4 Cleaning Gadgets You Probably Don’t Need

Collage of three images, one of several spin scrubbers, one of a Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, and one of an EyeVac Touchless Vacuum Automatic Dustpan.

In this edition of Clean Everything, we share our experience testing the world’s most expensive robot vacuum cleaner. Plus: a viral scrubber you don’t need, how to make your Swiffer less wasteful, and a robot vacuum we do like.

Every so often on the cleaning beat, we come across an overengineered, overhyped gadget that claims it will solve all of your cleaning woes — even offering to take over your chores entirely. And though some robots can be extremely useful (more on that below), we’ve found when a cleaning gizmo seems like it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

Take, for example, this $1,400 robot vacuum. Its features list is a mile long: AI obstacle detection, a self-emptying dirt bin, a self-washing and self-drying mop, a tiny robot arm that reaches into corners to sweep up the last bits of dust, and on and on. And, sure, in our month of testing it, we’ve found that it’s pretty good. Yet it’s far from perfect, and it’s still susceptible to the same limitations that robot cleaners have struggled with for decades.

“Counting on it to be a perfect robot servant, or to engineer the drudgery of cleaning out of your life, is just setting yourself up for disappointment,” said senior staff writer Liam McCabe.



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