As a chronic procrastinator/lazy SOB I have never been particularly good at cleaning my house. More so when it comes to vacuuming. Still, I didn’t consider buying a robot vacuum cleaner until very recently.
Now that I’ve actually purchased a robot vacuum, I can safely say that waiting as long as I did was a huge mistake. Robot vacuum cleaners are amazing, and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to actually buy one.
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Cleaning is always one of those things I hate doing. Vacuuming especially is loud, time-consuming, and requires almost constant effort. Because every time I actually get the vacuum out and clean, it takes about half an hour before it seems to need doing again.
This is bearing in mind that I live alone without any pets or kids. Lord only knows what my floors would be like if that situation ever changed.
Vacuuming is my least-favorite household chore, even more than mowing the lawn or sorting out my recycling. I’m also quite lazy, and would much rather be lying on the couch doing something fun instead.
A robot vacuum has changed all that, and takes pretty much all the effort out of vacuuming. The model I purchased was the Eufy RoboVac 30C, and while it’s not on our list of the best robot vacuums out there it had the right mix of features I was looking for, with a price to match. Eufy had a sale on when I purchased the robot too, which means it cost £170 instead of the usual £230. In the U.S. it’s normally $260, though the current sale price is $180.
I could have got a cheaper Eufy robot vacuum (the 11S) for less money and similar cleaning power, but the fact it didn’t have any smart features was a dealbreaker for me. A decision I don’t regret, since I can now control my cleaning schedule while I lay in bed.
Upgrading to a robot vacuum gave me similar feelings to those I felt a few years back, when I replaced my cheap terrible vacuum cleaner for a more expensive cordless model. The difference in how much they were able to clean was incredible, and it made cleaning so much easier and quicker.
Not enough to make me not resent having to vacuum the place, but enough that it wasn’t taking me forever to actually make sure everything was clean. Having a robot vacuum just takes that to the next obvious level.
Plus it’s quiet enough for me that I can keep on top of the cleaning without subjecting my neighbours to the din of a full-size vacuum. I wouldn’t set it off to a clean in the middle of the night, but with COVID still keeping people at home a lot of the time, the last thing any of us needs is to be subjected to that one neighbour who is always cleaning.
Robot vacuums aren’t infallible
Granted the suction on my robot vacuum isn’t the best (as we noted in our Eufy RoboVac 30C review), and there are still times when I need to do some of the cleaning myself. But it’s doing a great job of handling the casual stuff, and keeping my floors clear of general dust and debris. It even fits under some of the furniture to clean areas I wouldn’t even think to look at.
Now that it’s set up I don’t actually have to do anything except rescue it if it ever gets stuck. I take it up to the second floor occasionally, because even the most advanced robot vacuums are still about as useful as a pet rock when faced with the stairs.
Thankfully that doesn’t happen too often, because I’ve learned to keep my downstairs (where my robot cleaning pal lives) tidy. Or at the very least made sure there isn’t a bunch of stuff left on the floor. I’ll admit, I have a tendency to casually toss stuff on the floor instead of putting it away. Because getting up to put it in its proper place takes effort, and I’ve already admitted that I am a perpetually lazy person.
That may well be one of the reasons why I held off buying a robot vacuum for so long. Even the smartest robot vacuums can’t put things away from you. They can clean around them, assuming they have the smarts to do that efficiently, but that still leaves areas of the floor that don’t even get any attention.
This was especially problematic in my old one-bed apartment, which already didn’t have much space to begin with. Without much actual floorspace, and my own inherent laziness, it would have been a bit of a minefield for a robot vacuum.
Robot vacuum cleaners aren’t that expensive either
Cost also played a factor in me getting a robot vacuum, but it really shouldn’t have been. Sure there are plenty of models jam-packed with bells and whistles that can cost several hundred dollars. But then again the same is true of a regular, do-it-yourself vacuum cleaner. Especially if they’re made by someone like Dyson.
Sure there are robot vacuums, like the Roomba s9+, which costs over $1,000. But the best cheap robot vacuums do pretty much the same job for under $200. They may not be able to empty their bins automatically, mop your floors, or map its surroundings for a more efficient cleaning session, but they do still roam around and clean.
Not all the cheap robot vacuums have app control, granted, but if all you need to do is physically switch it on then that’s still way more convenient than doing all the work yourself.
Bottom Line
If you don't have a robot vacuum cleaner yet, and you have the funds to buy one, I definitely recommend it. The cleaning is done without my active participation, and my regular schedule means I can actually keep on top of it all. Plus the robot is quiet enough that it doesn't actually disturb anyone.
The fact that I don’t have to constantly stay on top of the vacuuming has made my life significantly easier. Frankly I’m still astounded that it took me this long, letting me reclaim a few minutes of time every week to enjoy the finer things in life. Namely something that isn’t cleaning.
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