With most people nowadays staying at home longer for one reason or another, you would think they would say one of the benefits of staying at home more is getting their cleaning done. But no! Cleaning will just never be one of those things we want to spend a lot of time doing. People trying to save cleaning time may consider handing the work to a robot assistant, but is that good enough? Do robot mops actually work well and save you time?
Robot mops cut down on cleaning work saving you time and attention. Although they’re slow, that’s usually OK because you don’t have to stay with them for them to operate. They can’t replace traditional mopping 100% (because of stairs and tight corners) but they can save a lot of cleaning work over their lifetime of 2-5 years.
Before you get too excited and decide to buy one, let us look at what exactly a robot mop is; the different types of robot mops, benefits, the downsides, how they work, and if it will replace your traditional mopping method.
What are the Benefits of a Mopping Robot?
Robot mops offer a multitude of benefits overall, but let’s look at the most crucial ones in a bit more detail.
Operates Independently
The robot mop can work independently without you being present. You just need to turn it on, and while you go about your other duties, it does the cleaning. You don’t need to escort it, since its sensors prevent it from falling down stairs or crashing into walls. New advanced models can even combine vacuuming and mopping for a real double whammy.
Saves Tons of Time
With most people always in a race against time and wondering how to get things done, robot mops take care of the cleaning as you attend to other duties. You could even go shopping while your trusted assistant is cleaning.
All you need to do is to set the timer on when it should start and end. You can even set it to do the cleaning while you are sleeping. It would be so lovely to wake up in a clean house in the morning (although some models will make a bit of noise so this option isn’t for everyone).
Flexible and Easy to maneuver
The size of the robot mop makes it so easy to go under low-lying furniture and around tight corners. You don’t need to worry about this device if you have a tiny space.
The beauty of the robot mops is that they are so easy to carry and store. Their small size allows them to be held in just about any space where you have room. Some robot mops are small enough to store away, rather than doc them in the room permanently like most robot vacuums are designed to do.
Smart Technology
With most people going the smart home way, connecting your robot mop to Wi-Fi is easy. And whith mobile apps, it becomes effortless to operate your robot mop remotely. Using the voice feature, you can even give it instructions when you are not near. One of the smartest robot mops is the iRobot Braava Jet M6 (on Amazon).
Low Maintenance and Cost
Unlike traditional vacuum cleaners, the robot mop is very easy to maintain. In most instances, you will find that your only job is to fill it up with water and replace the cleaning pad. The robot mop is more economical and cost-efficient since there are reusable cleaning pads you can clean and renew yourself.
You really cannot compare the cost of getting someone to clean your house and the cost of buying the robot mop. In scale, the robot option is far cheaper over time.
What are the Downsides of a Mopping Robot?
We’ve looked over some positives of mopping robots, but to make sure you’re well informed and ready to make a decision it would be useful to review the potential drawbacks as well.
Very slow to clean
Unlike the traditional mop, where it may take you about 30 minutes or so to clean all the hard surfaces in your house, the robot mop takes longer. This is not a huge issue, as you could easily do other things while it cleans. Yet, for those who like things done faster, this could be an inconvenience.
Battery can die mid-job
Most robot mops are battery operated and need recharging from time to time. When the battery dies before the robot mop finishes cleaning, it could mean waiting until it fully charges again. Imagine if you’re planning to clean the floor before visitors arrive and the battery dies!
More expensive models with more smarts baked in will know to go back to their charging station and then pick up the job where they left off, so look for that feature called out specifically if it’s something you think you’d like.
Tend to get stuck
Due to the size of the robot mop, it will find it hard to push some obstacles out of the way. Hence, if it comes across things like toys, shoes, socks, it may be unable to go over them and will get stuck. You may need to remove most of the debris out of the way before starting cleaning.
How do Robot Mops Work?
While robot mops will not replace traditional back-breaking scrubbing, they will relieve the daily cleaning. The floors will be clean-ish, or mostly clean until you have the time for deep cleaning. You may find that you run the robot mop more than you would ever be willing to mop yourself because it’s very easy to get them going. All you have to do is:
- Fill their tank with water
- Place them on the floor
- Press the start button
- Let them do the cleaning
Using robot mops sounds very easy, and it usually is, but you have to remember that it does not work well in very cluttered places. Like using traditional mops, you should do a bit of decluttering before cleaning. Or, if you’re really clever, start the mop and then quickly tidy up the room while it’s already working!
Can Robot Mops Replace Traditional Mopping?
While robot mops are ideal for day-to-day cleaning and maybe fresh spills and stains, it will be hard to replace the deep scrubbing and cleaning. Regardless of the fact they can reach many places, they are only suitable for surface cleaning. Though robot mops and vacuums are convenient, they don’t totally replace traditional mopping and vacuuming.
How Long do Robot Mops Last?
Several factors will determine how long your robot mop will last. The quality of materials that make your robot mop and how often you run them will dictate how long they last for you.
Lower quality robot mops will give you at most 2-3 years of service. And with proper maintenance, your high-quality robot mops should give 4-8 years of good service.
For maintenance, you need to do the following;
- Battery – replace it after every two years
- Filters – needs replacement every 3-6 months
- Brushes – If you are an everyday cleaner, replace after six months if you clean once or twice a week
- Bin – just replace when needed
- Sensors – clean these every six months or so
- The base station and connectors – clean whenever you notice odd behavior of the device, or when it delivers a notice through it’s paired app of blocked sensors or anything like that
Owning a robot mop could be one of the best decisions you ever make as far as cleaning is concerned. It will save you a lot of energy and time to do other things. Most importantly, you will not need to be involved with the daily cleaning of your floors as you can leave this for your robot assistant.