The traditional mop and bucket is a logistical headache, but a 2-in-1 robot vacuum can be just as frustrating if they’re not doing what you bought them to do. If you’ve decided you’re down to pay to cross two chores off your list with one purchase, then the following factors are key in ensuring an experience that’s actually worthwhile:
Floor type sensors: A robot vacuum’s ability to adjust suction based on floor type is important even just in the dry sweeping realm. But for robot mops, this is exactly the feature that will keep your carpets from getting soggy. Most hybrids automatically start to mop once their water tank is attached, but only the smarter ones know to pause the water flow and lift their wet cloth above the carpet. Bots that remember your rooms or follow virtual boundaries can also be programmed to avoid carpeted areas while mopping altogether.
Mopping with movement and force: The best robot vacuum and mops may not scrub with as much “oomph” as your own two hands, but they can tackle shoe prints or water marks better than those that just lightly put wet cloth to floor. While most 2-in-1 models can successfully wipe up a fresh juice or wine spill, a mopping mechanism like Roborock’s sonic mopping or iRobot’s SmartScrub technology actually exerts force in tandem with rapid back-and-forth movement to penetrate stubborn dried stains and render the most noticeable results on hard floors.
Smart mapping: A robot vacuum’s navigation tech decides how accurately it can remember your home’s layout (if at all). Currently, the golden standard for smart mapping is LiDAR: A laser that scans different points in your home to determine where walls are. On the other hand, there’s also VSLAM technology — which instead uses cameras for mapping and navigation. While the camera system is typically more accurate when it comes to eyeing smaller obstacles like phone chargers or pet toys, the major downside of VSLAM is that it needs light to operate, so vacuuming in the dark is typically a no go.
Once a robot vacuum has made its rounds and gotten its bearings, it creates a floor plan to reference for future cleanings. You’ll be able to modify and label rooms as necessary in your robot vacuum’s corresponding app, as well as send the botvac to specific rooms.
Most modern robot vacuums with smart mapping also offer zone cleaning, where you can set up virtual boundaries inside or around smaller areas rather than broadly cleaning the whole room. Zones come in handy for recurrent vacuuming or mopping of areas that get dirty faster, like the floor by the front door. If your robot vacuum mop combo isn’t one that automatically cuts water flow when it crosses a rug, you can draw a zone around that area to ensure the vac doesn’t attempt to mop there.
Automatic mopping pad washing and drying: The effort that you save by having a robot vacuum that mops your floors can feel less clutch when you’re the one responsible for washing that mildewy mopping pad each time. If that sounds like a pain to you, some hybrid models take self-sufficiency past self-emptying to self-washing and drying mopping pads. These mopping robot vacuums return to a self-emptying dock that also houses a dirty water tank and a full washing and drying system for used mops.
Battery life: A 90 to 100-minute battery life should be sufficient to cover an apartment in one charge, or if most of your cleaning will be done on a room-by-room basis. Battery life of 170 to over 200 minutes isn’t hard to find and would be ideal for square footage above 1,500. Even the cheapest robot vacuums nowadays should recharge on their own and automatically resume cleaning, meaning you won’t have to pick them up and escort them back to base.