James Clear said that the more we can automate our lives, the better we will feel as we free up more time to do what we want, and why should vacuuming be any different? If you haven’t heard of a Roomba before, they are small robots that clean your floors for you, you set them and forget them! Don’t worry if you have just been given one as a gift and aren’t sure where to start, because we’re here to help. Here is a quick breakdown of how to use a Roomba.
Find Out Which Roomba You Have
The first thing you need to do is figure out which type of Roomba vacuum cleaner you have. Some are Wi-Fi enabled and can be controlled from your phone, others that are lower down the ranking have an off and on the switch, and away they go. The higher the ranking your Roomba is, the more you will need to know before you set it up to make sure it works correctly.
Activate Your Roomba
The first thing you need to do once you have unboxed your Roomba is activate it. Our favorite Roomba is those that come with Wi-Fi as you can control them by an app on your phone. Download the iRobot app onto your device and sign up; from there, turn on your Roomba.
Find A Space For Your Base
Once you have unpacked your Roomba and downloaded the app, you need to find a place to put the base. Unfortunately, you can’t have this hidden away as the Roomba will need to find it once it has finished cleaning, so putting it in a cupboard isn’t advised. Find a level open space where you can put it, so the Roomba can easily dock once it has finished.
Connect Your Roomba
Once you have downloaded the app and found a location for the base, pull all the tags that you need to pull out and place the Roomba on its base. From here, open the iRobot app on your phone and start connecting your Roomba. You’ll be asked to select what Roomba you have, so make sure you know the model, click on the picture that matches your model, and follow the prompts on the screen. The app will connect your Roomba to the Wi-Fi network, and you should start to see flashing lights on the device, then tap the target logo on the Roomba, from here it’ll connect to the Wi-Fi. To complete the activation of the Roomba, hold the home and target buttons on the robot until you hear a tone. Once the tone has finished, the Roomba has completed activation.
The First Clean
A Roomba will learn the layout of your house to make sure that it cleans all the way through when it is asked to clean. When you first start with your Roomba, make sure that it has had enough time to charge so it can make its way around your home. It will take a while to get to learn the layout, especially if you have more than one floor. If the unit doesn’t have enough charge to complete its cleaning cycle, don’t worry, the Roomba will take itself back to the dock to charge itself, and once the cycle is completed, it will go out.
Scheduling Cleaning
Once the Roomba has learned the layout of your home, you can then schedule a cleaning routine that meets your needs. Set it in the app, and away it will go. One thing you will need to make sure of, though, is that you have picked up everything from the floor before the cleaning takes place. If you don’t, you may find that Roomba gets jammed. Likewise, you want to make sure that there are no spills of any liquid on the floor; otherwise, you run the risk of having this run through your entire home. You can also tap the app and tell the Roomba that it needs to be cleaned if you can’t wait for the scheduled time.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to setting up your Roomba, it is a very straightforward process, even if you have a Wi-Fi-enabled model. A normal model is just set and forget, whereas, with a Wi-Fi-enabled Roomba, you can set a cleaning schedule that meets your needs. Just remember to have a quick run around the house first and pick up anything that may block the Roomba when it is working, as this may cause damage to the unit.
