We Talk Shop

I love my Swiffer Sweep+Vac. I can whip this thing out in no time and remove almost all of the dirt, tumbleweeds and dust bunnies from my laminate flooring and tile in minutes. And any dirt it doesn’t get, the cloths will. It’s easy to use, easy to clean, just the way I like my cleaning. Cleaning isn’t something any of us like to do (but if you do, let me know, and I’ll Mapquest you to my house), but this lightweight tool makes it less of a chore. The kit comes with three filters, a battery recharger, and a starter supply of four dry cloths — a bit skimpy on the cloths, a 16-count box would’ve been preferred.

I keep my Sweep+Vac handy and use it almost daily. I can clean about 1500 square feet of hard flooring on one charge with juice to spare, and I keep it charged so it’s ready to use. Tip: Empty the dirt cup after every use because it fills up quickly, and when it does it won’t pick up as well.

Get it: For around $30, it’s a great value. It can be purchased at Wal-Mart, Target and other retailers.

My husband saw the Roomba vac when it first came out, and he wanted it right away. I kept saying, “that’s not gonna work — it’s just a gimmic.” Well, we did finally get one and now I couldn’t live without it. There’s something about lugging out a big vacuum that has always deterred me, but with “Spot” (yes, our vac has a nickname) it’s as easy as pushing a power button on. My kids (9 and 12) never argue about vacuuming their room. “Spot” is a robot, so we tend to refer to him as if he were our pet and feel a real affection towards him. I’ve even seen on websites, where folks make outfits for their Roombas — not us of course! — but they were kind of cute…

It comes with a wall charger and two virtual walls. If your wall charger is in the same room that he is vacuuming in, he will automatically go back to charge, when he gets tired. The virtual walls are little units that you can sit on the floor, so he won’t go past a certain point. This is good if you have steps, or an area where he might gobble up something he shouldn’t.

There’s no bag to replace; you just pull out a little tray and empty it in the garbage, and there’s a little filter piece that pops in and out easily so you can shake it free of dust. It’s really amazing how much it picks up. On our carpeted areas, it looks “vacuumed” when he’s done; the same as if you had used a heavy upright vacuum. We also use it on tile and it picks up all the crumbs.

So, I love it, my family loves it, and we’re saving now to expand Spot’s family and bring in “Scooba,” which is Roomba on steroids. The Scooba vacuums, mops and dries your floor. Now that’s cool!

Git it! Roomba Discovery, around $280. We got ours at SharperImage (check out the video in the images area), but I’ve also seen them at Sears.