Scooba 350 Floor Washing Robot: the next generation
Written: Oct 13 '07
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Pros: leaves floors very clean, you are free to do something else while it works
Cons: extremely expensive, must use Clorox Scooba solution or white vinegar in tank, post-cleaning maintenance
The Bottom Line: The Scooba 350 is a wonderful machine that's about $200 too expensive. I'd suggest holding off and waiting for the price to come down.
njchicaa's Full Review: iRobot® Scooba® 350 Robotic Vacuum
Last December we bought a Scooba 5800 floor washing robot. It worked like a champ for about eight months and then stopped picking up water one day. I contacted iRobot and, after a few emails back and forth, they told me to ship the machine to them and they would send me a replacement.
I received the package a couple of days later and was shocked to discover that they had sent me a brand spanking new Scooba 350 which is one of the two new and improved models. This robot performs better, has twice the battery capacity, and costs almost double what I paid for the 5800... and iRobot sent it to me for free. Sweet.
About This Machine
The Scooba 350 is a lovely little robot that will zoom around and vacuum, wash, scrub, and squeegee vinyl and sealed hardwood floors all on its own leaving you free to do something else. It can cover up to 500 square feet of surface on one battery charge which translates to about two rooms in my three bedroom ranch. This machine will navigate around objects like table legs, chairs, area rugs, etc. It's also low enough to fit under cabinets, bookshelves, bird cages, and some couches.
You can "corral" the Scooba and keep it into one room (or one area of a room) by utilizing the Invisible Wall. This little device emits an infrared beam that the robot will not cross. The Scooba 350 comes with one Invisible Wall but you can purchase another one through the iRobot web site if you find that require two.
Using The Scooba 350
It's pretty easy to set up this machine. You simply add 1.5 ounces of Clorox Scooba solution or 2 ounces of white vinegar to the clean water tank (measuring cup provided) and then fill it up the rest of the way with warm water. (You also can run the Scooba with just water if you like.) It is extremely important that you use only Clorox Scooba solution, vinegar, or just plain water in the robot. Any attempt to use a different cleaning product with this machine may damage the electronics and will void the warranty.
Once the clean water tank is filled, you simply press the power button to turn it on and then the "clean" button to send the Scooba 350 on its way. Although this robot vacuums the floor before spraying cleaning solution onto it, it is suggested that you sweep or vacuum the floor prior to use for best results.
This machine will move around a room in spiral, wall-creeping, and zig-zag directions. iRobot claims that each section of floor will be covered by the Scooba 350 at least five times during a cleaning cycle. While this robot is a bit quieter than the Scooba 5800, it is still fairly loud and not something that you can easily have a conversation over or nap through.
It's also important to note that although this machine squeeges dirty water and sucks most of it up back into the tank, it will leave floors damp. This means that any room that it is working in is one that is off-limits to you for the 30-45 minute cleaning cycle and the additional 10 minutes or so that it takes for floors to completely dry.
When the Scooba 350 is finished with a room, it will beep a happy little tune to let you know that it is done. At this point you can either rinse out the tanks, refill them, and get the robot going in another room or you can plug it in to recharge.
Before you are finished with this machine for the day, there is some important post-cleaning maintenance that you must do in order to keep it running properly. The clean and dirty water tanks, the filter, the scrubbing brush, and the vacuum port must be rinsed out. The entire process takes less than five minutes and is absolutely critical to maintaining this product.
My Experience With This Robot
The Scooba 350 does a very nice job of cleaning the hardwood and vinyl floors in the house. The kitchen floor is about 50 years old and has tons of grooves in it that have collected dirt and grease. They were black when I was mopping them with a sponge mop. A year later they are almost back to their original white. The performance around the very edges of a room against the wall leaves something to be desired but I'd much rather scrub the perimeter of the floor after Scooba is finished than mop the entire room. Overall, the floors are much cleaner now that the Scooba is on duty than they were a year ago when I was messing around with a mop and bucket.
Some people may be upset about having to use just the Clorox solution or vinegar to clean the floors but it doesn't bother me. I've tried both in the Scooba 350 and the floors have looked great no matter which one I use. I personally prefer to use the Clorox Scooba solution because it leaves the room smelling a lot nicer than the vinegar does. At $6 for a 32 ounce bottle, it's certainly more expensive than a gallon of vinegar for 99 cents.
I pretty much knew what to expect from this machine since I had already had an older model for almost a year. I wasn't surprised about the loudness, the damp floors, the length of the cleaning cycle or the post-cleaning routine. I have been impressed with the longer battery life, though. We have two batteries for the Scooba and the longer cycle time provides enough time for the spare battery to fully charge before the other one runs out. This means that I can keep the Scooba 350 running all day long if I want and that is a dramatic difference from the older model that I had before.
Cost and Availability
The Scooba 350 costs $399.99 and is available in stores like Linens N Things, Target, Kohl's, etc. You can also order it directly from iRobot on their company web site.
I paid $250 for my Scooba 5800 and I thought that was a little excessive. Knowing now what I do about Scoobas, there's no way I'd pay $400 for this device. Yes, it's convenient. Yes, it's fun to watch. Yes, it frees me up to do other things as it cleans my kitchen. That being said, I'd rather save the $400 and just mop the floors myself a couple of times a week.
Overall Opinion
Don't get me wrong, I love my Scooba 350. It does a nice job of cleaning the floors and leaves me free to do other things. I would pay $250 again for a Scooba in a heartbeat. The $400 price tag is the deal breaker for me as I think it would be for most people. Most newfangled gadgets (like a floor washing robot) come DOWN in price over time. For some reason, the Scoobas are becoming more expensive which means that I wouldn't buy another one at this point.
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