I am renting a house temporarily which has sand-colored Spanish tile floors. My dog, Striker, and my fostered African Grey parrot, Sam, seem to emit twice as much hair and fluff in a week than seems possible. This offput inevitably ends up on the bottoms of bare feet which walk across the room quite unsuspecting after a nice hot shower or a seemingly perfect pedicure. So amidst the puppy dog eyes and the heart-felt renditions of “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother” from Sam, I yet again swept and mopped my huge latin dance floor.


Enter RoboMaid, which I bought for $12, a seemingly cheap price for such technology….robotics no less. Well, its name does kind of exaggerate its possibilities so upon opening the box I found its contents quite paultry:

Robotic Ball
A cap-like collector (plastic)
Built-in Rechargeable Battery
Battery Charger
8 Electrostatic Pads


How it works:

The Robotic Ball works a propeller for the cap which collects the hair and dust on the Electrostatic Pads attached to it. Basically, it rolls around the floor haphazardly doing its work. The battery powered ball has an “on” and “off” switch. Turn the switch on, place the cap over it after attaching the electrostatic pads to the flat circular pick-up zone and watch it clean. Its recommended to fully charge the battery before use and use all power before recharging. That lasts two or three hours which totally covers the floors in my house. There is a timer which can be set at half hour intervals up to ninety minutes.


Does it work?

In exchange for sweeping, “Another One bites the Dust,” Sam chirps. However, dog hair and fluff that have been a problem for me are no longer if I let the RoboMaid ball roll for a couple of hours and change or clean the pad a couple of times. It even finds the hard-to-reach areas such as under the beds which is an added treat. However, some dust is left behind as a material too heavy to lift. This product will only lift light-weight material.


My Thoughts:

Well, this product is not of the highest quality. It’s actually cheap and flimsy. It can get in your way at times and does get hung up on certain corners and bumps. But what could you want for $12? It is definitely not a miracle-worker. A fad? Maybe….however, this product has become a cheap solution to a “big hair” problem in my household. No more after-shower toe jam or hairy pedicures. As for Sam, it must have ruffled his feathers too as he chirps “That’s cool!” “That’s cool!” while my Robomaid does its duties.


Recommended: Yes