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Why Robot Vacuums Can’t Beat Traditional Vacuuming

woman vacuuming with a dog in the background

We all love those little gadgets in our lives that make life easier. As years have gone by, tools for cleaning have seen some major upgrades. One device that stands out, in particular, is robotic vacuums. While convenient and incredibly cool, they just aren’t the same as traditional upright vacuums with bags or canisters.

Vacuuming is a critical part of keeping your carpets and home clean. Some may even consider it a “necessary evil.” But the fact remains, it is necessary.

If you love your robotic floor cleaner and simply don’t want to pick up a vacuum, call TLC Cleaning.

As a premier cleaning company in Fargo, North Dakota, our employees would love to pick up your Roomba’s(™) slack so you can put your feet up (above your spotless carpets) and relax.

Don’t worry, you can keep your Roomba(™)

Some people get really attached to their robot vacuums. So much so, that sometimes they are often affectionately given names by their families.

That’s okay. In fact, we love that a cleaning tool could be so near and dear to your heart that you want to name it Rosie after The Jetsons’ robot housekeeper.

You can love your robot floor cleaner, but that doesn’t mean they can completely replace a good old-fashioned upright vacuum.

When robotic vacuums work

woman watching TV with her feet up while a robotic vacuum runs

The main perk of having an artificially intelligent floor cleaner is the sheer convenience.

Some can even connect to Wi-fi so you can start and schedule them through an app when you’re away on vacation or while you’re at work.

But, robotic vacuums are still useful for when you are home. You can do other cleaning tasks, like folding laundry or dusting, while your Roomba(™)gets the whole lower half of the room.

Delegating some household responsibilities to a robot is a simple solution to cutting back on the time you spend cleaning.

Even if you just use your robotic vacuum to get all the Cheerios every day after breakfast, you don’t have to spend precious morning minutes picking up the mess. Or, even worse, come home to clean up the cereal after a long day at work.

Robot floor cleaners are also great for pet owners. If you own a pet with fur, you know you’ll find hair everywhere. Pet owners the world over know frequent cleaning comes with the territory of sharing your home with a little (or big) fluff ball.

No matter how much you love your pets, there probably hasn’t been a single person to say they love the pet hair situation.

Roombas(™) or Ecovacs(™), or Deebots(™) don’t work as well on large quantities of longer pet hair. But, if you have a short or medium-haired family member, a robotic vacuum may be a good investment.

With a robotic floor cleaner, you can effortlessly minimize unwanted pet hair in your home.

While there are some things robovacs are great for, there are some things that set them back from a traditional upright vacuum.

When robotic vacuums don’t work

Autonomous vacuums work best in rooms without tons of furniture and clutter. So that means your little Rosie isn’t the greatest for any of the kids’ rooms.

Also, your little cleaning buddy isn’t suited for cleaning rooms with thicker rugs, like shag. Thicker carpets can tire out your robovac. When floor coverings are thicker, they tend to use more battery life than on shorter lengths of carpet.

If your robot runs low on battery, it will return to the docking station, sometimes before it finishes the whole room.

Dark floors may also be an obstacle your sweet Rosie has a hard time overcoming.

And, due to their small internal dustbin, they aren’t capable of doing a whole house, weekly type vacuum.

Additionally, because they are robots, there are some things they just might miss.

And while Roomba’s(™)or other robotic vacuums are great for pet hair, they aren’t necessarily great for all pets.

If you have a new puppy, you may want to think twice before allowing your robot floor cleaner to work unsupervised.

These little robots can’t avoid obstacles that come with a new pet that isn’t potty trained. There may be a certain viral video on the internet of a very smelly encounter a robovac had in a home with a little puppy accident.

While kind of funny to see happen to others, this incident is never something you want to happen to you. Please don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Let’s sum it up

Robotic vacuums are super good for:

-Homes that are typically picked up and tidy

-Households with lots of extra fur from pets

-Homes with messy eaters

-Pets that are potty trained

-People who want to spend less time cleaning, and more time living

-Living in a home where you don’t remove shoes upon entry

Avoid robotic floor cleaners if:

-Your floor or home has a lot of clutter

-You have a lot of furniture or crowded space

-You consider it a substitute for vacuuming entirely

-Your home is really big

-You have a lot of area rugs or thick carpet

-You have floors that are dark in color

-Others tell you that you like to micromanage tasks

-You have a fear of artificial intelligence

Call TLC Cleaning

a man playing air guitar on a traditional vacuum

If you love the feeling of freshly vacuumed floors regularly, call TLC Cleaning in Fargo, North Dakota.

Even our basic cleaning service includes floor cleaning and vacuuming. If you schedule a recurring cleaning with us, you’ll spend less time tidying your floors and home, and more time doing all of the things that you love.

While your Roomba(™) or robotic vacuum is great for touch-ups, nothing beats regular cleaning with a traditional upright vacuum. And the only thing that is better than that is when a member of TLC’s well-trained staff is doing the vacuuming.

Your robotic vacuum might even be out of work entirely, after a basic or deep cleaning from TLC.

How Often Should You Clean Your Carpets?

No part of your home is more exposed to dirt and grime than your floor. Thanks to that pesky system known as gravity, anything which can fall off a body, a coffee table, out of a dirty cup, or off a pair of shoes will land on the floor. Unless you want to spend most of your time at home wiping up spillages, those falling objects will cause stains on your carpets and rugs. So how often should you clean your carpet, and what is the best way to do it?

The short answer is that your carpets should be professionally deep cleaned every 12 to 18 months. Keep reading for the long answer to how often your carpets should be cleaned and why it is important.

Cleanliness is next to expectedness

A clean home benefits the people that live there. It’s not just for aesthetic purposes but also for considering the health and wellbeing of its occupants. Not cleaning your home thoroughly and often is an invitation to dust mites, germs, and bacteria, and like unwelcome party guests, they don’t leave willingly.

The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors advises that carpet is a high-risk area for growing mold and all the dangers this represents. Regular cleanings can help keep your carpet looking great and keep it hygienic.

How clean is “clean?”

You might be one of those people who are happy with a simple vacuum, dust, mop, and wipe down once a week. If there are no children, pets, smokers, or anyone suffering from respiratory illnesses living in your home, that is fine for short-term purposes.

But even in these households, the basic once-a-week routine will remove surface dirt and grime from your floors and carpets, but it can’t beat a deep, thorough, professional carpet clean.

And how dirty is “dirty?”

man and woman covered in dirt holding cleaning supplies. how often should you clean your carpets?

We humans and our pet companions harbor bacteria, germs, and dirt and shed hair and skin on a disturbingly regular basis, so it’s fair to say that our home environment doesn’t stay pristine without help.

But there’s no need to go entirely overboard. Having a fair idea about how often you should clean your carpet and rugs will go a long way to maintaining a clean and inviting home.

But I am not dirty!

Actually, you’re not as clean as you might think you are. Intentionally or otherwise, we shed hair and skin, we track dirt into the home, and even the most careful of us will occasionally drop food crumbs and spill drinks. Philip Tierno, the author of The Secret Life of Germs, estimates that carpet can absorb so much dirt that it can be 4000 times dirtier than the toilet seat.

So what can I do about this?

Not a lot, as far as creating a mess goes – that is, to some degree, unavoidable. But you can do something about cleaning up the clutter once it occurs. Unfortunately, it takes more than a quick regular vacuuming or mop on a once-weekly basis to change your living space from a haven for bugs, dust, and allergens into a haven for humans.

Some handy tips to keep your place clean and limit how often you should clean your carpet

little girl feeling bad about leaving muddy footprints in rug. how often should you clean your carpets?

Keep food mess to a minimum.

Having a set area for eating is one way to avoid food messes from migrating into the carpets all over. If possible, have that eating area in a room with lino floors, which are far easier to clean. Wiping up spilled milk or juice from a linoleum floor rather than a shag carpet is much easier.

The hazards caused by the small generation

Fact – children are messy. Even the cutest kid will drool, diaper leakage happens even in the most carefully cultivated homes, and no child is shy about wandering from room to room with a handful of food.

Hansel and Gretel may have had birds cleaning up their food scraps, but your kids won’t so mop up after them before the stains caused by these food scraps become permanent.

Shoes: on or off?

muddy toddler with dirty pants and shoes

On cold, wet days, all you can think of when you get home is to get inside where it’s warm and dry, but unfortunately, it’s not just you who enters. Walking on stone, gravel, soil, and grass inevitably means dragging some of the outdoors to the indoors, and no amount of wiping the shoes on the doormat can avoid that. So kicking your shoes off at the door is a simple trick to prevent bringing nature indoors.

Pets and their problems

beagle dog laying on clean carpet. how often should you clean your carpets when you have pets?

Your pet can be as much a member of your family as your child, but Fido, Felix, or Polly are not known for their hygiene or clean habits. Cats and dogs shed fur, cats spit up furballs, birds drop feathers, furry animals harbor fleas, toilet training takes time and usually involves a few “accidents,” and you know full well that your pet won’t use a napkin when it’s eating.

So if you live with animals, your home needs a little bit of extra care and attention.

Enough of the messy part; what about the cleaning?

If you have been nodding your head in agreement here, you will realize by now that keeping your home and carpets clean is a lot harder than just a quick flick of the vacuum once in a while. Your home needs proper care and cleaning by professionals.

Why a professional clean?

Those stains can be stubborn. Even if you attack the spilled coffee, red wine, or cheese spillage as soon as it occurs, you’re never going to get that mess out properly.
Professionals will ensure the carpet is cleaned down to the base and properly dried afterward. The last thing you want is a clean but damp carpet that will start to smell in a few days and grow mold and mildew.
Many carpet manufacturers and sellers stipulate that you get your carpet professionally cleaned regularly – at least once a year – to retain its warranty.

Call the professionals and never wonder how often should you clean your carpets again

Get a serious, deep clean done by the experts at TLC Cleaning. Choose from a range of services, from cleaning one room only right up to full and thorough cleaning and deodorizing of every carpet fiber and mat in your home. Let TLC Cleaning implement your ultimate cleaning schedule to tend to your floors and every part of your home.

Get an instant quote for professional carpet steam cleaning or any other services today.