Horror stories from robot vacuum owners mostly stem from two fixable mishaps: They accidentally bought a dinky robot vacuum or merely haven't set their very capable robot vacuum up for success in the settings.
For those who resonate with the first statement — you need to upgrade from your ancient five-year-old Roomba, for example — I've vetted a handful of good robot vacuum recommendations. (I've even curated a list of cheap robot vacuums that actually work well, if you still want to pay a price similar to your current clunker.)
But for those who purchased a robot vacuum more recently — as in, you did your research and know your model has more potential than you're seeing — there may be some robot vacuum features that you're just not fully taking advantage of. These settings, like suction power adjustment or customizable cleaning zones, are kind of hidden in plain sight in most robot vacuum apps. We knew they were there at one point, but it's easy for our conscious mind to go full hands-off mode and expect a robotic vacuum to do everything right, right off the bat.
Throughout my years of testing robot vacuums in my own various apartments, I've developed a pretty solid strategy for customizing robot vacuum settings to work for various home sizes, number of rooms, and floor types. These obvious robot vacuum tips are the ones many people blow off, but they make a huge difference.
Get detailed with mapping and zone cleaning
A big component of how proficiently a robot vacuum does its job is how intimately it knows your living space. Much of this comes from the robot vacuum's initial mapping run of your home — and while many robot vacuums actually create a fairly accurate map on the first try, it probably won't be perfect. The first step is to split or merge rooms, and even that's easy to be lazy about. There was a period of time where I'd simply use the map a robot vacuum created even if it incorrectly mushed two rooms together. Then, I realized my life didn't have to involve so much dragging and dropping. Editing and labeling all the rooms off the bat makes the chore much more streamlined in the future.
My personal favorite strategy is to get super extra with customizing cleaning zones within those rooms. Some apps don't offer recurring zones, so I just create a room like "front door." Others do let you add permanent cleaning zones to the map, which I always use to designate the areas that get dirty faster, like the area around a litter box. These let the robot vacuum get in and out quicker on days that you're not conducting a whole-home clean.
Yes, smart mapping is valuable even in small apartments with only two or three rooms. Without it, you won't get the luxury of virtual boundaries with zone cleaning. You'll still want to be able to say "mop in this square, but don't mop in this square," or draw a keep-out zone near the pile of cords by the TV stand.
Sub-tip: If you're reading this in your preliminary shopping phase, rule out robot vacuums that don't have smart mapping at all. Bumping around and hoping for the best just isn't worth it when smart mapping is a present feature in so many budget robot vacuums. Not all robot vacuum brands will phrase this in the same way, but look for key phrases like "home mapping" or "clean by room." After all, cleaning performance can't even come into play unless the robot vacuum makes it to the right spot in the first place.
Send it for two cleaning passes instead of one
Watching other people watch a robot vacuum clean for the first time is always entertaining. There's almost guaranteed to be a shit talking session about the vac missing a spot. While some junky robotic vacuum cleaners are simply bad at cleaning, a lot of people don't realize the app has a built-in backup plan: Toggle two passes instead of one.
The first round can be a fluke sometimes, especially if the side brushes accidentally swept a crumb the wrong way. There have been countless times when I've watched a robot vacuum do a mediocre job the first time around, turn away for a second, and look back to see the same area sparkling clean after a second pass.
Also, remember that many robot vacuums clean the edges of the room first, and then go back to sweep in rows down the middle. Don't get frustrated right away if your robot vacuum "misses" something within the first few minutes of cleaning. It's very possible that that droplet or piece of debris will be grabbed in the latter half of cleaning.
Adjust suction and water settings on a case-by-case basis
Not all messes on the floor are created equal. Many of your robot vacuum's cleaning sessions won't be much more than a daily skim for new dust and hair that's accumulated in the past 24 hours. But other times, your robot vacuum actually will be tackling legitimate spills, or extra-furry spots on the carpet — messes that require more oomph than the default setting you use daily. Most robot vacuum apps have a settings tab where you can scale suction power up or down (and water flow, if it's a robot vacuum that mops), so you can adjust the cleaning intensity based on how soiled the floor is.
For instance, I make sure to use heavy water flow when a robot vacuum is mopping the gross shoe area near the front door, or if I've sent it to wipe up a liquid splatter. I settle for moderate suction power for bathroom cleanings to avoid the botvac sucking up my bath mats, but I'm sure to crank it up to the highest suction setting for rooms with rugs covered in cat hair.
Some premium robot vacuums have the option to let AI decide the cleaning settings for the room or zone you've selected. While I do appreciate robot vacuums that automatically boost suction power whenever carpet is sensed, I still prefer to tweak the settings myself — I know my cleaning preferences better than a machine.
Manage your expectations, like actually
While customizing the above settings can expand the variety (or severity) of messes a robot vacuum can tackle, they're not always all-powerful. Even the most powerful robot vacuums have limits due to the compact motor that their slim build requires. It's impractical to send it over a catastrophic mess, like a giant pile of spilled powdered sugar or a spilled full glass of juice, and expect spotless results on the first try. If you're expecting a heavy-duty clean like that, you should probably just buy a heavy-duty stick vacuum instead.
