Secret Cleaning Agent
I'd like to have a "cleaning robot" like the one shown above, though more up to date since the photograph is ten years old now, having been taken in 2006. The German original is called a "Reinigungsroboter," which is why I've labeled it a "cleaning robot," but Wikipedia calls it a "robotic vacuum cleaner."
One of my household duties is to vacuum and mop the floor every Sunday - today, for example - and having one of these little robots would cut my workload in half.
But wouldn't that be cheating since I'm supposed to do half the household jobs and my wife the other half? Cheating? Yes, I hope so.
But actually, I'm not convinced one of these would really be able to clean our apartment floor. There are too many corners and various obstacles like furniture, kitty litter boxes. book shelves, and whatnot. I'd have to trail along behind, cleaning up what it can't.
I'd therefore like to see a more recent version since a lot can change in a decade. Do any of you readers have experience with these cleaning robots?
Labels: Robots
posted by Horace Jeffery Hodges @ 7:57 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
In a strange example of synchronicity, I was myself thinking about cleaning robots, but because I was cautious, I wondered what sorts of disadvantages they brought with them. This article answers some of those questions. I hope it's helpful.
Thanks, Kevin. The article brought up some disadvantages I hadn't thought of.
Jeffery Hodges
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Hi Jeff--CPH here; I was an ill-advised early adopter of the Roomba vacuum; hopefully they've improved...or perhaps our pet-filled, rugs-and-wood-flooring-impeded living habits were overly taxing for the poor thing. I found myself needing to painstakingly extract stuff out of the axles on the wheels, like every time I used it, and it gradually faded into obscurity (actually, I sold it as an asset upon merging my little company with the other little company I merged with, and it faded into obscurity!). On a good day with the stars all aligned just right, it did in fact do a pretty good job of cleaning the floor. I think a severe, spare, John-and-Yoko type existence would go far toward their practicality...(i.e., a place that never gets dirty and doesn't need cleaning!)
I should also note that they are pretty entertaining for cats...
Thanks, Pete. Your experience confirms my concerns about this sort of vacuum - it's a cat toy!
Jeffery Hodges
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My own solution for cleaning smooth, non-ruggy floors is to use a combination of a wide lint roller and a "Swiffer Sweeper"-style wet-wipe broom. The lint roller, which I use first, picks up a horrific amount of dirt and hair; the wet-wipe broom catches almost all the rest. Cleaning a floor is a bit like an "f(x) = 1/x" graph approaching an asymptote, though: you're never quite done because you never quite hit that zero point at which the floor is absolutely devoid of schmutz. Later, when I'm older and even lazier, I'll purchase a decent vacuum cleaner, but based on my experience living in Front Royal, Virginia, vacuums don't pick up nearly as much as lint rollers do, so I'll be keeping my lint rollers with me no matter what other cleaning devices I use.
Vorsicht: lint rollers get used up twice as fast when you've got pets.
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