Yup, came home from work on Tuesday to my son announcing that he found Walter dead in his room. Before you think this is a tragic pet story Walter is my new Roomba. My son left his bedroom door open and Walter was found choked to death on four Downy dryer sheets. By the way the boy's room still stinks even though there are probably a hundred of these sheets in that room, love teen boys.
I have found Walter dead in several rooms. He has unplugged the tree twice now, tried to pull down my alarm clock, and sever times got stuck under the toe kicks in the kitchen. We added ceramic tile and with the sheet rock under it there is enough clearance for him to get under them but he gets stuck.
We solved the toe kick issues, given up on the tree, but to those that have Roombas is there any advice so we can come home to Walter happily sleeping in his charger?
Oh he cleans when we are at school/work.
Diane, I figured out the cords but I optimistically keep thinking he will learn. I know, I am bad, just, I don't want to deal with the cords but yes, I should...
Of course if I dealt with the cords the kids wouldn't have their afternoon laughter while I walk around the house going Walter!! why??!! like he is a pet or something.
Suz, we got the pet hair one and as long as we make him exercise every day there isn't a problem with pick up. I let him take last weekend off, finally had to run him Sunday, he made it though but he ate too much.
Beaver it really isn't hard to keep the floors cleared. I know he exercises while I am gone so I pick up before I leave for work. Since it is every day nothing has a chance to pile up.
I am amazed that so many people use these things. My floors would never be clear enough to set one of these loose!
I'm giggling to think of you performing Mouth-to-Roomba resuscitation. He sounds like quite a rascal, that Walter!
Choked to death on dryer sheets? It's like if Quentin Tarantino did a domestic-based movie...
How many lives does a Roomba have anyway? ;)
You have to use the little towers (I don't know what they are called, the little battery things that forbid Roomba from passing them) and look strategically at the area he is to clean before you let him at it. Poor Walter.
Our roomba nearly always makes it back. We've had him for 4+ years. There is no shortcut or trick about it, we keep our floors clear and he does his job.
You might choose a neato if you ever replace Walter. Neato travels in straight lines and will cross cross your room predictably like a mlb grounds keeping team. The upside to this pattern is you can be sure it won't be making several attempts for the dryer sheets.
Best
F. B.
i am giggling at this! i don't have a roomba but if i ever get my way i will have a robot to clean and am grateful for the review ahead of time! love that you named it too. that makes life fun!
RIP Walter!!
Thanks for the honest Roomba feedback!
But this is exactly why I have not invested in a Roomba, because our house is 3 stories, with no gates, 3 teenagers now, and way more cords and clutter than your lovely home. Roomba doesn't stand a chance in helping us out.
A friend of mine has a roomba and it rarely makes it back to the charger on its own. Tip would be to keep everything off the floor which means you have to shorten cords so they don't dangle or put something in front of them so roomba can't get to them.Clothes, toys, etc all off the floor or they'll get stuck and roomba will die.
I never try to send Roomba home. I tend to put him in rooms, and then close the door. Roomba does get caught on things, so you really need to pick up the room. He also gets caught up on heat vents. I rarely have him do the main living area. I use him in the bedrooms, family room and office. He does OK in the main living area, but he does have issues like your toe kick situation. it's easier for me to just use the real vacuum in those areas.
I don't care. He keeps my bedrooms and family room super clean since he can go under things. I love Roomba and I'm willing to deal with his imperfections.
Next year I'm buying a scooba, I've been waiting patiently for the last 3 years for them to work on that model -it has lots of bugs.
snork!!! yes, i was not prepared for this post to go this way!
no help here, i don't have a roomba although i half-heartedly asked for one for christmas. my dh thinks, probably correctly, that our pet hair would overwhelm any cousin of walter's.
nothing helped the goaty smell of adolescent boys here either. fortunately the younger loved (and still loves) burning yankee candles. the older (and smellier) just never saw an issue.
khairete
S.
I don't really have any advice, other then the already given 'keep the floors picked up', but had to say, I love that you named your cleaner robot! Ours is named Robbie :-)
No idea on Walter. But for the smells, consider some citrus magic disks. They're a few bucks in the grocery store and you can just stuff them in corners for a while. Solved my dead potato in a drawer smell problem. Bet it can tackle teen boy, too.
I want a Walter now for my house and my daughters condo!
I've thought about it before and daughters condo would be perfect. My downstairs where I live would be perfect too!!
My poodle screams for life and attacks when I run my Oreck!! I wonder what he'd do with a Walter!!
Funny! I have advice for you except maybe close doors to danger areas like your son's room. We used to have a Roomba (the pet one) but it was useless! Since we had two huskies (now down to one) the hair was just too much for the Roomba to handle! It would get filled up almost immediately and needed to be emptied over and over and over. It was just easier to sweep the floor myself.
