Anyone have a Roomba?

[kategm]

I'm considering getting one, but I have a few questions. I'm not sure it would work for us.

1) Our living room curtains puddle on the floor. Will the Roomba suck them up? Can the Roomba somehow go under/behind the curtains and get all the trapped pet hair?

2) The rug in our living room has fringe on the edge. Will the Roomba have an issue with this?

3) is the Roomba able to go over bumps? Between our wood floor and tile entry, there is a raised finishing strip that causes a 1/4 to 1/2 inch lip.

What model do you have, especially if you have pets? Are you pleased with it? How often do you feel the need to sweep yourself, or does it do a good enough job that you don't?

[holly116]

Sept 2, 2014 9:34:59 GMT -5 kategm said:

I'm considering getting one, but I have a few questions. I'm not sure it would work for us.

1) Our living room curtains puddle on the floor. Will the Roomba suck them up? Can the Roomba somehow go under/behind the curtains and get all the trapped pet hair?

2) The rug in our living room has fringe on the edge. Will the Roomba have an issue with this?

3) is the Roomba able to go over bumps? Between our wood floor and tile entry, there is a raised finishing strip that causes a 1/4 to 1/2 inch lip.

What model do you have, especially if you have pets? Are you pleased with it? How often do you feel the need to sweep yourself, or does it do a good enough job that you don't?

1. Our curtains don't puddle but they're all the way to the ground in the family room. The roomba hasn't sucked them up but if I want it to get behind, I move the curtains up before I start it.

2. No issues with fringe

3. Hmm. It may have an issue. My biggest complaint is that it gets caught up on things that it "shouldn't". We have a scooba too and it's supposed to sense stairs/drop offs and just work around it but it routinely freaks out at the drop off to our sunken family room. When we had the baby swing in the family room, the roomba would attempt to climb over the legs and get stuck.

No pets, we have the roomba 770 and the scooba 390. I run the roomba in the family room almost every night after we go to bed. It, for the most part, gets up all the Cheerios etc so it's worth it for me. I still need to bust out the regular vacuum because it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing lol.

The scooba is more of a novelty. It's loud, gets tripped up, and doesn't scrub banana gunk off of my hardwood so I really think it's faster for me to just mop the floor myself right now. I have three gross little kids though lol. I think it would more than sufficient if I didn't regularly have chunk of food being tossed on the floor.

[ohyouknow]

We did research between the Roomba and Neato and ended up buying a Neato. They are on slickdeals.net on occasion if you are looking for a deal on one. (Both Roomba and Neato, just search the SD website). We love it. I can't comment on the curtains or fringe, but the Neato doesn't get hung up on bumps. It actually lifts up half it's side at least an inch to go over things. There is a huge difference in model numbers even within the same brand, so research not just the brand, but the model number. We spent about $300 on Amazon to get a refurbished one, and it has been great.

[Deleted]

Ditto the rec for a Neato. We love ours. We run it 4x a week, and that thing is a beast. Its climbed over the baby gate bar (the part on the ground). I like that it has straight edges so it does along the wall really well, and corners. It also "learns" the rooms, and becomes more efficient with use. It goes from hard floor to carpet without issues, and has never sucked up anything it shouldn't. Sometimes it does get stuck, but that's because we've pushed the coffee table in too close to the couch, or forget to shut the bathroom door (its gotten itself wedged between the toilet and the wall, you could tell it tried to climb it.).

[schrodinger]

Chiming in to say ditto on the rec for the Neato. We've been really happy with ours. It goes over fringe and cords without getting stuck ~95% of the time. It transitions between carpet, hardwood and tile without an issue. It's able to "jump" about 1/2" to go over hurdles.

[kategm]

Wow, thanks for the info! I think I'm definitely going to look into one.

[Deleted]

We have the Roomba. I also debated between it and the Neato and chose the Roomba mostly because of costco's price and return policy. We have this years Costco model and LOVE it. I run it every day in my living room/ dining room/kitchen and a few times a week in the bedrooms and hallway. It's amazing. The amount of dirt and dust it gets up daily is unreal. It has legitimately changed my life.

We have floor length curtains and it doesn't catch on them. It does get behind them pretty well. I have a couple of sheers that puddle a bit and they give it no trouble.

No rugs with fringe but I have heard it does fine with fringe.

I don't think the 1/2 inch lip would be a huge issue. Our closets have sliding mirrored doors and it goes over the door tracks into the closets if we don't shut them. If it is a problem you can just pick it up and put it over the lip manually.

I only sweep anymore if there is something specific I need to clean up (broken glass, messy kid lunch etc.) I have the Roomba programmed to run every night at seven, and when I am wiping down our table and counters before it runs, I just wipe crumbs right onto the floor because I know it will pick all of them up. It is amazing. We do have a housekeeper that comes every other week and does the mopping and sweeping, so it won't replace the need for an occasional thorough cleaning, but it is damn handy on a day-to-day basis.

[Deleted]

Oh we do have a dog that sheds a ton and it's wonderful with pet hair.

[arch01]

Sept 2, 2014 11:46:54 GMT -5 @this said:

Goddammit, now I want a Roomba. (Or a Neato. lol)

Me too. 

[kategm]

Sept 2, 2014 11:36:54 GMT -5 schrodinger said:

Chiming in to say ditto on the rec for the Neato. We've been really happy with ours. It goes over fringe and cords without getting stuck ~95% of the time. It transitions between carpet, hardwood and tile without an issue. It's able to "jump" about 1/2" to go over hurdles.

Which model do you have?

[holly116]

I will say that iRobot's customer service has been impressive. Our scooba was making weird noises a few months after we got it and the error code told me to call. All I did was give them the serial number and they sent a whole new one out with a free shipping label to send back the original one.

Also, I got our roomba on clearance at Target. Someone had bought it online and returned it to the store so it was marked down 30%. It works on the hardwood too. I just wish I had a robot that picked up toys lol.

[schrodinger]

Sept 2, 2014 11:49:45 GMT -5 kategm said:

Sept 2, 2014 11:36:54 GMT -5 schrodinger said:

Chiming in to say ditto on the rec for the Neato. We've been really happy with ours. It goes over fringe and cords without getting stuck ~95% of the time. It transitions between carpet, hardwood and tile without an issue. It's able to "jump" about 1/2" to go over hurdles.

Which model do you have?

One of the older ones, we bought ours ~4 years ago. They've since redesigned the brush system so that hair won't wrap around the axle.  We have to take ours apart once a month or so to cut hair off the brush.  Even then, totally worth it.

[turtletop90]

Sept 2, 2014 9:34:59 GMT -5 kategm said:

I'm considering getting one, but I have a few questions. I'm not sure it would work for us.

1) Our living room curtains puddle on the floor. Will the Roomba suck them up? Can the Roomba somehow go under/behind the curtains and get all the trapped pet hair?

2) The rug in our living room has fringe on the edge. Will the Roomba have an issue with this?

3) is the Roomba able to go over bumps? Between our wood floor and tile entry, there is a raised finishing strip that causes a 1/4 to 1/2 inch lip.

What model do you have, especially if you have pets? Are you pleased with it? How often do you feel the need to sweep yourself, or does it do a good enough job that you don't?

I love our Roomba.

The only annoying thing is you have to make sure all the little things are picked up (dd's toys, device charging cords, etc). My H sometimes leaves headphones by the bed and it sucks those up and they get all tangled on the brush. Not a huge deal if your floor is generally clutter free.

1) We have puddling curtains, and it doesn't suck them up. We loop them over the rod when we want it to get behind/underneath.

2) It shouldn't have an issue

3) I don't think it would have an issue with that lip. It goes over our raised thresholds between doorways just fine. Also, our area rug is raised, and it has no problem going on top of that. The wheels are sort of "off-road" and designed to go over lips, etc.

I still need to so a more thorough sweep/vaccuum about every other week. It works pretty well keeping things at bay, but it still doesn't get everything.

[Deleted]

Thanks everyone! The new house is all hardwoods with no bumps between rooms, so I think a Roomba would work really well. I had never heard of the Neato, thanks for the rec. Maybe I can get one cheap on Black Friday.

[Deleted]

Sept 2, 2014 11:49:32 GMT -5 @this said:

I like how everyone talks about them like endearing, elderly pets. ("You can tell it tried to climb it.") It makes me want one more.

Its a loving member of our family. I like it more than our dogs most of the time (just kidding...kind of).

I just looked through my phone pics to see if I could find the pic of it half up the side of the toilet, but its not a good picture.

[MNH2013]

For those with pets, do you have to empty it often while it runs? Like would I need to watch it to see when it's full?

[pugz]

Eff it can handle pet hair?! NEED

[water*drop]

Thank you, MMM, because I've been trying to convince DH that we need a roomba for at least the past year, and he has always laughed me off until today, when I read these posts to him, and he agreed that we should get one. STUPID SEPTEMBER SPENDING FREEZE. Counting down the days until 10/1...

[magpie]

Sept 2, 2014 14:40:12 GMT -5 MNH2013 said:

For those with pets, do you have to empty it often while it runs? Like would I need to watch it to see when it's full?

The bin is pretty small, so we empty the bin after each room.  I usually set it up room by room (you do have to "roomba-ready" the room a bit for best results--we move a few chairs out of the room, make sure phone/laptop charging cords are away and either close the door or use the "virtual wall" to lock it in.  We empty the bin between rooms and usually pull some dog hair off the brushes.  It's sort of a pain in the ass, but less so than vacuuming by hand (plus, the roomba actually does a much better job than my real vacuum and I like that it goes under couches/beds/etc).  It works well for us.  I don't have to sit there watching roomba go though.  I leave the room (or the house entirely) when it's going.  We have the costco pet model, which we bought there for the return policy in case we didn't like it.  

[MNH2013]

Sept 2, 2014 16:03:21 GMT -5 magpie said:

Sept 2, 2014 14:40:12 GMT -5 MNH2013 said:

For those with pets, do you have to empty it often while it runs? Like would I need to watch it to see when it's full?

The bin is pretty small, so we empty the bin after each room.  I usually set it up room by room (you do have to "roomba-ready" the room a bit for best results--we move a few chairs out of the room, make sure phone/laptop charging cords are away and either close the door or use the "virtual wall" to lock it in.  We empty the bin between rooms and usually pull some dog hair off the brushes.  It's sort of a pain in the ass, but less so than vacuuming by hand (plus, the roomba actually does a much better job than my real vacuum and I like that it goes under couches/beds/etc).  It works well for us.  I don't have to sit there watching roomba go though.  I leave the room (or the house entirely) when it's going.  We have the costco pet model, which we bought there for the return policy in case we didn't like it.  

Hmm, very tempting! This may have to go on my xmas list to the inlaws. They have one from Sam's, but they have hard wood floors.

[cricketwife]

This is exactly why I didn't even dream of joining the September spending freeze. I knew mmm would let me know that I NEEDED something!

[kategm]

Sept 2, 2014 15:53:09 GMT -5 water*drop said:

Thank you, MMM, because I've been trying to convince DH that we need a roomba for at least the past year, and he has always laughed me off until today, when I read these posts to him, and he agreed that we should get one. STUPID SEPTEMBER SPENDING FREEZE. Counting down the days until 10/1...

This post was started because I'm trying to convince DH. Those were his concerns.

[Deleted]

My housekeeper is awesome and very thorough and was here from 9:30 AM until 4 PM today cleaning. This is gross, but I let the Roomba run as usual at 7 PM and this is what it picked up. AFTER the housekeeper left!!! I love it so much.

[Deleted]

We have been considering one of these for the past year or so because we have cat fur flying all over the house. I just wasn't sure if it would be a good investment or just another gadget in the corner.

[simpsongal]

/Gavel. I'm buying a roomba (or neato)

[mrsGreeko]

I've had a bunch of roombas and now have a Neato. I prefer the Neato hands down. It cleans so much better. It picks up 10x what my roombas ever picked up (and I had a fancy roomba). Roombas do have trouble with rug fringe (one of mine burned it's motor up on my rug fringe). Curtains on the floor would probably get sucked up by either. It is great with a dog and three kids and hardwood floors though.

[kategm]

Sept 4, 2014 13:16:32 GMT -5 mrsGreeko said:

I've had a bunch of roombas and now have a Neato. I prefer the Neato hands down. It cleans so much better. It picks up 10x what my roombas ever picked up (and I had a fancy roomba). Roombas do have trouble with rug fringe (one of mine burned it's motor up on my rug fringe). Curtains on the floor would probably get sucked up by either. It is great with a dog and three kids and hardwood floors though.

Does your neato do ok with rug fringe? What model neato do you have?

[mrsGreeko]

Sept 4, 2014 14:11:58 GMT -5 kategm said:

Sept 4, 2014 13:16:32 GMT -5 mrsGreeko said:

I've had a bunch of roombas and now have a Neato. I prefer the Neato hands down. It cleans so much better. It picks up 10x what my roombas ever picked up (and I had a fancy roomba). Roombas do have trouble with rug fringe (one of mine burned it's motor up on my rug fringe). Curtains on the floor would probably get sucked up by either. It is great with a dog and three kids and hardwood floors though.

Does your neato do ok with rug fringe? What model neato do you have?

Neato has no problem with the fringe. I have an older version of the Neato, but it is the pet and allergy version. The newer versions look even better.

[water*drop]

meh.com (the new site by the guy who started woot.com) has refurbished Neato XV21 Pet and Allergy models for $140. It's $328 for NIB versions of that model on Amazon; $219 on Amazon for refurbished ones.

And there goes my spending freeze because for that big of a discount, I can handle getting a refurbished one.

[docholly]

Sept 2, 2014 9:47:55 GMT -5 holly116 said:

Sept 2, 2014 9:34:59 GMT -5 kategm said:

I'm considering getting one, but I have a few questions. I'm not sure it would work for us.

1) Our living room curtains puddle on the floor. Will the Roomba suck them up? Can the Roomba somehow go under/behind the curtains and get all the trapped pet hair?

2) The rug in our living room has fringe on the edge. Will the Roomba have an issue with this?

3) is the Roomba able to go over bumps? Between our wood floor and tile entry, there is a raised finishing strip that causes a 1/4 to 1/2 inch lip.

What model do you have, especially if you have pets? Are you pleased with it? How often do you feel the need to sweep yourself, or does it do a good enough job that you don't?

1. Our curtains don't puddle but they're all the way to the ground in the family room. The roomba hasn't sucked them up but if I want it to get behind, I move the curtains up before I start it.

2. No issues with fringe

3. Hmm. It may have an issue. My biggest complaint is that it gets caught up on things that it "shouldn't". We have a scooba too and it's supposed to sense stairs/drop offs and just work around it but it routinely freaks out at the drop off to our sunken family room. When we had the baby swing in the family room, the roomba would attempt to climb over the legs and get stuck.

No pets, we have the roomba 770 and the scooba 390. I run the roomba in the family room almost every night after we go to bed. It, for the most part, gets up all the Cheerios etc so it's worth it for me. I still need to bust out the regular vacuum because it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing lol.

The scooba is more of a novelty. It's loud, gets tripped up, and doesn't scrub banana gunk off of my hardwood so I really think it's faster for me to just mop the floor myself right now. I have three gross little kids though lol. I think it would more than sufficient if I didn't regularly have chunk of food being tossed on the floor.

I want a scooba so bad.  I HATE mopping.  It doesn't sound like it will work that great though.  :-(