For a long time, we resisted buying a robot vacuum, like the Roomba j8+. As pet sitters, we experienced them in our client's homes, and we rarely saw one that worked properly. We also experienced more than one poo-nami related issue while caring for a client's pet.
Moving into a new house after months of construction was an exciting time, but it also came with new cleaning challenges. Vinyl plank flooring was an excellent choice for us due to its durability and ease of maintenance. However, it's understandable that with five dogs and two cats, the floors can quickly accumulate pet hair and debris, even with regular vacuuming.
As pet sitters, we know firsthand how demanding and time-consuming caring for others' pets can be. It can be challenging to find the time to vacuum daily, which can result in pet hair and debris building up on the floors. This situation can be especially stressful during busy periods, such as the holidays.
We decided to give the Roomba a try, since it was on sale at Costco. What sold us was their guarantee that it is able to identify and avoid pet messes.
Our First Impressions of Roomba j8+
Out of the box, it is easy to set up. Finding a good location for the base was a bit of a challenge but we settled on our office, so it would be out of the way, when charging. Once you download the app, let it charge, it is time to let it do its first mapping run.
The first few runs; the Roomba maps out your house. It is important to give it time to accomplish this, so it can properly vacuum and discover all areas of the house. It is noisy so be prepared for that, it will be too loud to run if you are on a call or just want to chill out and watch your favorite show.
It will your take the pets awhile to get used to it. They all react differently. One of our dogs runs away if it gets too close. Once they got used to it, they just ignore it and move out of the way. Our beagle, Betty follows it around sometimes!
You Cannot Set it and Forget it
There is a fair amount of maintenance required to keep it running. The app helps in this regard, providing notifications if the rollers or filter need to be replaced. The app also lets you start and stop cleanings. It notifies you if the Roomba j8+ is stuck or got lost. Sometimes, it might have trouble emptying itself or it might get stuck. If there are pets in house it gets dirty fast and pet hair often gets trapped and it needs to be manually cleaned. Pets defiantly increase the level of maintenance. Typically, we wash the rollers, check the filter and wipe it down once a week.
Pros and Cons
Overall, it does a good job on the floors. We could never find the time to vacuum every day. We have it set to vacuum every morning, some days it does the whole house, some days it does just the main areas of the house.
For us, one of the biggest cons is the noise. It is impossible to hear the tv or music over it or take phone calls. However, the app does allow you to pause it. It has a feature, where it starts cleaning when you leave the house. We chose to schedule it around our work hours.
While it does a good job of detecting poop messes, it does not always detect water or pee puddles on the floor. We have started making sure to check for any water around the water bowl. On more than one occasion, we have had it vacuum over water or pee. Which requires taking the waste bin out, replacing the filter, washing the rollers and wiping down the whole thing.
One of our favorite parts about the Roomba j8+ is the camera function, it takes pictures of obstacles that you review at the end of each run, this helps it perform better and lets you control and make new zones. Some of the pictures make us laugh because it catches one of the dogs or cats as an obstacle.
The Final Score
While it may require occasional attention, the time saved from not having to vacuum every day is a significant benefit. This allows us to allocate our time more efficiently, whether it's focusing on our pet sitting business or spending quality time with our pets, or simply enjoying some well-deserved relaxation.
By consistently cleaning your floors, it minimizes the presence of pet hair floating around, contributing to a cleaner and more comfortable living environment for both you and your pets. We would love to hear about your experiences with your robot vacuums!
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