Robot Vacuum for Pet Hair Buyer’s Guide
Robot Vacuums vs. Vacuums
Stick and handheld vacuums have one job, which is removing pet hair and dust from furniture, carpets, rugs, and floors while you take care of the navigation. That’s why those types are usually good at what they do. Robot vacuums, on the other hand, take care of both tasks; cleaning and navigation, making them trickier to purchase as you need to find one that’s a good robot and a good vacuum at the same time.
Factors to Look Out For
Budget
Robotic vacuums are expensive, there’s no denying that, which is why you need to determine your budget and how much you’re going to shell out on your smart device before delving into our picks.
If you only want the basic functionalities and don’t care about extra and gimmicky features, such as WiFi and smart navigation, then you can easily score a high-quality robotic vacuum without spending more then a couple hundred bucks.
If you’re willing to shell out whatever amount it takes to reap the benefits of extra, convenient features and get all the bells and whistles of smart robotic vacuums, then you’re looking at an investment that starts from 300 dollars and above.
Suction Power and Performance
Not all robot vacuums are created equal. Most models can handle hard floor flooring – such as hardwood vinyl, and tile – just fine, but many among them don’t do well when cleaning carpets or rugs. That’s why you need to consider what flooring types you have in your house before making your final choice. Typically, robot vacuums that can work on carpets are more expensive than those suitable only for hard floorings.
As a general rule of thumb, you needn’t shell out wads of cash if you mainly have hard flooring in your house. In that case, a budget model with at least 1000W of suction power is more than enough. On the other hand, if you have a lot of rugs and carpets, then you ought to get a more expensive vacuum capable of cleaning those surfaces without breaking a sweat.
If you decide to go with the latter, aim for a model that has a power boost feature that allows it to increase the suction power automatically as soon as it detects a carpeted area.
Note that even expensive, high-end robotic vacuums are most limited to low-pile carpeting. If you have thick carpets and rugs that you need to clean, you might want to consider using the good ol’ corded vacuum of yours.
Self-Sufficiency Level
Although all robot vacuums require some level of attention to work properly, the level of self-sufficiency differs significantly from one model to another.
Some models can take care of most tasks themselves. It’s like if they have a brain of their own, courtesy of the technologies they feature. Such high-end models can be scheduled to work during specific times of the day, they can be controlled remotely, and they don’t require much preparation from your part before starting to clean your house.
High-end vacuum cleaners can also navigate neatly around the covered area, find their way to the charging station when the battery starts running low, and clean efficiently so that pet hair doesn’t get tangled around the brush.
Now, of course, such features come at a price – one that not everyone is willing to pay for a robotic vacuum. If you decide to skimp on a device in this category, set your expectations right and be prepared to supervise your robot most of the time.
Battery Life
Robotic vacuums offer more runtime compared to their stick and handheld counterparts. That’s mainly because they’re smaller and less powerful. Most robotic models can keep going strong for 60 to 90 minutes, while expensive, high-end units can clean for up to two hours on a single charge.
Once the battery runs out of juice, some robotic vacuums just stop and you have to carry them to the charging station, while others navigate back by themselves as soon as the battery starts running low. It’s easy to see which kind is more convenient.
Navigation
To navigate around your house, robotic vacuums use infrared or optical positioning. Infrared navigation involves sensors emit beams that inform the device of the distance, whereas visual navigation relies on cameras that are typically mounted on top of the vac. As you may have guessed, the latter type of navigation isn’t efficient in pitch black rooms.
Dustbin Capacity
This is especially important to consider if your pet sheds a lot, as the vacuum cleaner would fill up rapidly in that case. When searching for the best robot vacuum for pet hair, look for one with a relatively large dustbin capable of holding plenty of pet fur and debris. Such a unit will come in handy if you’re not always around to empty the bin.
Barriers
There are three ways through which you can stop your robotic vacuum cleaner from wandering aimlessly and covering the same areas multiple times, which are:
Magnetic Strips
This is the simplest method to avoid robot vacuum pet mishaps. You simply lay down a set of magnetic strips o, the floor, and they’ll create a barrier that the device won’t bypass. The main inconvenience with magnetic strips is that they’re cumbersome.
Virtual Barriers
Some smart robotic vacuums come with small devices that emit an infrared line that sets a virtual limit or barrier that the device cannot cross.
Apps
You can use smartphones and tablets to control everything these days, even the best robot vacuums for pet hair. Thanks to modern mapping technologies, devices in this category can get a better understanding of their surroundings and send the data to your smartphone for you to set the limits and navigational guidelines for the vacuum. Quite impressive, huh?
Roller Brush
If you need the best robot vacuum for pet hair, you must look for a model that comes with a roller brush. Many products in this category feature only side brushes, which, although good enough for dust and debris, won’t be able to take care of pet hair efficiently.
What a roller brush does is it picks up pet hair as the unit moves around. That’s why it’s especially essential if you have carpeted areas or plenty of rugs in your house.
Vacuum Controls
Robotic vacuums can be controlled in three ways:
- Using the physical buttons on the unit.
- Through a remote control.
- Using an app on your phone.
- Using voice control if the unit is compatible with virtual assistants such as Alexa.
How to Use a Robotic Vacuum Efficiently
Even the best robot vacuums for pet hair aren’t as “set and forget” as most people believe. That’s why you need to follow some tips to make the cleaning operation using such a tool more efficient.
- Set up the vacuum exactly how the manufacturer instructs it. That’s important for two reasons: one, you don’t want to void your warranty and two, that’s how the robot will be able to dock automatically when the battery runs out of juice.
- Remove any clutter, such as cords, toys, and clothes, off the floor, as they can easily trip the device.
- If you have a smart vacuum cleaner, make sure to set its virtual barriers to prevent it from wandering aimlessly and going over the same areas again and again. Depending on the model at hand, you can also use magnetic strips or your smartphone to set the limits for your device.
- Keep the vac well-maintained all the time. You can do that by emptying the dustbin whenever it gets filled up and cleaning the brushes and filers regularly.
