Robot vacuums work well for pet hair, and if you’re housing one or more furry friends, you’ll most likely find it beneficial to get a helping hand with the cleaning once in a while.
If you’re considering buying a robot vacuum go over your floors while you’re at work, but don’t know if it’s fully worth it yet, this article is for you.
Below are 6 reasons why you, as a pet owner, would benefit from having a robot vacuum in your house.
1. They are low-maintenance workers
Imagine setting up the robot vacuum in less than a minute, press start, and leave it to do its part while you kick back and relax, or focus on doing other more important tasks. By the time you’re finished, your floors are significantly cleaner than before.
The robot vacuum removes most dust and debris exactly like that; No effort needed on your end, with the exception of setting it up and emptying its dust bin once in a while.
A robot vacuum will get rid of anything from furballs, the hair your pet has been constantly shedding, and other dirt and debris lying around. It maintains the cleanliness of the floor for you. There are models, like the bObsweep PetHair Plus, that not only vacuum but mop the floors as well. Some of the cleaning modes also include sweeping, and they’ll indicate whether you have trash laying underneath your furniture or not.
It does the daily mundane tasks of floor maintenance without the need of your attention, and most importantly: It doesn’t complain. Ever.
According to Jonathan Chan of USA Today, dealing with pet hair on your floor requires proper navigation, agitation, and powerful suction. Robot vacuums should be able to find their way around the room, and effective pick up pet hair on any surface they’re presented with.
Thankfully, technology is constantly evolving and advancing to make it easier and more convenient for us. Recent robot vacuum models grant you better and more detailed control of where you wish for it to go. Some times an area rug might need a more thorough vacuuming than wooden flooring, in order to pick up the pet hair. With some of the newer models, this is possible to achieve by adjusting the pattern it navigates on.
A great number of features can be set through an app that comes with it. The Neato Robotics D7 Robot Vacuum is a great example of this. It doesn’t only have smart mapping navigations, but can also store multiple floor plans for homes that have more than one level. You can also set the schedule in your app and integrate it with a smart home system such as Alexa, Google Home, and Echo. That way you can control everything with your voice.
3. They work well on different types of flooring
Some robot vacuums work best on hard flooring, but newer models have improved suction and generally do better on carpeted floors as well.
Pet owners like me and you know that rugs, for some reason, are a haven of pet hair. They are relatively harder to clean than any hard floors because hair gets caught in the fibers. To effective remove pet hair, dust, and debris, agitating the fibers is a must. Recent models do a better job at this because of their rotating brushes, that go down deeply into the fibers, separate them, and help pick up anything in between them.
There are also models, such as the iRobot Roomba i7+, that have multi-surface rubberized brushes, which are effective in both hardwood and rugs. It agitates, loosens, and untangles the hair from practically any flooring you may have.
Although robot vacuums are constantly evolving and improving, they still won’t do well on high pile rugs. But regular low pile or medium pile rugs are no match for most of the newer premium robot vacs.
According to USA Today, if your rugs are taller than ½ inch, there is a lower possibility that your robot vacuum will be able to clean that area. It might end up getting stuck, or it may just bump into the edge and go in another direction.
But for general floor cleaning purposes, such as cleaning the hardwood floors and medium pile area rugs are definitely the winning qualities of robot vacuums. Additional cleaning can be done occasionally or once a week to get rid of fur stuck on thicker rugs.
4. They have stronger suction than ever before
For robot vacuums, suction power has always been one of their weak spots. Most models would have a suction that is strong enough to only get rid of dust, dirt, and some debris off the floor. Vacuuming out pet hair doesn’t only depend on agitation but on strong suction, too.
So, does a robot vacuum have what it takes to suck out the pesky fur?
The short answer is yes. There are already many robot vacuums on the market that are made with plenty of suction to pick up pet hair. But as with most products, you shouldn’t expect miracles unless you get one of the premium models.
Another improvement over older models, is the way the brushes work. New brushes are generally better at agitating the floors and get rid of pet hair, leaving your floors cleaner than previous models were capable of.
5. They come with lots of tools and features
As mentioned above, some models are not limited to only vacuuming your home but can now also mop and sweep as well. Most have long, rotating brushes attached for sweeping, and a microfiber cloth attached with velcro for mopping. It becomes very convenient to maintain the cleanliness in your home without much effort on your side.
Some of the newest models even come with automatic dirt disposal, meaning they’re able to empty themselves into a larger container for increased automation with no need of interference. The iRobot Roomba i7+ does exactly that, and people love it for the added functionality.
This innovation and new features we’re seeing with the arrival of new robot vacuums these days convince us that they’re now almost as good as the good ol’ manual vacuum cleaners.
6. There’s one for all needs
In a previous article we identified the best robot vacuum for pet hair, and there are actually a good amount of models to pick from.
Whether you’re in the market for a value model or a premium one, you’ll have no issues finding one that fits your needs and picks up pet hair very well.
When you’re picking out the robot vacuum for your needs, these are the things we recommend you to look for:
6.1 Battery life
One of the important things when looking into a robot vacuum is its battery life. If you have a small home and live alone, you can opt for robot vacuums with smaller battery life and save a few more bucks in your budget.
However, if you have a bigger home, have more than one pet, or have a bigger carpeted area, you should buy a battery with longer battery life. A longer battery life also means that your robot vacuum can do its job better.
6.2 Floor type
It is also best to consider what type of floor you have. Different floors would require different tools and features. A regular robot vacuum without any additional features and average suction power can be used for the hardwood floor. But if you have rugs, you have to look for robot vacuums that have additional tools and stronger suction power to agitate the fur caught in the fibers of your rug.
6.3 Suction power
Pet hair is a little bit trickier than your regular dust and dirt. It tends to stick onto surfaces more. Especially on carpets and rugs. So, as mentioned, aside from agitating the pet hair off the surface, the suction power has to be strong enough. A suction within a range of 1500-2000Pa is a good indicator that it can get rid of pet hair.
6.4 Size
Having a robot vacuum with shorter height would mean that it’s able to clean areas under most furniture. In most cases, these areas accumulate much dust and dirt since we tend to forget about them. Having them included in the areas that are being maintained by the robot, would save you more time when general cleaning comes.
6.5 Additional features
Additional features are always a cherry on top of your purchases. Whether it’s an additional side brush or a microfiber cloth for a mop, it is always better to know your options that would fit your need and preferences. Additional features and tools also stretch the convenience of using your robot vacuum into a whole new level. So, it is best to check and compare one product from another.
Final thoughts
There’s no doubt that having a robot vacuum frees up a good amount of time, enabling you to spend more time on the things you like rather than repeating the same tedious tasks week after week.
With a robot vacuum there’s no more fur balls rolling over your floors, and in general your floors stay clean for longer without you having to bring out the good old manual vacuum.
The following references were part of our research for this article:
- Best Robot Vacuum for Pet Hair in 2020: Complete Reviews with Comparisons by Don’t Touch the Dial
- The Best Robot Vacuums for Pet Hair by Jonathan Chan