesn’t mean no one ever has to sweep again, it just means less.
And less is more is my book 🙂
PIÑA COLADA SMOOTHIE