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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely good, 9 April 2010
This review is from: iRobot Scooba 385 Floor Washing Robot (1 Year UK Warranty) (Kitchen & Home)
This is a first impressions review and I'll add to it at a later date once I have longer term experience of it. At the time of writing, the Scooba 385 is the newest model. It's easy to encounter things that at first aren't too clear with something new, so I've given a detailed account of our first use of the machine.
iRobot tell me they'll look into putting stickers on the box over the 'contents' part that currently states a measuring cup & bottle of solution are included. What is included are 4 sachets of cleaning solution ..bottles can be bought from iRobot's UK website along with other spares and a caddy to store it upright etc - all reasonably priced. Customer service respond quickly to queries and are very helpful.
Scooba is an inch or so bigger in diameter than the Roomba 530 vacuum which we have. It doesn't have a docking station and is charged via a socket at the side which is attached to the power supply unit. On the other side of the power supply unit is another socket to plug in the power lead with the 3 pin mains plug on the other end. The day it arrived, we got no further than trying to attach this lead to the power supply and found that no matter how many times we tried, it just would not plug into the power supply unit ...I eventually realised that we have the same type lead on the Roomba power supply so tried that and it fit right away and the Scooba began charging. iRobot and the supplier could not understand why this had happened and the supplier asked us to send the lead back saying they would replace it with one that did plug in properly. Before doing this though, we tried it again, and it plugged in easily! We can only assume that something was misaligned in the socket or perhaps a foreign body/piece of stray plastic had obstructed it and had cleared by the use of the Roomba lead which is ever so very slightly smaller than the plug on the Scooba lead. iRobot & the supplier both said they'd never had this happen before so it may not happen again, but I mention it just in case!
As a result, the Scooba was charged overnight as advised even though it stopped flashing (on charge) after a few hours. The green light on the Scooba stops flashing and is steady once fully charged & ready for use after that initial overnight charge.
This morning my husband had unplugged it thinking it the right thing to do once fully charged - as a result, when I plugged it back in after a few hours, it re-charged for around 40 minutes. iRobot tell me that this is because the unit is constantly 'thinking' and checking itself resulting in battery resource being used ..hence the reason to keep it plugged in at all times - and is why they advise removing the battery if not plugged in. It obviously expects to be used when not connected to the mains supply.
I'm glad we got a caddy as it makes it easy to keep it all tucked reasonably neatly out of the way near an electrical socket (ours is in the study at the side of the desk).
This evening, I was ready to try it for the first time. It's very easy to lift off the tank section and the two tanks have side by side flexible 'stoppers' for filling/emptying. The machine runs for 45 minutes on a full tank which is adequate for at least a fairly large dining kitchen/utility. A half tank will run for a shorter time.
The cleaning solution (if used - plain water or white vingear can also be used instead) is put either into the tank direct or into a jug of warm water prior to filling - never use hot water as the Scooba can overheat. 7ml of Scooba fluid is advised, and I found the sachets included contain a generous 7ml. The bottle of solution has a fairly small cap and a capful is advised. I found one of those small plastic medicine measuring cups and it fits neatly on top of the bottle of solution and makes measuring the amount very easy and none is spilt. A bottle gives 64 full tank uses. The Scooba keeps on working until it has used up all it's solution and then chimes to either be switched off or have the tank replenished. For smaller floor areas, less solution & water is necessary but there's no indication of quatities given. I found the solution tank holds roughly 1.1/4 pints ..perhaps a little more. When it looks full, tilt it from side to side and the level drops slightly allowing it to be fully topped up. For a smaller floor, use half solution/water and see how it goes - these can be adjusted to suit floor size and level of cleaning required. It's best to let it use up all the solution you've put in as it does a drying cycle on itself at the end of it's cleaning cycle. However it can be stopped at any point, and the drying cycle can be manually initiated. Once filled, re-fit the plug properly, replace the tank unit in the Scooba (very easy) and it's ready.
I rolled up the doormat rug (actually popped it into the washing machine to have it's own 'clean') and put the dining chairs in the hall ..which I'd need to move anyway if mopping or using any other electric floor cleaner.
If there are any other easy to move objects on the floor or electrical wires, do try to move them as it will enable easier cleaning with nothing to cause the Scooba to get stuck.
Place the Scooba in the middle of the floor, press the power button and then the clean button - it starts going around in increasing circles until it finds a skirting board or something solid (in my case it was a kickboard under the kitchen units), and then starts running along the edges to see how big the area is - once it touches another solid object, it moves out and begins circling again and thus calculates the shape and size of the room, all the while cleaning as it goes. I noticed that it merely lightly nudges anything it encounters and changes course - it seems very unlikely that it could damage anything.
At this point, I closed the door and left it to get on with kitchen and utility rooms. Around 45 minutes later I heard the chime and it had stopped, being empty, and had completed it's cycle. The whole of the floor areas had been covered and looked spotless. Yes it does leave the floor visibly damp, but it does dry off very quickly. Next time I do the floors, I'll leave a dry microfibre floor mop near the door and lightly wipe over where I need to walk on the floor if I need to go back in before it dries out or to turn off the Scooba.
I pressed the power button to turn it off, placed it on the drainer and removed the tank unit - very easy to empty and rinse out ...the water was pretty dirty too for all those floors had been done thoroughly two days previously and even lightly vacuumed before I stared using the Scooba (hoping to prevent too much 'debris' getting into the filter and vacuum port). I then removed the mesh filter, and as it narrows towards one end, found that if I ran clean water over it from the outside of that end all the bits that were inside it easily washed out because those bits seem to gather at that end. After replacing it, I took out the vacuum port not expecting anything to be in it, but sure enough, running clean water through it produced more debris (this after that light vacuuming before starting too!) That went back into place very easily and I then pressed the release button for the brush cartridge and it popped out of the side - not really dirty, very easy to rinse and it was replacing it in the machine that I found the only slightly tricky part so far. I had three tries before it satisfyingly clicked into place. I'll no doubt get used to doing this after a few more uses. It's essential that these three things (filter, port and brush cartridge) are kept clean & replaced properly flush in position or the machine may not work.
A quick wipe over and it was placed back on charge - fully charged and ready to go again after two hours! It only took a few minutes to clean it - not that much more than emptying a bucket of water and rinsing a mop head.
We have slightly textured pale ivory tile effect vinyl right through these two rooms that was only laid four months ago, but through the winter, a very slightly visible path appeared right through from the back door to the hall door where the most footfall ocurred - it was where grime had gradually become ingrained in the random lightly textured areas of the flooring. I'd had to resort to a scrubbing brush a week ago to deal with this which was hard work ..and that is why we got the Scooba. We're hoping that by using it every two-three days (or whenever necessary) it will prevent that build-up of grime, or at least make it a lot slower to build up.
The Scooba cleaning solution has no harsh chemicals in it (it's an enzyme solution), has a light, delicate smell and caused no allergic reactions, seems to leave no residue on the floor and also appears to clean very efficiently.
The build quality of the Scooba does seem slightly flimsier than the Roomba, but I do think that's due to the design and purpose - it does work a little differently to the Roomba. Using & cleaning it doesn't require any rough handling, it doesn't dash around or bang into things - it works quite sedately, no doubt to do a thorough job, which it does seem to do -so with normal use and no accidents, it should be fine. Best to keep it out of the way of small children though - standing or sitting on it would probably damage it. A cupboard with an electrical socket inside could be a solution where there are small children around.
I lightly vacuumed before using it because we have two dogs that although not a shedding breed, can leave bits of wool around, and I have long hair & I'm not sure if these things could eventually clog it. If general dust, 'bits' and crumbs are all it's likely to encounter, then it does vacuum as it cleans & washes - does it all. It doesn't get right into corners, but these are very easy to wipe clean as I'm doing...
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