NBR: Roomba

js8812 · April 2016

Who has one? Are they worth it? I'm contemplating getting one and now would be a great time. The Roomba 650 is on sale at Target for $325 (from $375) and I noticed if I put it on my baby registry I can use my completion and Red Card discounts (20%) to get it down to $260.

krisspy22 · April 2016

I got one a couple years ago. I was tired of lugging the vacuum up 2 flights of stairs when I lived in a townhouse. We also have pets so I thought it would be a great investment. It did work very well when we first bought it. I programmed it to run everyday while my DH and I were at work. It only had to clean 2 bedrooms, the landing of the stairs and a bathroom. Most of it was carpet and it did a decent job. Because of the pets I had to empty it about every other day.

We have since moved into a larger colonial style house that is all hardwood floors. We also adopted another dog (a German Shepherd who sheds like crazy). I still have the Roomba run every day while we're at work, but sometimes it gets stuck or lost somewhere in the house. It always likes to get stuck under the TV cabinet or under the sofa. We also have so many random dog toys lying around that if I don't pick them up Roomba will run over them and get jammed. Or it will suck up part of the toy and drag it around with it.

Because I have 2 dogs and a cat I still vacuum the house once a week, but I do notice a difference in the amount of debris and hair on the floor when Roomba works properly every day.

I'm not sure what your household looks like (other children, pets, a messy husband, etc.) but it can make a difference. I have a serious love hate relationship with it. Because of the pet hair I have to clean the brushes very often, have to empty it every other day, and have to spend 15 minutes tracking it down sometimes.

Don't expect it to completely replace vacuuming, but I think mine was worth it.

saladflambe · April 2016

I've opted to hire a cleaning service 2x a month instead

lol

jenashawn · April 2016

I'm really curious about the Roomba as well, since we have been gifted a bunch of target gift cards. The thing is, our house is mostly tile, and it's a split level. Can you move it between levels pretty easily, and does it do ok going from tile onto area rugs?

doozer1345 · April 2016

I want one so bad. I've got it on my Amazon wish list just begging for DH to buy it for me! The one I want is the pet one and it's about the same price of Target except for the discount.

LovingLife! · April 2016

I have wanted one for so long! My only issue is that I think my dog would attack and destroy it while we're not home!!

KidShrink · April 2016

I'm the laziest, and even though we get cleaning ladies every two weeks, I'm thinking that a Roomba would make for a fabulous first mother's day present (from myself to myself?). We have a dog and a cat and both of them shed like crazy- the black cat on the beige carpet upstairs, the white/beige dog on the dark hardwood floors downstairs. I get that it'll never take care of the stairs, but how do they do on two different floors like that? And how much space do they cover in a day? Putting it upstairs one day and down the next would really help keeping the floors to a bit more of an acceptable level, especially as we have a little one who will start roaming on there...

I know Costco often has them too (around Christmas and other holidays).

saladflambe · April 2016

I want the $900 one so, you know, my swap of a pro cleaner is actually kind of fair LOL.

businessmama · April 2016

I have it... We have wood floors in main rooms, tile in kitchen. We shut the bedroom doors and run it while we are at work-- a boxer and a black lab so lots of hair and grass from outside. We have had almost two years and it works awesome... But my husband cleans it after every single run. Make sure you take care of it... We empty it in the middle of the run sometimes too as we don't run it as awesome as we should.

absolutely love it... Highly recommend

Eta- often, not awesome. Ha!

KidShrink · April 2016

@saladflambe : they are really expensive! Crap! The exchange to $CAN probably doesn't help, but the one Costco actually carries here is $1000! With taxes and everything, that's 3 months worth of cleaning ladies (who also clean everything else in the house, not just vacuuming the floors)...I'll have to think about this one...or wait for some crazy sale.

saladflambe · April 2016

KidShrink said:

@saladflambe : they are really expensive! Crap! The exchange to $CAN probably doesn't help, but the one Costco actually carries here is $1000! With taxes and everything, that's 3 months worth of cleaning ladies (who also clean everything else in the house, not just vacuuming the floors)...I'll have to think about this one...or wait for some crazy sale.

i mean that's the newest model -- Roomba is supposed to come out with an even newer model this year, so that one will go down in price when that happens

katxattack1212 · April 2016

I liked mine better when it was newer. After about a year, it gets stuck occasionally and doesn't clean like it once did. It is a huge help with keeping the floors clean-ish during the week, but I still run the Dyson on the weekend.

araecasey · April 2016

I want one for my kitchen and dining room so bad. My MIL has two, and they're awesome for keeping crumbs up off the floors. I can't sweep often enough with the revolving door of children and my Himalayan cat.

kitandcat · April 2016

I have had one for a few years. We run it often, throughout our entire house… It makes it look nice, like you get that "fresh vacuumed" look, but when you vacuum with an actual vacuum afterwards it's proof that it really doesn't work that well at all. I have never thought that the roomba did a very good job. We bought a Dyson about a month ago in preparation for the baby. My husband and I both decided that the roomba doesn't do a good enough job to have clean floors for a baby.

hellogoodbye2 · April 2016

I would have never bought one myself, but my DH got it for me at Christmas. I do like it, but I think it would work much better for a home without pets. I run it about every other day, but I still have to mop & vacuum once a week since it doesn't pick up all the dog hair and dirt (we have 1 lab).

My only issue is that when it goes from carpet to hardwood it sometimes spits out some of the debris so after my Roomba is done I have to clean up what it spit out.

Charissadeats · April 2016

I just want to say that I am (for the first time) happy that I live in a Dualistic (first and third world country) cause we don't pay near as much as @KidShrink and @saladflambe for cleaning ladies. Holy hell.

Eta: But if I could have a Roomba (even with a cleaning lady who comes in once a week), I would go for it.

folamij · April 2016

We have the 880. I LOVE it. We used to have it downstairs to clean the hardwood, but we moved it upstairs so it could handle the carpet. Beats lugging a vacuum cleaner upstairs every week! Honestly though, at first I didn't want it, but hubby said it would be a good buy. We got it on sale at Bed Bath & Beyond plus used a 20% off coupon, so it made the price worth it.

khochanadel · April 2016

I just want to rent a roomba while I'm on bed rest and can't run the vacuum cleaner. The dog hair on our laminate floors is out of control!

saraleigh2 · April 2016

I can't speak for the rumba, but we had a scuba... It was great the first 3 times or so we ran it. But I felt that it didn't do as good a job mopping as I do. I was also a pain to clean up - you must change the dirty water try directly after use or the water smells so terrible later!!! I also found that it didn't work as well as time went on. For the price and clean up required I expected it to be more consistent for longer. After 2 months we gave up on it!!! Wish we had spent the money on having cleaning ladies come a few times instead!!!

doozer1345 · April 2016

khochanadel said:

I just want to rent a roomba while I'm on bed rest and can't run the vacuum cleaner. The dog hair on our laminate floors is out of control!

Have DH attach Swiffer pads to your dogs feet so he can clean up after himself

swaters14 · April 2016

We have one as well. Got it shortly after DD1 for Christmas to help out with the white dog hair on dark wood floors! It's been one of the best gifts honestly.... It really does help make a difference. Same as pp's, we just close doors and run it while were gone during the day. I'd say we still do a big clean sweep/mop once a week, but it makes a difference to run that a few times a week to help. I'd say totally worth it for that price!

meganwvu8 · April 2016

We have one and we love it! We have 2 dogs who shed! We let it run everyday while we are at work and then I just empty it when I get home. Works great!

dsmith211 · April 2016

I want one, but it would never last in our house. For one our dog hates vacuums. Two even if the vacuum did end up being ok, he wouldn't be ok with it moving around the house. I would come home one day and it would probably be in pieces from him trying to play with it. So unfortunately regular vacuum for me for the time being.

js8812 · April 2016

dsmith211 said:

I want one, but it would never last in our house. For one our dog hates vacuums. Two even if the vacuum did end up being ok, he wouldn't be ok with it moving around the house. I would come home one day and it would probably be in pieces from him trying to play with it. So unfortunately regular vacuum for me for the time being.

This is a good point. My dog doesn't get as crazy from the vaccuum, but she does like to play with it occasionally. Maybe I can spin this into a positive and it will be dual-purpose for dog entertainment and cleaning.

RMLandy · April 2016

I don't think it's perfect or a replacement for a good vacuum. However, I love mine for my hardwood floors in between days our cleaning lady comes! Doesn't work at all on a shaggy rug I have in the living room.

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