iRobot Vacuum and Mop Combo Review
IRobot’s latest Combo j7+ is the company’s first mop and vacuum robot. It’s akin to a Roomba and comes with similar rug-avoiding capabilities, but the mop is self-filling and compatible with more cleaning solutions.
A little robot arm emerges from the base when you instruct it to mop via the iRobot Home app or voice assistant. The mops will only be activated when the robot detects that it’s on a floor that’s hard, and they avoid the drag of carpets and rugs.
Features
A Robot Vacuum Mops vacuum mop combination is a great tool to keep floors clean without having to rely on a broom or a Swiffer. It cleans up sticky messes and keeps grime at bay, so you don’t have to fret about the mess building up in high-traffic areas like kitchens or mudrooms. It also does a much better job of cleaning hard floors than a vacuum alone and can do it in a way that is automatic.
The majority of irobot vacuum/mop combinations can be used on carpets and hard floors, so they’re an excellent choice when you have different flooring kinds. The most effective models have features that let you decide how often the robot cleans and the power it uses. Some models also have automatic emptying and can be controlled by voice.
The most well-known iRobot robot vacuum and mop combination is the j7 Combo+, which transforms into a fully-featured robot vacuum at the touch of a button. It comes with the same sophisticated obstacle-avoidance system as the j7, and a brand new onboard acoustic sensor to determine the type of flooring. When it is in mop mode, the mop only deploys when it detects flooring that is hard such as tile or wood and never over carpeting or area rugs. I tried to trick the J7 Combo+ several times into going over carpets but it would always go back and started where it began.
It’s not as fast at picking up fine particles of dust that a vacuum may miss, but it is excellent at removing dried milk stains. It has a mopping pad which is easy to refill.
The J7 Combo+ is less expensive than some other robot vacuum and mop combos, however it’s fairly pricey for a basic device. It’s got a limited battery life and a water tank, which means it has to return to its dock and recharge it between every cleaning session. You’ll also need to manually transfer it to a different room for each cleaning session and its small size and lack of a scheduling function mean it can only clean 200 square feet at the same time.
Design
irobot has developed an app for its robots. It lets you schedule and track cleaning jobs and also set up “clean zones” or “keep out zones.” The robots can be controlled through the app or via voice activation using the smart speaker of your choice. Many robots come with multiple modes of operation and some are able to detect obstacles to navigate.
The Combo J9+ is a great mop and vacuum. It does a great job at both. It is able to remove embedded crumbs, dirt and fur. It also utilizes SmartScrub to scrub the floor back and forth with constant pressure for a deeper scrubs of tough mess like grime and coffee. Dirt Detective, which is a feature that learns from previous cleaning efforts and prioritizes rooms with more dirt to make sure they get a thorough clean.
The Combo J7+ is equipped with a mopping system that raises the pad when it comes into contact with carpet or area rugs. This prevents the carpets from getting wet and makes cleaning them easy. It is also the first combination robot that can be used to vacuum and mop any type of floor which makes it a great option for those with a mix of hard and soft floors.
The Combo J7+ is similar to the standard Roomba j7 robotic vacuum. It has sleek black body and an aluminum top piece brushed bearing the iRobot logo. Its water reservoir is located in the back and the mop pad is tacked to the bottom of the unit. The app lets you see when the tank is empty or needs to be filled.
The Combo j9+ can be connected to your home’s Wi-Fi network and features onboard sensors for obstacle avoidance and navigation. It collects usage data, such as how often it moves around the house and also maps and image data, but it does not make use of this data to sell or share it with other parties without your consent. On its website, the company’s Privacy Principles can be found.
Cleaning Performance
A quality robot vacuum and mop combination can save you a significant amount of time, keeping your floors in a reasonably clean condition most of the time. It is still essential to use a mop in order to get rid of tough stains and dirty areas however it’s less frequent than using a vacuum and an empty bucket of water with a brush. It’s a great solution for areas with a lot of traffic such as bathrooms, kitchens, and mudrooms.
Consider a mopping robot If you’re looking to get the most advanced cleaning. They typically employ pads made of microfiber with a reservoir of water filled with clean water, and a scrub-like motion to clean dirt away and dust, making your floors cleaner than a standard vacuum. Some of them models, like our top choice, Braava Jet M6, even squirts detergent into the pad to give it a deeper Effortlessly Clean Your Space with iRobot Roomba 694.
The biggest downside to a mop-only robot is that it can’t do anything with carpets or area rug. If a robot comes across these surfaces while in vacuum and mop mode it will lower the pad in order to keep the surfaces wet. Unfortunately, this also means that it won’t be able to navigate around them unless you have set up special ‘clean zones’ and ‘keep out zones’ in the app.
Combination robots are more efficient in this regard, and we particularly recommend our top pick, the iRobot Braava j7+ Combo. It works much like a regular j7 vacuum, however, it comes with a built-in wet mop that it deploys when it senses hard flooring. It’s a little more aggressive than other combo robots at crossing thresholds and rugs, but it still backs up when it encounters them instead of trying to mop over them.
If you want to be hands-free for the duration of your stay, you will need a robotic cleaner that is able to learn the layout of your home and navigate between rooms on its own (our top pick for an upgrade is the iRobot Jet m6), or a combination cleaner which uses a navigation system using lidar (like the Roborock S5 Max). It is possible to create a clean zone and a ‘keep-out zone in the app so that it can determine where the furniture is.
Cost
A robot vacuum that doubles as a mop is a great way to clean your floors. It is more expensive than a standalone robot mop or vacuum. The cost will vary based on whether you want a top-quality model equipped with mapping technology that allows it to understand the layout of your home and then clean the space without running out of battery power. This feature is essential if you have carpets and rug flooring in your home. The latest Ecovacs Roborock S8 Pro Ultra or Deebots X2 Omni are the top models that have this feature.
Another thing to think about is the dimensions of your floors and the number of rooms you will must vacuum and mop. Smaller rooms require the use of a smaller robot. It is possible to get by with one that mops or vacuums, but not both. For example iRobot’s Combo J7+ is an upgrade option that bundles a dedicated mop robot with its highest-rated Roomba vacuum cleaner, and it costs a fraction of the cost of a standalone mop bot like the Braava Jet M6.
The Combo j7 Plus also includes the iRobot Clean Station, which auto-empties the mop’s dirty water from the tank for cleaning when it’s full. The base isn’t available in the standard model of the j7 and must be purchased separately. This is one reason why the combo robot is priced at $1,099 as it’s not part of the standard model.
The J7+ is a stylish, modern-looking vacuum-mop hybrid. It looks almost identical to Roomba’s i7 vacuum. It does, however, not have the features other mop-only robots have. It doesn’t have the same powerful 8,300Pa suction that irobot roomba vacuum mop‘s vacuums provide. Also, it doesn’t have a feature that automatically washes mop pads, something that is becoming more prevalent on the top mop robots. But, you can buy an add-on to the j7+ that will wash the mop pad when you’re not using it. This will stop the pads from drying out and getting messy. The j7+ is good value and one of our best robots to clean your floors.
