Robot Vacuum

[Ben Helmich]

Is anyone using a Roomba or other robot vacuum cleaner in their shops? How do they do? Do they kick up less dust than sweeping?
-Ben

[Jim Becker]

You could conceivably use one of the "heavy duty shop type" systems for general floor maintenance, but you'd still have to get rid of major debris the traditional way with a broom and/or shop vac. Remember, there's very limited storage for debris in the units themselves. I would NOT us a house focused version in a shop...it will not hold up.

[Darcy Warner]

I will mail you one free of charge, biggest pos things ever made. Thank goodness I didn't actually buy it.

[Mark Carlson]

I tried an irobot dirt dog about 10 years ago with mixed results. Battery didnt last long and it got stuck a lot. Would imagine things have improved in the last decade. Every once and awhile I consider getting a new one.

[michael dilday]

I doubt it would work very good considering the debris and obstacles.

[Matt Day]

We were gifted one and it’s more work than it’s worth. You basically need to child proof the house for it to vacuum. Damn thing gets stuck everywhere.

[Wayne Cannon]

A contrary opinion: My daughter's family has one. It works quite well, including dog hair from golden retriever and plenty of obstacles.

It's probably not suitable for a shop, because it doesn't hold much debris. It doesn't deal well with cords.

[Matt Day]

A contrary opinion: My daughter's family has one. It works quite well, including dog hair from golden retriever and plenty of obstacles.

It's probably not suitable for a shop, because it doesn't hold much debris. It doesn't deal well with cords.

We told my parents, who gifted it to us, that it works well too. Lol

[Patrick Kane]

I have the 960, and think its genius. I have hardwood floors without carpets, and the thing does a great job. My one bulldog sheds and it drives me nuts. I usually take the dogs for a walk and let the Roomba run while im out(otherwise, the pups would destroy the thing, no questions there). I do that every day or every other day. Either everyone else has a very different household setup(more furniture, carpets etc), or an inferior robot. I freaking love this thing.

For the shop, this one would be a catastrophe. Like Jim said, the bin is 350-500ml? That would last for 5 minutes down in my shop. I love the idea of a shop one, and ive seen makita and others produce one, but the application is very different from home use. if you have a ton of money to burn, the top of the line roombas empty themselves several times. Otherwise, i cant imagine a small robot cutting it in the shop.

[Ole Anderson]

I have one, just use it on hard floors, works great in the bedroom where it just fits under the bed and dressers to get all of the dust bunnies. I do use it occasionally in the basement adjacent to the shop (Pergo floors). It works fine for that, but my shop is too cluttered to use it there.

[ChrisA Edwards]

We have a Roomba 960, it was ok, but got stuck a lot transitioning from wood flooring onto area rugs.

SharkIQ offered a 90 money back trial so we thought we'd give it a go. It works much better than the Roomba and empties itself into a bin that you need to empty about every 5-6 cleanings. We are beyond our 90 period and so far it's only got stuck once. It's also quieter in operation.

We have relegated the 960 to the master bedroom and bathroom.

No way I would attempt to use other of these in a workshop.

[Paul F Mills]

We have an i7 and absolutely love it. There is one rug it has issues with so we have it programmed to avoid that area. I cannot imagine it doing well in the garage though.