When considering purchasing a new robot vacuum cleaner, it's crucial to pay attention to whether it's suitable for the floors in your home. If you primarily have soft floor types, carpets, or rugs, you naturally want the robot vacuum cleaner to easily remove dirt from these surfaces.
The suitability of a robot vacuum cleaner for carpets is determined in part by the type of brush it uses. A rubber floor brush, preferably with protruding bristles, is capable of deep cleaning carpets down to the fibers. If your robot vacuum cleaner has a mopping function, you'd want to ensure there's floor detection in place to prevent a wet mop from being dragged across the carpet.
We have extensively tested numerous robot vacuum cleaners on carpets. In our research, the Roborock S6 MaxV consistently emerges as the top performer. The Eufy Robovac X8 is also an excellent choice!
Key considerations
Motorized brushed
Good suction power on soft floor types
With carpet recognition (adjustable suction power)
Switchable mopping function (if available)
Important to now about robot vacuum for carpet
When it comes to cleaning carpets, robot vacuum cleaners offer a convenient and efficient solution. These intelligent devices are specifically designed to effectively clean carpets while providing a deep and thorough cleaning experience.
A robot vacuum cleaner for carpets is equipped with powerful suction capabilities that can effectively remove embedded dirt, dust, and debris from carpet fibers. This ensures a comprehensive clean, leaving your carpets looking fresh and revitalized.
With advanced sensors and navigation technologies, these robots can detect and navigate around furniture, obstacles, and stairs, preventing collisions or falls that could potentially damage your carpets. They intelligently map the area, creating an efficient cleaning path and ensuring complete coverage of your carpeted surfaces.
How I test robot vacuum cleaners for carpet
For all my vacuum cleaner reviews, the floor test is perhaps the most important part. I test each vacuum cleaner on a variety of floor types, including deep-pile rugs and low-pile carpet.
But it is not only the suction performance that is important. It is also important that the robot vacuum cleaner can properly distinguish between wooden floors and soft floors, so that the cleaning intensity can be adjusted. In addition, I also check the navigation and functionalities of the robot vacuum cleaner on carpet.
Suction performance on low-pile and long-pile carpet
To assess the suction performance on soft floors, I use two different floor types: low-pile and long-pile carpet. Using custom-made floor bins, I test the suction performance of a robot vacuum cleaner with different types of dirt. Animal hairs are also important here, as they can often be found on the carpet.
Many robot vacuum cleaners today are able to distinguish floor types from each other. And that is very important in my opinion: on carpet there should be a much higher suction power than on wooden floors, for example.
Many robot vacuum cleaners today are able to distinguish floor types from each other.
An important part of the overall assessment is therefore whether a robot vacuum cleaner is equipped with this floor detection. A good example is the Neato D8, which automatically increases the suction power when the robot vacuum cleaner moves over the carpet.
Navigation and functionalities
In addition, navigation on carpets is also important. For example, not all robot vacuum cleaners can drive equally easily on soft surfaces. To investigate how well a vacuum cleaner navigates on carpet, I use very thick carpet.
Finally, I check specific functions of the robot vacuum cleaners that are interesting for households with a carpet. If there is a mopping function, this can be very useful for homes where there are also wooden floors on the floor. However, it is important that the robot vacuum cleaner stops mopping when it drives over carpet.
Pay close attention to this type of carpet with robot vacuums
When choosing a robot vacuum cleaner for your home with carpeted areas, the robot vacuum must adjust its suction power based on its cleaning surface. This requires the robot vacuum to have a turbo function and the ability to distinguish between different floor types. Without these features, the robot vacuum may struggle to remove dirt from carpets effectively.
Furthermore, if you opt for a robot vacuum with a mopping function, it is essential that you can exclude certain areas of your living space during the mopping process. It is not suitable for mopping carpets along with other surfaces.
Carpet comes in many types, colours, sizes and thicknesses. There are oriental rugs with fringes, incredibly thick carpet or rugs in dark colors. If you have a thick carpet, dark rugs or rugs with fringes, you should pay close attention.
Thick carpet: a robot vacuum has to do with a maximum threshold height. Check how thick your carpet is and check whether the robot vacuum cleaner can drive over it.
Dark rugs: Not all robot vacuums recognize dark floors, so they can't navigate on them. This has to do with laser technology. Always check whether a robot vacuum cleaner is suitable for dark surfaces.
Rugs with fringes: Some robot vacuums can jam or even destroy the fringes of rugs. Consider a robot vacuum that allows you to create No Go zones.
Why you can trust my research?
Dependable research is what we promise at Vacuumtester. We personally test each vacuum, focusing on the vital features. We maintain our independence by declining sponsorships from vacuum brands. Moreover, every vacuum we feature has been purchased and evaluated by us. For a better understanding of our testing approach, have a look at our vacuum cleaner research methodology.
Comments and questions 🙌
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By Robbert Tigchelaar
