Vacuums are sucking up a lot of my thoughts these days. (Sorry. I couldn’t resist).
After much debate, we bought a Sebo canister vac several years ago, which works very well–when I use it.
I’m just not good at vacuuming, people. I don’t mean it’s beyond my ability. It’s just beyond my desire. There are approximately 8 million other things I’d rather do than vacuum.
So that means that dog hair, farm dirt, project dust (actual sawdust this week) accumulate. Our floors are regularly a disaster.
I long for a robot vacuum, but our Sebo was expensive. I feel like I can’t justify spending a not insignificant amount of money on another vacuum just because I’m lazy.
But then the universe started talking to me, sending me signs.
My sister got a Neato Robotics Botvac. (Isn’t that a great name?) And she loves it.
When I was at her house the other week, I spent some time following the vacuum around, watching it navigate the room and throwing things in front of it just to watch it pick them up. It did. (Aren’t I an amazing guest? You totally want me to come to your house, don’t you?)
John and Sherry at Young House Love talked about how their Roomba didn’t live up to their expectations in a recent podcast.
And then Thalita at The Learner Observer posted about her crumb-fighting, dog-hair-sucking sidekick bObi.
So I’m putting it out there to the universe. Anyone have any opinions on robot vacuums? Any recommendations on one that can handle an incredibly sheddy dog as well as farm dirt and a household under near constant renovation? Is it worth the investment? What chores do you struggle with?
Home on 129 Acres 
I’m not fond of cleaning either – but I find it hard to go to bed without cleaning up the kitchen every night.
Kim at Newlywoodwards has blogged several times about her Roomba – they have dogs and a small child and live in the middle of projects – she may have good info for you (and would probably respond to a direct inquiry also).
Thanks for the suggestion, Cheryl. I appreciate it.
I loved our Roomba in our 1 bedroom, single level, carpeted apartment. I never made use of the timer function, because I always had to pick up before I ran it, but the floor got vacuumed way more then if I had had to push one around. Our current home has stairs, and hardwood, and I found I wasn’t using it as often, so Skynet (as we liked to call it) went to live with my mom, who loves it, and uses the timer function (but still also vacuums before company comes over because she has a problem).
I love that you call it Skynet… although it’s a wee bit creepy. Thanks for your input. We have hardwood and tile upstairs and carpet downstairs. I was wondering if I get one if I can move it between floors as needed. BTW, does your Mom want to come do my house?
We also have a neato botvac. it’s going on a little over 2 years old now I think. It’s awesome. I love it. I recommended every chance I get. I cannot express how much I love this vacuum. It was one of the best investments we have ever made. Hands down. Our floors have never been cleaner, my husband’s allergies have never been better, my sisters no longer cringe to have their toddlers on my rugs (dog hair), etc. It goes effortlessly from hardwood, to rugs, to tile. It does not attempt to commit suicide down the stairs. It treats the dogs as obstacles mapping around them instead of running into them (to the point I had to train my dogs to move from their usual resting spots when it’s cleaning otherwise the dog hair in their usual resting spots would never be vacuumed up!) The customer service is awesome when and if you need it. It does not clog on various types of dog hair (I lost count the number of vacuums I’ve had that could tolerate certain types of dog hair and then clog to the max with other types). It systematically maps my house and then systematically cleans the areas, instead of randomly bouncing around off of walls as some other brands do. I love this vacuum. Totally 100% recommend it.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I love how laid back your dogs are. And it’s encouraging that the Neato handles so many different scenarios so well.
I totally thing you should get one. Everyone should have a thing they don’t want to do and take advantage of every possible way to avoid it! Sadly I don’t have any recommendations as we don’t have one. If Bear wasn’t the kind of dog he is we might, but he would be terrified of it. He is a big ‘fraidy dog!
I’ve been wondering how Bax would react. He’s usually pretty laid back, even around the vacuum. But something running independently… even powering up when I’m not home… might be a different scene.
If he’s laid back I would think he’d get used to it. My friend has one and her pets don’t even care about it. You also have a bigger place so he could go to another part of the house if he didn’t like it. Our place is too small for that.
He’s very laid back, and usually just removes himself as you say when he doesn’t want to be around something.
You can have it do the main floor and then take it downstairs and have it do the basement. It just means it won’t be able to go home to its charging station. Sometimes I have stopped ours mid-clean for nap time or if company comes over and I don’t want it to start over in the family room so I carry it down to the bedrooms and start it up there. When it tries to go back to the charging station it is confused since it didn’t travel on its own from the charging station to the bedrooms. Usually it will end up stopping somewhere random (like under a night stand) or in the dining room. Luckily it beeps so you can find it. You can train Bax to track it for you.
Poor confused vacuum. I’m glad to know that it could do both the main floor and basement, though. I think tracking anything is beyond Bax’s energy levels.
I’m super late in getting to this, buuuuuut….. the bObi has done an amazing job so far. Yes, I have to pick up a little before I run it, but it’s worth it. I use it on both floors and I definitely use our large vacuum WAY less now. It keeps me sane with the dog hair and constant crumbs everywhere!
Thanks for sharing your experience, Thalita.