Mopping is not the most fun of household tasks. You might be dealing with a bucket of soapy water, or a moistened pad that immediately gets dirty, but either way, wouldn’t you rather outsource that job to a robot? Automated robotic cleaners are best known as vacuums, but a growing segment can handle mopping, too.
Robotic cleaners come in three main forms. There are vacuum-only units, mop-only units and hybrids, which let you swap wet and dry cleaning methods. Generally, they function the same way: working their way across your house or apartment, sometimes mapping the location of walls and doors and furniture, and collecting dirt and dust so you don’t have to.
Most higher-end robotic mops now include apps, which allow you to control their operation from your phone. These apps can get very complicated, as the robotic vacuums might be constructing real-time maps of your home to avoid falling down stairs or bumping into walls. But after a few uses, you shouldn’t have to mess with them too much; the robot will learn as it goes. If you prefer the navigation of a remote, there are models that include that as well.
One important thing to know about robotic mops is that they’re more for day-to-day cleaning maintenance than power scrub. They’ll give your floors a good wipe-down, using, usually, a microfiber cloth and some detergent. That’s great for getting rid of dust and leaving your floors gleaming. But if you’ve got some sticky spills, you may still have to get in there with some elbow grease to scrub them out.
