Love the idea of a robot vacuum cleaner doing the work for you, but a bit disappointed by the results? You may just need to get to know your cleaner better. User manuals don't always make it easy to find the information you need when you need it.
In this guide, we'll cut through the noise and focus on a few useful tweaks that will help make your cleaner more effective. Whether you're dealing with pet hair, different floor types, or persistent missed spots, these straightforward adjustments will help your robot vacuum become the reliable household assistant you hoped it would be when you bought it.
1. Room mapping
While the robot cleaner creates an initial map, refining that map in the app can make it work much more effectively.
Check the map to see whether any rooms or spaces are incorrectly merged or separated, and identify each space’s unique floor surface. This task may seem like a bother, but it will save you time redoing the clean or even making up for missed areas yourself.
Is there an area that needs more regular attention? Designating special zones within rooms, such as around the litter box, can help you set up more routine cleans of those areas when you don’t need the whole house done.
2. Schedule a second pass
The first time you used your cleaner, you probably noticed some missed spots — a dust bunny in the corner or debris left behind in high-traffic areas. An easy way to avoid that is to set the app to do two passes instead of one.
Sometimes the brushes will send a stray hair or piece of lint the wrong way on the first run, or the vacuum might approach an area from an angle that doesn't pick everything up.
A second pass tackles these issues from a different direction, helping ensure a more thorough, satisfying job. Yes, it takes a bit longer, but the improved results are worth the extra time.
3. Adjust water and suction settings area by area
Sometimes you want your cleaner to pick up the day's accumulation of dust, and other times you'll want it to tackle pet hair embedded in the carpet or a big spill in the kitchen.
Most robot vacuums allow you to customize suction power and water flow for different cleaning tasks. Increase the suction to maximum when dealing with stubborn pet hair ground into the rug, and boost the water flow to deal with sticky residue or liquid spills, and you'll see a much better result.
Taking a moment to match the settings to the task makes your robot vacuum work smarter, not just harder.
4. Care for your robot vacuum
When the cleaner is full, it loses suction, and when the filters are clogged, it loses airflow. Ideally you’ll want to empty the bin after each use, clear its filters, and remove any hair or string caught in the brushes.
To keep its navigation working well and the unit charging effectively, make sure you wipe the sensors and contacts on the bottom.
Try these four tweaks, and you’ll find you’re much happier with your robot vacuum cleaner’s performance. Time to put your feet up, and let it do the work!
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