On 6/8/2021 5:52 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Tuesday, June 8, 2021 at 3:04:21 PM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 6/8/2021 12:50 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Tuesday, June 8, 2021 at 12:44:37 PM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 6/7/2021 5:53 PM, Bob D wrote:
On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 12:51:32 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
On 6/5/2021 4:01 PM, Patrick Denker wrote:
Zombie post, but I was Googling this subject out of curiosity. The
answer is yes, absolutely. I've been using a Roomba 960 as my
overworked, much-abused and utterly stalwart shop-sawdust helper for 3
years. It fills up fast and sometimes chokes on nails and wood scraps
but keeps on chugging. I use it in combo with a large shop vac connected
to table saw dust port + overhead shop air filter. Roomba can't clean up
huge piles of sawdust but is always scurrying around my feet keeping it
under control. Emptying bin now and then way easier than shop-vaccing
whole floor. Plus you can set schedule so it cleans dust every day as it
settles. Recommend the newer self-emptying models so you don't have to
dump the bin so often.
We have had a Roomba since 2008. And we will likely always have one.
If I ran a Roomba in my shop I would not get anything done between
emptying the bin and waiting on it to get out of the way.
With that said, self cleaning to empty the bin may work but not as
quickly as simply sweeping or blowing the dust out.
We got our first roomba about a month ago, a model 8+ from Costco. It has the built-in vaccuum in the base that automatically cleans the Roomba bin when it docks. It's working well. I am still figuring out the mapping and setting up the clean zones and barrier zones. I think we will be happy with it, but I am not getting rid of our Kirby Vacuum cleaner. It does the industrial clean. The Roomba is a maintainer.
You being new with the Roomba, I would advise that you take it to the
shop/garage and clean it weekly. I pull the sweepers, rotating ball
wheel, side 3 prong sweeper, and dust bin out. I blow the vacuumm and
the dust bin out and then witrh a damp microfiber towel wipe the entire
under side and front bumpers. ALSO wipe the 3 prong brush clean.
Especially wipe the front bumper and the 3 prong brush. If left dirty
they will leave/transfer dirt lines on your base boards.
I have been doing this for the past 13 years and seems to keep things
cleaner.
We still have our pro vac too, but it pretty much only gets used with
the hose and wand to do the ceiling fan blades.
And we only have hard floors, no carpet or rugs.
I think that your final statement is key.
There is that. but if you think a regular vacuum/Kirby, Ricar, what ever
brand, will get all the dirt out, that is not going to happen.
Never said - or even thought - that.
I can't imagine that even the best made autonomous robotic vacuum
cleaner could clean a carpet as well as it needs to be cleaned. Only a
quality upright has the weight, power and brush configuration to remove
the dirt at base of the carpet fibers.
The regular vacuum cleaner is only going to remove the dirt in the
carpet. They do not remove dirt that has made it to the padding and or
past the padding. While an upright may do a better job as a robot vac,
it is not going to get all the dirt.
I used the words "base of the carpet fibers" meaning the area at the
primary backing. I certainly don't expect any consumer level vacuum
to suck dirt from below the primary or secondary backing (or unitary
backing, if that is how the carpet was constructed).
I'm not even expecting a consumer vacuum to get *all* of the dirt out,
just a lot more than any robot vacuum. The more that can be removed,
the less abrasion of the fibers that will occur. I'm as concerned about
my carpet looking good, not just clean, for as long as possible.
And something else to consider. Our robot vac runs 5 days a week. It
may very well do a better job than a regular vac that is only run
weekly. The robot vac can get dirt before it gets under the carpet.
Said the guy that doesn't have any carpets. ;-)
I would imagine that it doesn't take long for dirt and sand to get to the
base of the fibers. Gravity sucks, you know. While a daily maintenance
run of the robot will certainly help, I'll wager that you'd be hard pressed
to find a robot vacuum listed as a "recommended vacuum" by any of
the major carpet manufacturers - some of which even hint at a daily
vacuuming in certain situations.
In fact, the Carpet and Rug Institute has certified only one robotic vacuum
(out of 314 certifications) and it's not going to work in the average living
room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jFcI9c6sNI
One other thing, because we run our robot vac 5 days a week we see a
significant reduction in over all dust that settles on everything.
Before our robot vac we dusted our ceiling fans almost monthly. Now 3~4
times a year.
No doubt.
Food for thought.
My thoughts haven't changed:
When it come to carpets, robotic vacuums have their place as an appearance
maintainer but not as an overall replacement for a quality upright or power-brush
canister/whole-house system. Not if you want your carpet to last as long as
possible.
While the *surface* of the carpet might look clean after using a robotic
vacuum, the sand and dirt particles are still doing their damage. When
the abrasive dirt - especially sand - settles into the pile and then gets
walked on, it abrades the fibers. Eventually the carpet begins to look thin,
dull and flat. Carpet doesn't just wear directly because people walk on it,
it also wears - thins out - because the base of the fibers are being cut by
embedded dirt.
As Bob D said: "The Roomba is a maintainer." Tossing your quality, yet
unwieldy upright is a really bad idea. Depending on how much traffic a
carpet sees and how dirty the overall environment is, a deep vacuuming
should be done at least once a week if you want your carpets to last - not
just *look* clean.
Just a few more thoughts. I agree with a lot of what you say. And
because flooring experts indicate that a carpet is not a long term
flooring choice, it is an alternative to more expensive hard surface
flooring. AND carpet is probably preferred in colder climates and or
those that want something soft under their feet. Slightly getting off
subject here but....
I have not yet seen a carpet that looks good for an extended period of
time. We had carpet up until about 20 years ago and went all tile.
We got an average of 10 years out of a carpet and we vacuumed regularly.
Where am I going with this? I have to believe that the regular vacuums,
with a "beater bar" does damage also. It is after all beating the
fibers as the dirt passes through.
I do not think that a robot vac will pull more dirt out unless it is
used daily, before the dirt has a chance to sink deeper down into the
fibers.