Review: iRobot Scooba, One Year Later
Published by Joel March 19th, 2007 in Chores, Gadgets. Share This
After about a year of ownership, I have to suggest giving a pass to the iRobot Scooba. It’s not that it doesn’t work—emptying out its canister full of grey water proves that it does—but that it doesn’t work in proportion to its cost. Even discounting its initial cost (I believe I got mine for $200 via Woot!) and the ongoing expense of the “Scooba juice,” the special cleaning solution that must be used to the exclusion of any other, the amount of time it takes to operate the Scooba mitigates its overall usefulness. Sure, you don’t have to do the actual mopping, but you do have to wash out the parts after each use and fill and empty the reservoir.
The only time saved is the mopping time itself, then, which doesn’t really take all that long, especially considering the relatively small amount of square footage a Scooba can cover before it needs to be emptied and refilled. (It’ll will do about two circuits on a single battery charge.) Perhaps worse, my unit has required repair twice when a tiny port became clogged with an unknown blockage. Both times I was able to clear it with the application of air from a bike pump as advised by an internet tinkerer.
It’s a fine piece of engineering. I enjoy watching it do its thing because it is a useful robot and one that works with liquid, besides. And we’ve already got ours, so we’ll continue to use it. But considering the price of a mop and bucket and the speed with which a person can throw down a good mopping, the Scooba probably isn’t worth the trouble. (Our Roombas, in their daily circuits, have more than paid for themselves.)
Of course, if you have been compelled by my warnings to try one for yourself, feel free to buy one through my Amazon link.
14 Responses to “Review: iRobot Scooba, One Year Later”
- 1 Trackback on Mar 21st, 2007 at 7:24 am
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have yet to try the scooba, but I am utterly shocked at how well the Roomba performs. We bought one for my fiancee’s mother for christmas and it sucked up freaking NUTS on top of leaving the living room as spotless as a normal Vac does without having to do the work.
Its load though, I was hoping for it to be much quieter than it actually is.
I would have to disagree. Maybe the area you are cleaning is fairly small but we use the Scoomba in our kitchen and the time it takes to manually sweep and mop the floor is much greater than the time it takes to clean and refill the Scoomba. It saves my wife easily 30 minutes a night on the nights we use the Scoomba.
Well worth it in my option. I just wish it had an automated charging station like the Roomba. It’s kind of annoying to have to go back in and turn it off and plug it back in when it’s finished.
We have both a Roomba and a Scooba. The Roomba is great - especially when coupled with the scheduler. It runs while my wife and I are at work, so noise is no problem. All we do is empty Roomba each night when we return home.
I’m less impressed with the Scooba. We have large areas of textured tile with deep grout lines and Scooba really isn’t up to the task. It doesn’t effectively pick the water up on this surface.
Additionally, Scooba needs to be monitored while its working (unlike Roomba). It is supposed to detect carpeting and avoid it, but Scooba will happily run onto our carpet unless objects or a virtual wall prevent it from doing so. When this happens, its a mess.
I too got a couple of runs out of Scooba on a battery charge until the battery died. It was replaced under warranty, but I was told in no uncertain terms that Scooba needed to be recharged after each and every use. My failure to do so was the cause of the battery’s death according to iRobot.
Get a Roomba - they’re great, but I’d pass on Scooba.
I think the overall value depends on what you are using it for. I have an annoying dog that pees on the kitchen floor every night. I don’t have time to mop the floor every morning but i do have time to set up the scooba the night before.
In the morning I just turn it on and leave. It has the added benefit of freaking the dog out while I’m gone.
Now that I think about it, maybe that’s why the dog keeps peeing on the floor.
I have to agree with you. I bought one, together with a case of the special cleaning fluid and spare brushes.
My dogs hairs tend to totally block it up, putting it into error mode.
When it does work, it cleans just ok, but the effort involved in remmebering to charge it, then fill it, then pick out all the dog hairs totally outweighs the effort.
I’ve long since retired mine to a box in the basement.
Something to be said for five minutes with a Swiffer!
Cheers Nigel
Actually, I love my scooba. To me, 5 minutes worth of cleaning parts is totally worth not having to mop the floor - plus mopping hurts my back. I have 3 dogs so the kitchen floor has to be mopped 2-3 times a week!
Nigel, want to sell me that scooba of yours in the basement? I’d love to have one for upstairs and one for downstairs.
Tim,
LOL!
Scooba review;
This unit has been tested 100% at all hard wood and tile locations throughout our home, so there is no doubt as to its effectiveness. The unit works as a cleaner, however the time wasted on cleaning the unit afterward and the continued costs to maintain it outweight any type of benefit of its ownership. Several batteries later and continued costs on cleaner liquid. However; note that the robot uses the same liquid cleaner as the cleaning mops which you buy in local stores - a fact that you haven’t been told because of profits with marketing “special” liquid by clorox and irobot company. Price on the unit has dropped and there is a reason why - it isn’t worth the time and effort. If you like watching robots move around your home then buy this, otherwise continue the wait for the next model - it can only be better.
I actually paided nothing for this unit so I have no mixed view on the cost invested, but like the first model of the irobot roomba which was a headache this unit follows nicely. Save your money and wait to see if another unit is released, they have some work to do.
John
If your main problem with scooba is buying the “special sauce” use white vinegar instead. My measureing cup came with a line for “special sauce” and one for white vinegar about a quarter of an inch above it.
I love my scooba but hate my roomba. Roomba collects only about 90% of the dust. The other 10% it spreads in the air. So if you are sensitive to dust you need to rethink roomba.
One thing about scooba - it doesn’t do as well on kitchen counters and table tops as it does on floors. I guess the heavy grease is a problem.
I read this review and was very skeptical about the Scooba, but bought it anyways. I have to say, I adore it. The maintenance thing isn’t bad - but then again I used to find it satisfying to clean out my computer mouse. All you do is pop out the brush, hose, and filter to rinse them, then put them in the dishrack to dry. That’s it. No biggie. It’s actually satisfying ’cause all the gunk comes out in one fell swoop. In return, you get spotless floors all the time - especially in those places you never will mop (like under the bed and couches).