Is a Roomba worth it?

[MamaBearTeacher]

The model I was looking at is the Roomba 652 because it is on sale.

I have some questions:

Will it climb on top of my playmat and clean it?

What happens if my child tries to pick it up?

I assume it does not do stairs. I have a step that goes from kitchen to family room. Do I have to lift it down the step?

The parts of the rooms that get dirtiest are corners? Do the corners stay dirty?

What does it do when it encounters food like peas and pasta?

What does it do to small Lego? Is it noisy? Do you always have to let it complete it's cycle?

Do you have to spend a lot of time each week cleaning it?

[Guest]

I'm considering one for a Christmas present so thanks for asking the question. We joke that our toddler needs slotted robot friend to follow him around :p

[gardenmom5]

The model I was looking at is the Roomba 652 because it is on sale.

I have some questions:

Will it climb on top of my playmat and clean it?

What happens if my child tries to pick it up?

I assume it does not do stairs. I have a step that goes from kitchen to family room. Do I have to lift it down the step?

The parts of the rooms that get dirtiest are corners? Do the corners stay dirty?

What does it do when it encounters food like peas and pasta?

What does it do to small Lego? Is it noisy? Do you always have to let it complete it's cycle?

Do you have to spend a lot of time each week cleaning it?

 

 

I had one.  it didn't like going from hardwood to my area rugs.  it didn't like going under furniture/tables/side-chairs, etc.   legs get in the way.

I had to have the electronic 'fence" to keep it from going down my stairs.  not only will you have to lift it down the steps - you will need to prevent it from going down the step on it's own.

it doesn't do corners - it's round and corners aren't.

it didn't' take too long to clean - but the battery would die before it finished,

the wheels will keep going if a child picks it up.  it will keep going if your (light enough) pet/dog/cat gets on it too.

if it's small enough to be swept up - it will be swept up.

 

I replaced my roomba with a kenmore/panasonic canister.  now I have a miele.  (wish the cord was longer . . . )  don't think I'll ever buy another one.

 

[Lady Florida.]

I can't tell you about the Roomba brand because I have a Neato. I chose it because the motor is more like a vacuum cleaner motor that the Roomba's is and at the time we had a long haired dog. I'm happy with it but you should know it doesn't replace a vacuum cleaner completely. Once a month (okay, sometimes every other month) I do a thorough vacuuming with my regular vacuum cleaner. I used to vacuum with the full size appliance once a week. Twice if the dog was really shedding. It's saved my back a lot of pain to be able to just run the robot.

 

To answer some of your questions in a general robot vacuum (not brand name) way -

 

-I didn't have little ones when I got mine, but if you pick it up while it's running it will either stop or beep wildly to let you know there's a problem. If your child then drops it however, it will possibly be damaged.

-Mine climbs on top of throw rugs and kitchen mats and cleans them so I'm guessing it will clean the playmat. I don't know what it's made of or how thick it is. If it's too flimsy it might actually get caught in the roller.

-Yes, you'll need to lift it down the step. There's a small step down to my living room and I have to put mine down or up to get to the next room. I don't know about actual stairs.

-I've seen mine clean some corners well and leave others untouched. I have no idea what it's "thinking" when it does that.  :lol: Food is also hit and miss. I don't know about Lego and such. We were long past those days when I got mine.

-Yes, you have to clean it but that's because it just can't hold the amount of dirt that a regular vacuum cleaner does. I empty the dirt bin at least once, sometimes twice, when I have it do a whole house clean (though I don't always do all rooms the same day). Other cleaning besides emptying the dirt bin is just maintenance and isn't really a big deal. I don't do it until I notice it needs it.

 

I love mine but I always tell people not to expect it to be like a full size vacuum cleaner. I suppose that can work for some, but not if you have pets and lots of corners and other places where pet hair can build up. As long as you don't have unrealistic expectations of what it will do for you, I'd recommend one.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2017 by Lady Florida.

[Alice]

The model I was looking at is the Roomba 652 because it is on sale.

I have some questions:

Will it climb on top of my playmat and clean it?

What happens if my child tries to pick it up?

I assume it does not do stairs. I have a step that goes from kitchen to family room. Do I have to lift it down the step?

The parts of the rooms that get dirtiest are corners? Do the corners stay dirty?

What does it do when it encounters food like peas and pasta?

What does it do to small Lego? Is it noisy? Do you always have to let it complete it's cycle?

Do you have to spend a lot of time each week cleaning it?

 

We have one. I think it's worth it but it has limitations. 

 

First answers to your questions: 

 

It probably won't climb on the playmat, it tends to get stuck on any kind of step up. It will go from a very flat carpet to the floor but that's about it. 

 

Nothing happens if you pick it up. It just beeps and makes noises. It shouldn't hurt it or the kid. 

 

It does not do stairs. It should stop at the top of the stair (or bottom) so you don't have to worry about it falling down the stair. You would have to move it to the new location. 

 

The corners can stay dirty because it sort of sweeps the dirt into the corner and has a hard time getting it. 

 

It will vacuum up things like legos or small beads. We don't have toddlers so don't have a lot of food on the floor, I assume it would be ok with peas or pasta. 

 

It vacuums up legos. It is moderately noisy. We have a very open space house. If it's on downstairs we can still do work upstairs no problem but it would be pretty distracting if it was going upstairs or in the same room. 

 

You can stop it in the middle of a cycle. 

 

We don't really clean it, just empty it out and if it got wrapped up in something like hair or yarn we will clean that off. 

 

Few other thoughts: 

 

We have a dog so have a lot of dog hair and dirt from kids and dog running in and out. I could sweep or vacuum twice a day and the floors wouldn't be spotless. I don't do that. I like the Roomba because I can turn it on and go do something else and it gets a room reasonably clean. I don't think it gets it as clean as when I regularly vacuum so it doesn't replace weekly vacuuming for me. I do a fairly thorough job everywhere once a week and then we use the Roomba more for spot cleaning in different rooms during the week. 

 

It did freak out our dog at first so we couldn't run it when we weren't home. She is more adjusted to it now so that's ok. The regular vacuum freaks her out a bit too. 

 

Where to put it was an issue for us. We had it in our living room/main room because it made the most sense for cleaning but I didn't like the way it looked. So we moved it downstairs to our family room. It's a bit heavy/clunky so most of the time I don't feel like carrying it upstairs to do a quick clean. Plus, if the docking station is downstairs it will beep when it is done instead of just stopping. I use it mostly to do the downstairs, dh will move it around and do bedrooms or the upstairs. 

 

You do have to have the floors relatively clean from clutter. Small things like Legos will get sucked up and bigger things will just confound it. So it's not super useful in my kids' rooms as they usually have too much stuff on the floors to make it work well. When I vacuum with the regular vacuum I can push the stuff out of the way but the Roomba won't do that. 

[magnificent_baby]

The model I was looking at is the Roomba 652 because it is on sale.

I have some questions:

Will it climb on top of my playmat and clean it?

What happens if my child tries to pick it up?

I assume it does not do stairs. I have a step that goes from kitchen to family room. Do I have to lift it down the step?

The parts of the rooms that get dirtiest are corners? Do the corners stay dirty?

What does it do when it encounters food like peas and pasta?

What does it do to small Lego? Is it noisy? Do you always have to let it complete it's cycle?

Do you have to spend a lot of time each week cleaning it?

 

Agree with the other posters, it doesn't like to go from the wood floor to a thick rug. I will go on a very thin rug with no problem.

 

It will shut off it someone tries to pick it up. I did not know there was a handle to lift it and cracked mine trying to pick it up, Costco exchanged it with no questions asked. 

 

Nope, will not go down stairs, it will turn right around when it senses a staircase. 

 

The corners get cleaned fairly well, but does leave a little behind. 

 

Peas should get picked up, pasta maybe if it's dry. 

 

It will suck up a lego but you can easily find it when emptying. It will get stuck on a sock or loose cords around the house. But it has not destroyed anything, it just waits until you fix the issue. 

 

It's on the noisy side. You can stop it anytime. Mine runs in completely random places, my house shape is odd though, no perfectly square rooms. I let it run until the battery dies. 

 

I have never cleaned mine, but probably should.

 

I love my Roomba! It is not as good as a traditional vacuum of course, BUT I run it while I'm doing other things, at times I wouldn't be sweeping, so I feel I'm ahead of the game so to speak.  I have mainly wood floors, and it does a terrific job on dust bunnies and pet hair. It can also go under bookshelves, hard to reach places. Does get stuck under one couch set, but can get under the living room couch with no trouble. It saves me tons of time sweeping and I can guarantee my floors wouldn't be nearly as clean if I didn't have it. 

[J-rap]

I got one for my ds and dil last year for Christmas.  My ds is not too impressed with it, but he's pickier than I am.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

 

I loved ours for everyday general sweep up on our hardwood floors. It kept the daily mess down.

 

It will not replace the need to do a full vacuum occasionally. You'll need to don stairs, under low furniture and other tight spots with a traditional vacuum or broom.

[PeterPan]

iRobot Roomba 805 Vacuum Cleaning Robot  For almost the same money as the sale on amazon, you can get the model from Costco that has better roller bars. I got my Roomba before Christmas from Costco, and I think that's what I have. It has roller bars like this 

Amazon.com: Authentic iRobot Parts - Roomba 800 & 900 Series Replenishment Kit: Home & Kitchen

 and comes with two barrier walls Amazon.com: iRobot 4473043 Dual Mode Virtual Wall Barrier Compatible with Roomba 500/600/700/800/900 Series (2 Pack): Home & Kitchen

 

The model you're looking at on amazon is a lower model that has brushes instead of the soft roller bars and it does not appear to come with the barrier walls. 

 

The soft roller bars on the Costco model are what's on the 800 and 900 series Roomba models, if you go look. So you'd be getting a way better machine. They are brilliant on hardwood floors and make my floors SHINE! My Costco model Roomba has no issues going from hardwood to area rugs. I have solid flooring in all my house and area rugs in many rooms. No trouble in any of them and they vary from thick to thin. 

 

The roomba is AWESOME and you're going to love it. I was able to go off very $$$, very scary asthma medications after we got it. It keeps me house cleaner than what I was able to with a vacuum, partly because it's just so easy to use that there are no excuses. :D

 

And if you're not a member of Costco, well neither was I. I joined just to buy it. I've found other little things that saved me some money too, like car rentals, etc. Maybe someday I'll make it into the store, lol.

SaveSave

Edited September 8, 2017 by OhElizabeth

[ErinE]

If you have any pets, be aware of accidents. Relatives had their carpet ruined and spent hours scrubbing baseboards when a dog left an overnight gift. It got caught up in the Roomba, which then spread it around the house.

[Elizabeth86]

If you have any pets, be aware of accidents. Relatives had their carpet ruined and spent hours scrubbing baseboards when a dog left an overnight gift. It got caught up in the Roomba, which then spread it around the house.

O M G that would be kind of funny if it wasnt so horrible.

Edited September 8, 2017 by Elizabeth86

[waa510]

We used to have a Roomba but got rid of it for all the negative reasons pps mentioned. We now have a Deebot (husband got it online..maybe thru slickdeals or woot?) and it does a much better job than the Roomba ever did. Roomba did much better on carpet than any hardwood or laminate. It also would try to kill itself going over my living room step-down so I didn't run it downstairs much unsupervised..which defeated the purpose for me. (didn't want to have to baby-sit it)

 

The Deepot also can mop while it vacuums (or not, just depends if you put floor cleaning solution in the reservoir before it runs) which is a huge time savings and machine-buying- savings too as the Roomba only vacuums (you'd need the Scubba to mop). 

[MeaganS]

I have one and I am in love. Seriously. I tell my husband that I would take a Roomba over a dishwasher at this point in my life. Also both my mom and MIL have one and love theirs too.

 

It has limitations, but here's why I love it so much:

• It "forces" me to straighten up or get the kids to straighten up before bedtime or before we leave the house if I want to run it somewhere that's not the main living area. I have the timer set for it to vacuum every night while we're asleep. Having the house be Roomba Ready has become a very quick and easy thing that my kids don't really mind doing and has significantly decreased our clutter.
• My house gets vacuumed a lot more. I am much more likely to set the Roomba (Mr. Bates) going in a room than vacuum it myself.
• It does a good enough job for me. Considering vacuuming was one of my homemaking fails, this has significantly upped our home's quality of life

It is set to vacuum the main part of our house automatically and while I need to move chairs from under the table, it does a good job going from our hardwood floor to our regular and shag rugs. It also does a good job on our carpeted rooms too. About every other day or so I have it vacuum the homeschooling room and entry when we're out of the house. They're next to each other and I consider them a "zone." They are also a few steps down from the rest of the house. Bedrooms are easy to partition because they have doors and it does a good job on the hallway and basement playroom too. Maybe my house is just very Roomba friendly or something, but I've never felt the need for the electronic walls or anything.

 

Before I had it, I would spend 45 minutes just sweeping the main area of our house. I hated that so much, and vacuuming never worked that well on hardwood floors. Now I only sweep if it is especially messy or I don't have time to run the Roomba!

I love it so much, but I'm going to guess its a YMMV thing.

 

ETA: Because its relevant and because it is one of my favorite things I ever read on the internet here's a funny link for you: http://www.scarymommy.com/roomba-meets-pile-of-poop-jesse-newton/

Edited September 9, 2017 by Meagan S

[PeterPan]

Yes, my house has an open floor plan and some odd halls and things. I use the barrier walls pretty frequently. 

 

[Shellydon]

I love my Roomba.  If it died, I'd go right out and buy another one.  Mine is able to go from hard floors to area rugs.  It will not fall down stairs/steps.  I use barriers to block it from areas if needed.  I run it at least once and often twice a day.

[Guest]

The model I was looking at is the Roomba 652 because it is on sale.

I have some questions:

Will it climb on top of my playmat and clean it?

What happens if my child tries to pick it up?

I assume it does not do stairs. I have a step that goes from kitchen to family room. Do I have to lift it down the step?

The parts of the rooms that get dirtiest are corners? Do the corners stay dirty?

What does it do when it encounters food like peas and pasta?

What does it do to small Lego? Is it noisy? Do you always have to let it complete it's cycle?

Do you have to spend a lot of time each week cleaning it?

I love Roomba. I have had one for over ten years, although I need a new one now.

Climb on top of the playmat? Depends what material and thickness of the playmat. I'm not sure what this is, so I'm not sure.

Teach the kids not to pick up the Roomba while it's running. Other than that, I don't think a kid could be hurt badly on the Roomba. Still, teach them to leave it alone.

You have to lift it down the step. Roomba has an edge sensor so it won't fall off ledges or down stairs.

Who cares about corners? :) Clean your corners once in a while, but the point of Roomba is for the floor to be clean, not the corners. Worry less about corners. Also, Roomba can go beneath furniture that you probably aren't moving to vacuum now. So, you get clean under your bed but you'll have to hit a corner once in a while yourself.

Peas and pasta? Anything soft/mushy I would not leave up to Roomba.

Roomba is the perfect threat to make my kids pick up their Legos. Otherwise, it sucks them up the same as any vacuum would. You could retrieve it from the receptacle if you care. I don't care. I order the kids to clean up the Legos because I'm about to run Roomba.

It's a little noisy, but no noisier than vacuuming is otherwise, and you can be somewhere else in the house while it runs if you like.

You don't have to let it complete. You can stop it any time you wish.

I do not spend much time cleaning it, but I also would never leave it to vacuum wet food or anything like that. I do have to cut out all the hair from the brushes every couple months. And I change the filter every once in a while.

 

Love Roomba. I'm sad mine is worn out. But it's worth having and I will replace it.

[Lady Florida.]

I love my Roomba.  If it died, I'd go right out and buy another one.  Mine is able to go from hard floors to area rugs.  It will not fall down stairs/steps.  I use barriers to block it from areas if needed.  I run it at least once and often twice a day.

 

I feel that way about my Neato. I would definitely get another robot vacuum if something happened to it.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I love my Roomba.  I have the 960 (?) model, not the top one, but the one that is one step below. 

 

I have mid-pile carpet in my bedrooms, 2 area rugs in my great room (one thick, the other thin), with vinyl plank flooring.  

 

It is one of those, "it changed my life" items. I run it 3 or more times a week in my great room and it takes care of all of the dog hair.

 

I used to vaccuum once a week, so since I am vaccuming more often is so much cleaner.  i also love that it does under my bed, as well as under my dining room hutch. The only negative is that it doesn't do the steps.  

 

If this thing died, I would get another one tomorrow.  Now if I could get a robot to dust.:D