I’ve mentioned this subject before but it’s true that if you run a vacation rental, one of your biggest headaches can be cleaning the place before your guests arrive. This is particularly the case if you use a site such as Airbnb – as guests get to review you and rate your place for cleanliness.
The right tools are essential and one that I’d never be without is the iRobot Floor Mopper. I just love this little machine. And it is a very small product, taking up very little valuable space. That’s especially important in small spaces.
Let me say right away that this isn’t a robot vacuum cleaner – it’s specifically for use on hard floors (tile, hardwood, laminate etc.) and it works wonders.
As its name suggests, it’s automatic. You simply have to insert the rechargeable battery, add a cleaning pad, fill with water (unless you’re using the dry sweep mode) and let it do its thing. Your iRobot will scoot around thoroughly cleaning your floors while you get on with other tasks.
I like to quickly go over the floor first with the Dyson Vacuum (which is my other essential cleaning tool) to pick up any larger pieces of debris and then let the iRobot get to work. One fully charged battery will allow the cleaner to run for more than an hour which is the perfect time needed for it to clean all the floors in our rental apartment.
It happily scoots under the bed and under other furniture, mopping as it goes. Every now and then it gives a cheery little whistle to let you know it’s there.
And it’s a very determined little chap. It perseveres mightily with it is going along the edges of walls furniture legs and so on. Happily, it exhibits the same determination when it’s cleaning around the base of the toilet – never a nice place for us to clean manually.
It has three modes – wet mopping, damp sweeping and dry sweeping so you can select the right one for the amount of cleaning required. For example, when we’ve had guests for a week or more, or guests with pets, then the floors get the wet mopping treatment. For short stays, the dry sweeping is enough.
When you first receive your robot, it comes with a small selection of cleaning pads. The are one-use and disposable. You don’t even need to touch the dirt when you’re throwing the used pad away – the machine has an eject button.
I was slightly bothered that I’d have to keep buying more disposable pads but then discovered that long-life, washable versions are also available. They work great and I love the fact that the little guys is busily cleaning the floor while I’m getting on with other chores. In fact, if truth be told, it cleans the floors much better than I used to!
