By Bryan Wall
Product Test Journalist | Kaipūrongo Whakamātautau Hautaonga
Robot vacuum cleaners promise effortless cleaning, but can they really tackle dirt, dust and pet hair as well as a regular vacuum? How well do they work on carpet, and should you really buy a robot vacuum cleaner just for your carpets?
On this page
- What is a robot vacuum?
- Is a robot vacuum cleaner good for cleaning carpets?
- Why aren’t robot vacuum cleaners good at cleaning carpets?
- Why are robot vacuum cleaners good at cleaning hard floors?
- Do robot vacuums work on rugs and high-pile carpets?
- I still want one – what’s the best robot vacuum cleaner for carpets anyway?
What is a robot vacuum?
A robot vacuum is a disc-shaped, battery-powered cleaner that navigates around your home, sucking up dust and debris. Some models can map your rooms, mop hard floors and even empty their own onboard dustbins into a dock.
Looking for a robot vacuum?
Find out how 32 models rated when we tested them.
Is a robot vacuum cleaner good for cleaning carpets?
The short answer is no. Not if you’re expecting a proper deep clean of them, anyway. We tested robot vacuums on hard floor as well as carpets in our lab, and found that while they can be excellent at cleaning hard floors, they can’t match that performance on carpet.
The average carpet-cleaning score for robot vacuum cleaners in our test is 26, with a current top score of 49. For stick vacuum cleaners, the average is 66, with a top score of 89, and for corded vacuum cleaners, the average is 68 with a top score of 93.
You can certainly use one for maintaining your carpets with regular automated cleans, but you’re going to need to do a manual clean with a stick or corded vacuum occasionally, to get the deeper dirt out and also to clean the corners and edges that sometime get missed.
Check our stick vacuum cleaner reviews and corded vacuum cleaner reviews if you need a new machine.
Why aren’t robot vacuum cleaners good at cleaning carpets?
To properly clean carpets requires two things – agitation of the carpet fibres to release the dirt and suction to pull this dirt up into the vacuum’s bin. A robot vacuum has a third requirement: to propel itself forward while doing all this. Achieving all three requires compromise, which means you don’t get the cleaning performance you would from a manual vacuum.
Why are robot vacuum cleaners good at cleaning hard floors?
Dust and dirt sitting loosely on hard floors needs little agitation to be lifted up and sucked into the vacuum’s bin. Many robot vacuum cleaners can now also mop, so they’re good at removing more stubborn dirt. Our average test score for robot vacuums on hard floor is 90!
Do robot vacuums work on rugs and high-pile carpets?
Got rugs with tassels? Watch out: they’re a robot vacuum’s enemy, often wrapping themselves around the brushes. High-pile carpets are trouble too: robots remove even less dirt from high-pile carpets than from ordinary carpets, and hybrid mopping vacuums can leave the carpet damp. The robot sits lower in the thick pile, and the wet mop pad can skim the carpet as it cleans – even on models that detect carpet and lift the mop up.
