IRobot Scooba 350 Floor Washing Robot Review

We bought a Scooba 5800 last December and were very happy with it for 9 months until it suddenly stopped sucking the dirty water up off of the floor.  After a few emails back and forth between iRobot and myself, they sent me a replacement robot and asked that I just send my broken one back to them within 60 days.  Imagine my surprise when I opened up the package they sent a few days later and discovered that they sent me the new, upgraded model of Scooba instead of an identical replacement for the 5800.  The Scooba 350 Floor Washing Robot costs $399 ($150 more than the 5800) and has double the battery capacity of the earlier models which means you can clean 2-3 rooms in one go instead of just one.  Way to go iRobot! I am impresed!

The Scooba 350 is a little machine that will zoom around a room and wash the floor.  It actually does four things at once: it vacuums up debris, sprays cleaning solution onto the floor, scrubs the floor, and then sucks up the dirty water.  Although this robot supposedly "vacuums" floors, I would suggest sweeping or vacuuming the floor before turning your Scooba loose for best results.  You can use three things to clean your floors with this product: 1.5 ounces of Clorox Scooba solution, 2 ounces of white vinegar, or plain water.  You cannot use any other type of cleaning product in conjunction with the Scooba or you will void your warranty and run the risk of seriously damaging the machine. 

It's very easy to set up this robot.  You simply add the desired amount of cleaning fluid to the clean water portion of the tank and then fill it up the rest of the way with warm water.  Then you return the tank to the body of the Scooba 350, press "Clean", and let it go on its merry cleaning way.  It takes about 30 minutes for it to clean an average-sized room.  At that point I usually dump out the dirty water, refill the clean tank, and turn it loose into another room to run until that one is clean as well... or the battery dies.

When the Scooba 350 is finished with a cleaning cycle, you have to rinse out the water tanks, the scrub brush, and the squeegee.  The performance of this robot will deteriorate if you do not faithfully follow the post-use maintenance instructions.  When you are done cleaning it, you can just plug it in to recharge the battery and the machine will be ready to go again in just a couple of hours.

This machine is a pretty amazing little thing and completely eliminates the need for me to mop the floors.  It doesn't do so well right up against the edges of the floor so I do need to periodically get down on my hands and knees and touch up those areas but other than that, I don't do floors any longer. 

 Is it worth $400? I'd have to say no.  This would be a 4-star review if the Scooba 350 didn't cost so much.  If I wasn't sent this robot for free as a replacement for our broken, older model, I never would have crossed paths with it.  I am perfectly able to mop the floors in the house and could continue to do so to the tune of $50 per year for cleaning solution and mop heads. 

If you have the extra cash to spare and are looking for a way to make cleaning the house easier, check out the Scooba 350.  It's easy to use and really does a nice job of scrubbing and cleaning floors.