Hands-on Review: iRobot Scooba 350

Look at all this gravy, stuffing, sweet potato goo, and other post-Thanksgiving trauma all over the floor. Who's gonna clean this up?

Not me, that's who. That's what freakin' robots are for!

iRobot has been awfully successful with its vacuuming Roomba line, but that only covers you if you have carpet. And frankly, vacuuming isn't all that tough of a job. It's when you have to break out a mop and bucket and crawl around under the dining table that things get to be a pain.

Enter Scooba, a mopping robot that does for tile, hardwood, and linoleum (God help you) what the Roomba does for rugs.

I've been trying out the Scooba 350 for several weeks and can happily report that it's restored a basic level of both cleanliness and sanity to my kitchen/dining area.

If you're familiar with the Roomba, the basic idea here is the same. The Scooba roams around the room autonomously, prepping, washing, scrubbing, and squeegeeing the floor as it goes. There's a little more prep work involved here than with the Roomba: You have to fill it with cleaning solution and water, and clean several parts after each time you run it. A typical session takes about 45 minutes before the cleaning solution runs out. iRobot says the average spot in the average room will get up to five scrubbing passes during that time. Sure enough, when Scooba's done its job, my tile floors have come out quite clean and the "dirty" reservoir inside the Scooba is filthy. The only problems are some corners and edges where Scooba obviously can't get to, and even then it's usually just some crumbs shoved off to the side. But despite the odd shape of the room, it tends to get everywhere it should.

My only complaint with the Scooba is that it's crazy loud. When it's running in the kitchen I can hear it in any room in the house, even on a different floor. Lately I've taken to running it only when I leave home. As well, I had a few technical problems when I was getting started. My first unit wouldn't work at all (though iRobot later checked it out and said it was fine) and my second one wouldn't charge its battery (iRobot sent an external charger, which fixed the issue). Cleanup is kind of a pain too, as numerous parts have to be removed, rinsed, and dried.

A price tag of $400 may feel steep for a mopping robot, but remember, cleanliness is next to godliness. If you've got two disgusting, food-tossing children like I do, it certainly beats paying for a daily maid service.