iRobot Scooba 390 floor cleaning robotWith four kids under seven running around my house, you can imagine what my floors look like. Fortunately, my husband is a little obsessed with keeping it clean, which at times can take up more time and energy than he has to spare. I’ve heard really awesome things about the iRobot Scooba floor cleaning robots, so when I was given the chance to try out the new 390, we were both pretty excited.

As the designated floor cleaner in our house, my husband set up
“Sudz” as it was affectionately named by my kids–if you’ve ever owned a robotic vaccum you know you have to name it!

 Let’s just say, I’ll have to pry it from my husband’s cold dead hands before he’d give it up. Here’s why.

[Don’t miss an awesome giveaway after the jump!]

Thankfully, the new iRobot Scooba 390
is extremely intuitive because the instructions are a bit complicated; we finally just tossed them
aside and followed the helpful, smart labeling and color coding system.
You simply lift out the fill compartment to add water, then decide
whether you want to add cleaning liquid or just use water. Once
you’re ready, you pop it back in, start it up, and walk away, without
any pre-clean vacuuming required.

Did you catch that? No pre-vacuuming!

After the first use, we were super impressed
with how clean our floors were, and how quiet the Scooba 390 is while
it’s working. And we love how the clean and dirty water is clearly
labeled. Awesome. But depending on the size and shape
of your room, you’ll want to set up the battery powered virtual wall,
which will ensure your Scooba only cleans in the designated room and
doesn’t wander off.

It’s definitely important to keep in mind that
while the unit does sweep the floor itself prior to cleaning, it’s not going
to pick up gargantuan dust bunnies or whole croutons. I’d recommend
doing a quick sweep to maximize your results. And you can’t expect it
to clean up heavy duty dirt and grime; so if you’ve got dried baby food
stuck in a corner, you’re probably going to have to resort to a
little human elbow grease. However, if you use the Scooba on a regular basis,
you won’t have to worry about that too much anymore. Sweet!

iRobot Scooba 390 floor cleaning robotAlso, while
the Scooba does a fabulous job of navigating around corners and edges in
a slightly haphazard pattern (hey, whatever works), I’d definitely
recommend moving what obstacles you can out of its way the same way you would if you were mopping; my husband puts our
kitchen chairs up on the table while Sudz is doing his job.

Overall,
we were super impressed with how easy and effective the Scooba 390 is
at cleaning floors, and really, we can’t really imagine not having it,
especially in a house full of kids. And all this coming from a super
particular clean floor obsessed dad who has been known to clean the
floor with a spray bottle and paper towels on his hands and knees.
That’s a pretty big endorsement. -Kristen

You can purchase the new iRobot Scooba 390 floor cleaning robot at iRobot.

Congratulations to the winner of an iRobot Scooba — Denese S!