Review of IRobot Braava 380t Floor Mopping Robot

We recently purchased our first new home, and unfortunately due to our never ending work schedules cleaning up around the house becomes one of those chores that literally have to get pushed aside until we have a day off; trust me the last thing you want to do on your only day off is household chores.

I recalled when I lived with my mom, this very neat an intuitive little vacuum cleaner that used to do the dirty work for her. She would turn it on, and this round disc would go bouncing from one end of the room to the other while sucking up dirt. It was probably the neatest little vacuum cleaner I'd ever seen, and low and behold, the thing actually worked really well.

That was when I began thinking about buying the new iRobot Braava 380t Mopping Robot. Most of the floors in our home are hardwood, with a linoleum kitchen floor, so we figured this model would probably suit us best. Aside from mopping, the system will also sweep! Not to shabby, and costs far less than one of those high end vacuum cleaners that require manpower to work.

We came across the Braava 380t at Bed Bath and Beyond, and with a 20% coupon in hand the model only came to around $235.00. The cashier actually had this little nifty fella on her Christmas list, so we actually felt really good about our purchase knowing others were seeking ownership of it as well.

Out of The Box:
 
The iRobot Braava 380t does not at all look like much out of the box. You have some strange cube, which is actually its navigation (more on this later), a charging cradle is included, 2 cleaning head attachments; one which is used to dry sweep, and the other which is filled with water and if you prefer a mild solution to mop floors on the wet/damp mode. You will also find 2 cloths, a blue one which is used on the mop mode, and a white cloth which is used on the dry sweep mode.

You can use Swiffer cloths as a replacement, which I liked seeing that we already had a few of them laying around.

How Well Does It Work?
 
I am so in love with the Braava 380t. I did not expect this small cube shaped cleaner to really pack too much power. However after filling up the water reservoir with water and solution, and dampening the blue fiber cloth, I was pleasantly surprised to see how it functioned.

The small cleaner has a back and forth motion it uses for when mopping, and you can actually see it working, as water is laid down, it moves back and forth and scrubs the floors.

It took the machine about 20 minutes to really get the entire parlor in our home, which is about 20 feet by 15.

The dry sweep mode works in straight lines, and the fiber cloth does a wonderful job at collecting dirt, dust, hair and other nasty things on the floor.

What I particularly like is that its small compact size allows it to easily go under couches, chairs, tables, and so forth, without a hiccup.

This was an issue my mom had with her old vacuum cleaner version. It would not fit under furniture, and due to the round size it missed corners. The Braava 380t is actually designed with corners in mind, so nothing goes untouched or missed.

About the Navigation Cube:
 
Now this is the oddest little addition to the iRobot family, at least for me anyway. None of the older vacuum models we have ever used had such technology, and frankly from where I sit I am not necessarily sure it is something I really like. Hence, the only con for me.

The cube runs on batteries, which are included in the box. It irritated me though that when it rang up, a message box popped up on the cashiers register saying that we needed to buy C batteries, when in fact they were already in the box.

So, yes, this little navigation cube runs off of batteries, which sort of kills the whole modern technology feel of it all.

At any rate, this cube is placed in the room, the iRobot registers it, and works within its range. In order to get it to move to another room out of range, you must pick the system up, with the cube and place the cube in the next room.

Or, you can purchase another cube and the mop will make its round to that room next, so long as there are no obstacles such as carpeting in the way.

At any rate, I am stuck with one cube, and lifting and placing the unit in other rooms with the cube on a windowsill when I want other rooms mopped. I could of course buy another navigation cube, but I refuse to spend a high amount of money on a spare.

Moving the unit from one room to the next is probably the only amount of manual labor involved, so I cannot complain.

What About Stairs?
 
The iRobot Braava 380t is smart, and it knows to steer clear of stairwells. However if you do not feel safe letting it roam about unattained you can block off the stairwell if you want. I however did not have issues, and since it was still under warranty I wanted to test just how smart it was around my stairwell.
It is safe to say that it will not hop down the stairs. So just go ahead and let it go and do its job.

Level Of Noise:
 
The biggest complaint I had with my mom's old iRobt vacuum was that it was noisy, and the dogs hated it. A lot of the time while it was on we had to put the dogs in another room, or we risked the machine getting attacked.

The iRobot Braava 380t makes barely any noise at all, the only time I really heard it was when it occasionally bumped into a wall.

Overall:
 
The iRobot Braava 380t cleans my floors well, and for the size I am truly happy with how well it actually manages to tackle them. My floors are always clean, and require no work on my end, aside from occasionally moving it from room to room and filling the water chamber. The water in the chamber however lasts and lasts, and a little goes a long way, so this is a major pro.

All in all, if you have a large home with a mix of wood floors, tile, and linoleum, this nifty machine makes maintaining them a breeze.