When it comes to house chores, I'm generally pretty into it. I know that it has everything to do with the fact that I've been a homeowner for 3 years and take an enormous amount of pride in my 780 sq ft corner of the earth. At some point I'll get over it and my house will become an utter shithole, overflowing with objects I don't need and have no place to put. In the meantime the whole "pride of ownership" mantra completely rings true.
I once read someplace that housekeeping staffs on large estates have a set schedule of tasks that they do everyday. For example, they may mow the lawn every Monday, wash windows every Tuesday, etc. Since I'm generally home all day, having dedicated cleaning days allows me to keep my place fairly clean without too much effort on my part. In high school my parents hired cleaning people to come in once a week so if it weren't for joining a sorority I probably wouldn't know the first thing about cleaning a toilet or sweeping a floor. Now that I've got the hang out it, I'm an old pro at vacuuming and Windexing to my heart's content. Mopping, however, is the one house task that I absolutely loathe doing.
The tile that graces my kitchen and bathroom floors is almost 30 years old and therefore a bitch and half to clean. I've tried Swiffer, Clorox, and an old fashioned mop and bucket. Since I'm not the type of girl to get down on my knees to do anything, the floors generally look acceptable but never sparkling clean. I've considered hiring cleaning people but they are expensive (about $100/week) and it seems insane to pay someone to do something that I'm perfectly capable of doing myself.
My friend's dad worked for Burlington, MA based iRobot so I was semi-aware of their existence. iRobot specializes in making mine detecting robots for our soldiers in Afghanistan but they also have a line of home robots, most notably the Roomba. Their Scooba robot is designed to mop floors with little to no human interaction. Since nothing aside from $149 (with free shipping!) can get in the way of living like a Jetson, I test drove a Scooba this week.
After filling the Scooba with a special solution I let it run wild on my kitchen floor. It circled, spun, and bounced against walls (and luckily my carpet) in an effort to clean 30 years worth of built in grime and dirt. The conclusion? It did a decent job, keyword here being "decent". If you are the obsessive compulsive type that enjoys scrubbing tile by hand just like grandma did in the old country, you'll be gravely disappointed by the Scooba's performance. If mopping is a chore that you dislike but can mildly tolerate, you're financially better off with a Swiffer. However, if you're like me and would rather clean an MBTA toilet than mop your own kitchen floor, the Scooba is absolutely Heaven-sent.
For the $149 refurbed model, the Scooba is an easy solution to a dreaded task. Vacuuming is one chore that I actually enjoy (I need to be studied, I know) so I haven't tried the Roomba. I got mine at Amazon but you can also purchase higher end models on the iRobot website.
2 comments:
I hate vacuuming so much that I think this is the best invention ever. I don't mind other household chores, but the task of vacuuming is the absolute worse. It seems every time I touch a vacuum it breaks therefore I never can vacuum.
Honey, how dirty does your kitchen floor get? It's just you in there..
At least, that's exactly what I've been telling myself since moving into my place. I must confess - my cleaning has been more along the lines of necessity vs. consistency. I mean, there were literally leaves accumulated from a few trips to take out the trash before I swept. I argue anything before that point is just vanity.
Sick. I know.
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