Hard Floor Vacuums Find Best Hard Floor Vacuums Reviews, Tips, Videos
- Self rotating duster with automatic navigation
- Uses exclusive, disposable electrostatic cloths
- Collects and retains dust and hair on an electrostatic disposable cloth
- Runs on rechargeable batteries, no need for cords.
- Refills available on Amazon
The innovative O-DusterTM Robotic Floor Cleaner Makes Your Life Easier with faster and simpler floor dusting. The O-DusterTM’s auto-navigation feature effectively covers all your hard floor surfaces, giving you time for the rest of your to-do list. Its flexible base is designed to reach into corners and along edges while the compact design slips under sofas, beds and other furniture to grab dust and pet hair.
This is the most amazing thing ever…,
A couple of years ago I bought my sister the first generation of the Mint Automatic Hard Floor Cleaner for about $250.00. Several weeks ago I ran across the O’Cedar O’Duster at Wal-Mart for about $40.00 and made an impulse purchase. I was so impressed that I got my mom the O’Duster for Christmas. My review will not only comment on my experience with the O’Cedar product but also compare the O’Duster to the Mint.
Both of these products are hard floor sweepers (note I said “sweeper”. There is no sucking action on either of them.). They use a disposable cloth product to sweep wood, tile, vinyl, etc. They will not work on carpets/rugs; nor, are they designed to wet-clean the floor. These do not take the place of mopping.
First, a description of the O’Cedar O’Duster…
There is a round plastic center housing that is about eight inches in diameter and a little over two inches tall. It is surrounded by a circular, flexible mesh netting that secures the dusting cloth. On the bottom are two wheels that propel the device and cause it to spin as it moves forward. Operation is very simple. Charge the device, put on a new cloth, pick one of two settings, and let it go until it stops. While it is running it is about as loud as one of the new quiet dishwashers. It’s not loud enough to run you out of the room, but you can definitely hear the motor grinding away.
My experience…
I have a centrally located kitchen/dining area in my house that is approximately 600 square feet and has sheet linoleum flooring. The only way to move through the house is passing through this room so it receives a lot of traffic and there’s always stuff on the floor. In addition, I have two large indoor/outdoor dogs that are not regularly brushed, so despite what feels like constant sweeping, I continue to have those dog-hair tumbleweeds rolling across and never feel that I can really get all the grit off the floor.
The first time I used the O’Duster I had not swept in a couple of days. I charged it for a bit (not a full charge), put on one of the three pads that come with it, and let it go until the battery died. Although the disposable pad was filthy, I could still see things on the floor (i.e. part of a dried leaf, a broom straw, etc.). I was initially really disappointed and figured I had just blown forty bucks. However, as the evening progressed and I was walking around the room barefoot, I realized that I wasn’t picking up grit on the bottoms of my feet. The floor felt a lot smoother. It was noticeable enough that I figured I would try it again after it was fully charged.
After a full charge and a second use the cloth was still dirty. I could still see things on the floor, but there was no grit anywhere and no dog-hair tumbleweeds. Also I noticed that most of the things I could see were pushed to the perimeter of the room. So, I pulled out my vacuum with a hose attachment and made a quick loop of the room and sucked up all the crumbs and stuff around the baseboards. I was sold. It may not be perfect, but I could live with this if it meant the grit and dog hair was gone.
Since then, I have bought a pack of the pads and continue to use the little guy every day or two. Once a week, I pull out the vacuum and make a loop around to clean the stuff that has been pushed to the baseboards. It is a little dose of heaven.
Comparing the O’Duster to the Mint…
As I stated earlier, my experience with the Mint was during its first generation. I do not know what improvements have been made to its programing over the couple of years since I played with it.
*****Cost
The Mint is about six times as expensive as the O’Duster. My sister has had hers for two years now and it is still working. I have only been using the O’Duster for a month so I can’t comment on its durability, but I could replace it several times and still come out ahead financially. I will update if/when the O’Duster quits working.
*****Algorithms and Programming
The Mint (like other iRobot devices) purports to have some advanced programing where it first travels around the room to learn the layout, and then picks the most efficient way to sweep the entire floor. As it bumps into things it memorizes their locations and adapts. That sounds pretty awesome, right? It’s really overrated. Our experience using it in my mom’s kitchen was it never realized that the kitchen island was actually an island with a big swath of floor behind it. After running the Mint three times, it never went to the back side of the cabinets and when it finished its cycle always reset to the beginning and had to waste battery life re-learning the room. It would not just go back to where it had left off. There was no way to just pick it…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|Great tool for those who are not expecting this to replace a human.,
Customer Video Review Length:: 0:31 Mins
I vacuum regularly but because I have pets, I need to Swiffer every couple of days or else a layer of fur builds up on my hardwood floors. I decided to give this a try and it works well for me. The long cycle lasted 2.5 hours when I tested it. It’s not a Roomba, so don’t expect a vacuum cleaner. It’s not the Mint, so don’t expect anything advanced or smart from it. It’s simply a moving Swiffer-type cleaner that grabs small items like dust and pet/human hair. Don’t expect it to pick up anything bigger and your expectations will be realistic. This does not replace a vacuum cleaner or actual sweeping by a thinking and seeing person, but it’s good to leave on to do its stuff in between cleanings to get some pet hair off the floor without effort. It will get stuck in some areas like elevated edges, rugs, wires, and tight corners, so it probably won’t be that effective left on when leaving the home. A great tool for those who are not expecting this to turn this world upside down. It’s $25 bucks, not a $400 Roomba or a $250 Mint, so let’s be realistic. It’s a cleaning toy that actually works. I posted a video (don’t mind the sock bumpers around it, I created that because my wife does not enjoy it bumping lightly off objects) of it at work to show how well it goes underneath furniture. It does really well cleaning under the bed! Will post updates as time goes by.
Update 7/31/14. This little machine is still going. I run it daily and it has significantly reduced the build-up of dust and pet hair on my floors. Vacuuming under beds, couches, and cabinets is much easier because there is pretty much no accumulation of dust there since the O-Duster loves to go underneath furniture and take care of that back-breaking task. Sometimes the motor goes around in circles, but that just means the wheels need to be cleaned or it needs to warm up. Again, it’s a $24 cleaning robot, so keep your expectations low and you will be satisfied. I turn over the cleaning pads to maximize their use. Still swearing by this, though I’m curious to see how long it will last. Will keep posting updates. 🙂
Update 10/1/14. Still working well with daily use! Sometimes when it’s not moving as it should, I check the wheels to see if anything is stuck and and clean them. If it spins in circles that means something is off in the wheels and just needs adjustment. I’ve gotten so much use out of this cheap machine and haven’t Swiffered since June. That alone is worth the $24. Happy with this.
Update 2/19/15 – Still working well! If it starts to move randomly, just clean the wheels and it’s good as new. Well worth the money.
Update May 2015 – This device finally died. RIP. I was thinking of replacing it but they raised the price to $40+ and I didn’t think it was a worth that much. I got an iRobot Braava instead on sale for $130 and use that daily instead. Would still get this for $20 though.
0
Was this review helpful to you?
|