Watching a Roomba

Reading Time: 3 minutesIn theory the entire reason for getting a Roomba is to let it do the vacuuming and forget about it. In reality I always feel the desire to watch roombas as they do their work. It doesn’t make any sense, because the entire goal of a roomba is that it automates what many people find to be a chore. Vacuuming can be quite boring and quite frustrating, especially during the muddy seasons.

During the season I often need to vacuum every day, sometimes even several times a day. Mud likes to get on shoes but brushing doesn’t get it off. Walking does. The g-forces that we generate when our feet hit the ground loosen the mud, especially the next day, as we’re running down the stairs to exit the building.

Wet mud is well behaved. It sticks in place, and it’s hard to remove. Dry mud tends to fall off in clumps. With the roomba that dried mud is easy to clean up. The robot will take care of picking up every last bit of mud.

The paradox of watching a Roomba is that you see bits of dirt and you think “go and get that bit of mud, stop ignoring it. Stop going back over the same spot six times. Of course, by going over the same spot six times a roomba picks up all the dander and fluff from our clothing, as well as human dust, hair and more. It really is methodical.

What looks clean to us, as humans who vacuum is still dirty, and a roomba will pass over and over until everything is gone. What may seem clean, when you look at it by eye is still dirty. It’s just that it is so sparse that we don’t detect it by eye. It’s when we check the roomba filter that we see how dirty the floor was. It’s when we see a big quantity of fluff in the bin.

Yesterday as I watched a brand new roomba clean the floor I expected that I would see dried mud but I saw as much dander as if I had run a clothes drier through three or four loads without cleaning the filters. Don’t forget to clean filters after every run. That dander is a fire risk.

I think that Roomba are expensive but when you compare their price to normal vacuum cleaners they are reasonably priced. You could pay the same for a human guided vacuum cleaner but by doing this you would not be as methodical about vacuuming. As a human we are guided by what we see. If it looks dusty we will clean. If it looks clean we won’t devote much time.

Do you have a room where the light shines in at a low angle, in the morning, or in the evening? I have noticed that if I hoovered at sunrise I can see the dirt because of its shadow. I saw this and thought at least two or three times that I should grab the opportunity to vacuum when the dust is contrasted with the surroundings. The roomba is so fastidious that time of day doesn’t matter. You can clearly see that a Roomba has been at work because the floor looks clean.

Roomba als have another advantage. they’re low to the ground so they can go under furniture that is high enough. They can go under couches and sittees but they can also go under over furniture. They can vacuum and mop places that may never be mopped or vacuumed due to these places being otherwise inaccessible.

Sometimes with a Roomba it really cleans the floor well but in vacuuming well it also highlights where you need to pass with a mop and bucket to get the floor to be perfect.With some roomba they are equipped with a small reservoir of water in which you put water and optionally soap. The roomba will then hoover with the front, and mop with the back. It isn’t over-exuberant like a human. It leaves just enough to clean, but not so much that your socks are soaked if you walk around as it mops.

## And Finally

If we watch Roomba work it can be frustrating to watch as they throw dirt away from their path, or kick it to a place they cannot reach. It can also be amusing to get a roomba to vacuum in a room where tiles that were being cut generated an enormous amount of dust. In such situations Roomba become artists. Roomba are expensive and slow but they’re good at making a place look clean. With newer roombas they are quieter so you can run them while you’re around without the noise being as disruptive.