Buzz
As someone with extensive experience in robot vacuums, I frequently test new models, often setting them up multiple times a month. While each vacuum has its unique features, they all share certain characteristics. Although some models outperform others, your actions significantly influence their efficiency. Proper setup and usage can determine how effectively your floors are cleaned, ultimately shaping your satisfaction with the device.
Organize Cleaning Zones by Traffic, Not Just Rooms
Modern robot vacuums use LiDAR to map your home and confirm room divisions with you. They excel at accurately identifying spaces, allowing you to assign cleaning tasks to specific areas or combinations of them, or even set schedules. Take the living room, for example: Daily vacuuming under the couch may be unnecessary, but high-traffic zones like walkways or spots where debris accumulates require daily attention. By editing the map, you can split or merge areas based on cleaning frequency. My living room, for instance, is divided into two zones: one for daily high-traffic cleaning and another for weekly dust bunny removal. You can name these zones, enabling voice commands for targeted cleaning. For example, I frequently direct my vacuum to 'Blueberry’s path of destruction' to clean paw prints between the doggie door and the kitchen multiple times a day.
Avoid purchasing third-party cleaners and accessories
Maintaining these robotic vacuums is essential. Their rollers wear out, brushes need replacing, and vacuum bags must be swapped. Branded replacements are costly, and while Amazon offers cheaper third-party alternatives, I’ve found them to be highly unreliable. Every time I’ve used third-party bags, the robot fails to recognize them, prompting weekly replacement alerts. The rollers are inferior and deteriorate quicker. Although I doubt the branded cleaning fluid has unique properties, I wouldn’t risk using homemade solutions or anything not specifically designed for robot mops.
Always use the maximum settings
Modern robotic vacuums offer multiple intensity levels for both vacuuming and mopping. While lower settings reduce noise, the difference is negligible—never quiet enough for movies or calls. Although lower settings may reduce wear and tear, they often require re-cleaning at higher intensities. I’ve found it simpler to keep the device on maximum intensity at all times. For mopping, especially, there’s no noticeable advantage to using anything less than the highest setting.
Disable obstacle avoidance
The era of bump-and-go robots is mostly behind us. While this means fewer scuffs and toppled fans, LiDAR-based systems tend to be overly cautious in avoiding obstacles. For example, many robots now feature a pet mode to dodge potential messes and pets. In my home, where such issues don’t exist, this feature proved unnecessary. I observed that it left large areas uncleaned, so I disabled it. Eventually, I turned off obstacle avoidance entirely, and the cleanliness of my floors improved dramatically, jumping from 80% to 95%. My robot now navigates more assertively, reaching corners and tight spaces with greater efficiency, which I greatly appreciate.
