The Life-Changing Tool Every Mom Deserves

Do you struggle to keep up with the vacuuming? Tired of dirty floors, but don’t have time to vacuum every day? Who does? Better yet, who wants to?? If your floors always seem to have pet hair, dirt, or cereal crumbs, and you’re tired of the never-ending battle, I hear you! I was in the same position for several years and was sick and tired of the constant upkeep (especially since I hate cleaning!) But that has all changed now with one very handy device. If you can relate to the struggle, let me introduce you to your new best friend – the Roomba 650!

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What is a Roomba?

A Roomba is a robotic vacuum that cleans for you so you don’t have to!

How does it work?

• It uses AeroVac Technology to pick up dirt, crumbs, lint, pet hair, and small foreign objects.
• It uses sensors to navigate around your home.
• It automatically adjusts to all floor types, including carpet, tile, laminate, and more.
• It automatically docks and recharges itself.
• It can fit under furniture higher than 3.6″ to get hard-to-reach dirt.
• It uses cliff-detection sensors to avoid stairs and drop-offs.
• It can be preset to clean up to 7x a week, or started with a push of a button.
• It comes with a device that puts up an “invisible wall,” so you can block off a room you don’t want cleaned.

My Experience

Our floors had been a point of contention between my husband and me for awhile. He didn’t enjoy coming home to dirty floors covered in Aidan’s crumbs and dog fur every day (who would?), but I just could not and did not want to vacuum every day. It was a huge pain to vacuum around all the chairs and bar stools in the dining area, and it was difficult to vacuum around nap schedules and play times. Plus, we have a lab who sheds constantly, and I was tired of trying to keep up with the constant barrage of fur she left in her wake.

I was tired of the fur and the crumbs and tired of the same arguments with my husband over and over. So for Christmas, I asked for a Roomba 650 when it was on sale at Black Friday, and I got my wish! I was so excited, but a little skeptical, too. It wasn’t very big – would it be able to compete with our lab and our toddler?

The answer was yes! It didn’t pick up everything the first time out, but over the course of a couple weeks, the regular maintenance transformed our house. It’s so nice to have clean floors every day, and even better to not have to be the one to do it!

Here are my favorite things about it:

• It goes around the legs of our 6 dining chairs and 4 bar stools, so I don’t have to constantly move and vacuum around them.
• It’s small enough to go under the crib, the end tables, the buffet, and a few other places that I could never reach.
• We can program it to run every day (or any number of days up to 7x a week) at any time that is convenient.
• I love the invisible wall! I try to pick up all the toys every day before the Roomba’s scheduled time, but if I just can’t get to it, I can block off the living room with the invisible wall.
• It’s VERY easy to clean and empty.
• My #1 favorite thing about it?? I don’t have to vacuum! (Well, not the big stuff, anyway. See below for more information.)

A Couple Disclaimers:

It doesn’t get alllll the nooks and crannies, and sometimes I do still see some pet hair or crumbs that it has missed. The Roomba is AWESOME, but it’s not going to replace my Dyson completely. I do have to get out the vacuum every once in awhile for the deep cleaning of the corners and tight spots. If you’re somewhat of a clean freak, you’re probably going to want to supplement the Roomba with a little regular vacuuming. But it is fantastic for regular maintenance, and it has drastically cut down the work I have to do. I really do think even clean freaks would appreciate the assistance it offers.

A Few Tips for a Great Roomba Experience

Here are a few things I’ve learned in the last few weeks of use:

• Clean it out after ever use. You may even have to empty it after every couple rooms the first few times you use it. I have been blown away by how well it handles pet hair, but I have been running it every day. The first time I used it? Yikes. I had to empty it several times before it was finished.
• Don’t schedule it at night. I first planned to let it run at night while we were sleeping. The very first night I said, “Turn that thing off, I can’t do it!” It’s definitely not as loud as a regular vacuum, but it’s loud enough to keep me up, especially when it repeatedly runs into our bedroom door!
• Make sure you pick up before it runs. Get all the small objects off the floor or behind larger obstacles, as well as anything that might get sucked into the Roomba’s brushes. Our Roomba has already sucked up my cell phone charger cord, the elastic band on a pair of goggles, and several of Aidan’s magnetic letters. Fortunately, it is very easy to retrieve things from its canister, and it’s designed to shut itself off or reverse direction when stuck on something too long.

Would I Recommend It?

Yes! A thousand times, yes!

I LOVE my Roomba, and I can’t say enough good things about it.

I’m not going to suggest that you’re never going to have to vacuum again. If you’re looking for something like that, it’s called a maid. Or children. 😉 (Mine aren’t old enough yet, shucks.)

But if you’re looking for something that will relieve you from daily, weekly, heck even monthly vacuuming, the Roomba is just what you need! I’m telling you, you won’t even know what to do with all that new free time. (Well, yes you will. You’re a mom.)

 

Do any of you have a Roomba? Do you love it as much as I do? Tell us about it in the comments below!

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