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I Finally Have A Floor Mopping Robot!

I am a homeschooling mama of three nerdlings, multiple furbabies, & wife to a pretty amazing hubs. It can get pretty hectic in this house, and so can the messes. I swear this house can never stay clean for longer than five minutes.

Besides the lovely mountain of laundry that seems to be a permanent fixture in this house (oh, how I loathe thee!), the floors are the worst part of the cleanup process. In this 3 bedroom 2 bath home, there are only two rooms with carpet..TWO. The rest of the house has white ceramic tile floors – 2 living rooms, a kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and a hallway. You can just imagine what it looks like on any given day.
I Finally Have A Floor Mopping Robot! I have back problems and sweeping alone kills me. The kids help out but I am kind of OCD when it comes to that because they don’t sweep as good as I would like. Get in those corners and up under the couches! We do already have a robotic vacuum that I adore and named it Rosie – the Jestons, y’all! It’s the future!

Mopping? HA! I would rather poke my own eye out with a hot poker. I’m not going to lie, it pretty much only gets done before company comes over or it has gotten out of hand. I have a steam mop that is amazing but it’s a lot of work and my back hates me for it. Plus, why bother when it gets filthy again before the day is even over?!

If we had the money, you best believe we would have a cleaning service. Yes, the kids help out and have their own chores…but since we are always home, it’s always a mess. Seriously, who wants to be constantly cleaning up all day? I know I don’t! I need a bunch of tiny robots here to help me out.

Well, my prayers were answered recently, thanks to Hammacher Schlemmer. I Finally Have A Floor Mopping Robot!

Meet the iRobot Braava Floor Mopping Robot! I call her Rosie2. Isn’t she beautiful?! And she’s so stinkin’ smart!

iRobot Braava

With the iRobot Braava, I can get, and KEEP, my floors looking nice all day, everyday. For real, guys. There are 2 modes – dry for sweeping and wet for mopping.

I usually run the sweep mode first thing in the morning before everyone gets up. She is so whisper quiet that it is easy to forget she is even running.

The wet mop mode usually runs before dinner and hubs gets home. He loves coming home to nice clean floors. Who wouldn’t?!

 

iRobot Braava

Quick Facts:

  • Braava will clean your floors for you without disrupting your daily activity or sleep.
  • A hassle-free cleaning option, Braava uses dry or damp cloths to mop hard-surface floors for you, keeping dust, daily dirt and smudges under control automatically
  • Keep Daily Dirt In Check. Dry Mop Mode and Damp Mop Mode
  • Use with disposable (compatible with widely available electrostatic or pre-moistened cloths) or microfiber cleaning cloths to pick up daily dirt, dust and hair. These microfiber cloths can be reused hundreds of times
  • Reusable microfiber cleaning cloths included – one dry sweeping cloth and one damp mopping cloth
  • Northstar Navigation works like an indoor GPS to clean until the job is done
  • Turbo Charge Cradle recharges Braava in just two hours

iRobot Braava

The best part about the iRobot Braava, besides the fact that it cleans for me, is that I don’t have to really babysit it. Our robo vac is constantly getting stuck and so I can’t work while it’s on. It’s kind of a pain although I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t realize just how much of a pain it was until Rosie2 came along. The Braava is so incredibly smart that it can easily get itself out of stuck situations.

Since being with us and running every single day, multiple times a day, I’ve only had to help it once….ONCE. That was only because there is a strip of tile on our floor that has broken mosaic pieces in it and it got snagged on it on one spot while trying to maneuver itself away from a closed door.

Braava works best on wood, tile, vinyl, linoleum, and laminate. It may not perform as great on uneven tiles, heavily waxed floors, or rough surfaces like slate or brick because it can snag the cleaning cloth.

Dry Mop

The dry microfiber cloth that is included attracts the dirt and hair to it and keeps a hold of it until you clean it off. Right now it is sweeping the whole house (minus the 2 carpeted bedrooms) and I haven’t had to clean it off yet. You wouldn’t believe the amount of fur that it picks up even when our floors look clean! The dry cloth attaches to the Multi-Purpose Cleaning Pad.

 iRobot Braava Floor Mopping Robot

iRobot Braava

Wet Mop

The wet cloth is textured to help get a deeper clean. It attaches to the Pro-Clean Reservoir Pad, which you fill up with water. (I use filtered water.) Just dampen the wet cloth as much or as little as you like and attach it to the pad. I like to get it really wet, not dripping, but enough to get a good clean and it keeps it wet longer. The reservoir drips slowly onto the cloth to keep it wet throughout the cleaning.

 iRobot Braava Floor Mopping Robot

iRobot Braava

Before (1st test run)

iRobot Braava

After (wet cloth was only a little damp. I’ve since learned to get it really wet for a nice clean)

iRobot Braava

NorthStar Navigation

Included with the Braava is a NorthStar Navigation Cube. This acts like a beacon and emits a signal that guides Braava’s cleaning. You can use the Braava without the cube but it will only clean a small area and not be able to perform edge cleaning.

With the cube, you can get double the cleaning area, which is perfect for our whole house. Just turn it on, place it on a counter or table, and aim the blue light towards the center of the cleaning area.

 iRobot Braava Floor Mopping Robot

The cube allows Braava to build a map each time is starts cleaning your home. If paused, it still retains the map once resumed.

You can use multiple cubes at a time to clean up to a 2,000 square foot home when dry sweeping. Wet mopping will still only give you 350 square feet to optimize for cloth wetness.

The cube turns on automatically when the Braava starts running. I’m not sure if it shuts off automatically when the Bravva is done because I normally do it myself to save the batteries.

Cleaning Cycle

It cleans your home in sections, first cleaning areas to the right and then returns to clean to the left. In large open areas it will clean in nice perfect rows, back and forth. It’s so neat to watch it go. If it encounters obstacles, the Braava cleans around them and then continues on its path.

We do not have any stairs or drop offs in our home, but the manual states that the Braava does detect them and will maneuver away from them. As a precaution though, I would suggest blocking them to avoid damaging the Braava.

Area rugs and transitions to carpet are also detected so it will not try to go over them and get stuck! This is a problem we have with our robo vac and I hate that. Braava simply detects them and maneuvers away just like any other obstacle! If your carpets are flush with the hard floor, you may want to block it off.

Edges of walls and furniture are cleaned wonderfully and easily.

Quick Clean Mode

Have a spot or small area that needs a quick clean up? Hold the sweep or mop button for 3 seconds and Braava will sing a happy tune for you! She will clean 30% faster but will skip detailed cleaning around furniture and some walls to save time.

If you need to pause her, just pick her up or push any button while she is moving. She will pause automatically and will resume once you push either the sweep or mop button. She will determine her position on the map to continue the path.

I Finally Have A Floor Mopping Robot!

I love that the Braava is square instead of the usual round shape. I feel like this really helps the Braava get into those corners and up along the edges much easier.

Once the Braava is finished cleaning or the battery is too low, it will play a little song for you and park itself where it started.

Charging

There are 2 ways to charge the Braava. One way is to attach the adapter to the charging port on the actual Braava. This takes about 10 hours for a full charge.

The second way is to use the included Turbo Charge Cradle. Plug the adapter to the cradle and place the back of the Braava up to it to charge. Make sure not to have the wet cloth & reservoir pad attached to it while charging though. The cradle takes about 2 hours to charge.

 

Overall, we are extremely happy with the iRobot Braava Floor Mopping Robot. It’s perfect for maintaining a clean floor in between major clean up. Is it sad that I keep wondering what I will do if anything happens to it??

Hammacher Schlemmer has some amazing items on their site. If you haven’t heard of them, you should check them out. They even have The Most Realistic Racing Simulator! You can also connect with them on Facebook and Twitter.

 

*UPDATE* iRobot’s Customer Service is AWESOME! After only having the Braava for about 3 months, the battery stopped working properly. It wouldn’t charge and so would only clean about 2 rows before beeping at me & shutting off. I sent an email about it to iRobot and they wanted me to call them to get more detailed info. The phone call took only a few minutes & after a few questions, they decided to send me a brand new battery for free. It arrived after a few days.

The iRobot Braava has been added to our Holiday Gift Guide!

2016 Holiday Gift Guide

 

image credit: KrisandApril
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Jess Benoit

Jess is a homeschooling mama of 3, wife, gamer, Whovian, Nerd

26 thoughts on “I Finally Have A Floor Mopping Robot!

  • So this looks interesting. I would love not having to DO and letting something else do the floor mopping and a robot seems perfect.

    Reply
  • I must have this! I already have a vacuum robot, and this would complete the set. I love this, because I HATE to clean.

    Reply
  • We have a vacuuming robot and we also named her Rosie. Jetson fans unite!

    Reply
  • Oh this sounds amazing! I need to have this in my life!!

    Reply
  • Brandi Dawn

    This is awesome! Im super stoked for you. This is actually on of the nicest ones that I have seen!

    Reply
    • Thank you, Brandi! The Braava is seriously super smart, especially compared to the robo vac (different brand) that I have.

      Reply
  • Margot C

    I have that robot, exactly the same and I love it! You do need to hit that grout with some cream bleach ever couple of years or so though (I’m with you on the not cleaning too much, still).

    Reply
  • Jill Jacoby

    This looks like a dream! I have a house full of fur babies and the fur gets everywhere! I had a robovac that also used to get stuck all the time so when the battery died after I had it for years I never replaced it Good to know that technology has advanced.

    Reply
  • Debbie Welchert

    Oh how I would love to have one of these. I couldn’t believe how well it cleaned. It would be fun just watching it work.

    Reply
  • Kristin C

    This sounds amazing! How nice it must be to come home to have the floors magically cleaned.

    Reply
  • I wish I owned a floor scrubbing robot. The one job I hate is scrubbing floors so often I put that job off. This product would be well-used in my home.

    Reply
  • Hey Jess,

    My mom would love to have Rosie2!!! 🙂 By the way, does iRobot Braava create noise or any kind of sound while mopping?

    Reply
    • Hi Josh, I bet your mom would definitely love Rosie2. The iRobot Braava is whisper quiet which is another reason I love it so much.

      Reply
  • It is amazing how you wrote this post in 2016 and now robotic vacuums and moppers are becoming very popular and mainstream. Good foresight!

    Reply
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  • Hi Jess Benoit it seems to be very nice post thanks a lot

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  • Floor mopping robot has many health benefits especially for people like me suffer from allergies or have a lot of carpets in your home, choosing the right vacuum can help create a significantly cleaner environment. Thanks for sharing!

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  • These are some great tips! And you’ve got it right; it makes a massive difference. Choosing the right technic can be pretty tricky, but this guide made it a lot simpler! Thank you so much for writing; this was helpful!

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