I recently bought an inexpensive robot vacuum cleaner after years of easily resisting the trend. After a very bad ankle break last summer that won’t heal, and two knee replacements in recent months, I have mobility challenges that keep me from a lot of chores I used to keep up with easily.
I am far from Suzy Homemaker, and I don’t keep an immaculate house, but I have a thing about thorough dusting and well cleaned floors. My husband took on many things, including vacuuming, and my daughter in law helps, as well as grandchildren. Still, I decided to try out the little robot, just to help out.
I am pleased to say that my $89 investment has paid off big time. The vacuum cleaner isn’t perfect, but it is so much better than I expected that it satisfies even floor picky me. If you really want it to work its best, put away clutter, of course, and put chairs and barstools up. It will really clean under couches and beds, go from room to room, and it has little stiff brushes sticking out that rotate and clean at baseboards and in corners.
It has been a pretty long time since I’ve spent under a hundred dollars and been so well pleased. So, I decided, for curiosity’s sake, to see what else you guys come up with. What is your favorite buy lately, large or small?
If this post is enjoyed, I think I’ll do one soon on home improvement and repair items. I spent many years working in the home improvement industry, from my start selling kitchen and bath fixtures, cabinets, appliances and electrical fixtures, moving on the my greater love for lumber, building materials, and milwork, including high end windows and doors. Hint: when I win the lottery my modest home on the banks of the Tennessee River, or one of her lakes, will have only Marvin Windows in it. Unless Kolbe and Kolbe has closed the gap in the years since I left the trade.
But that passion of mine is for a later post. Today it is all about hickeydoodles and hooti, a plural for hootus. That’s a favorite WeeWeed term that makes me smile.
I bought a roomba and I love it. I have 2 cats so cat hair is a problem. The roomba can run all by itself and even on a set schedule. The downside is I can’t just let it run. I need to pick up cat balls, socks, rugs, etc or roomby gets caught in them. It also does not have as much suction as a regular vacuum so some pieces are left behind. The brush also spins off cat hair so I have to pick up clumps when it is done. But it runs more often because I just pick up clutter, run it while doing other things, and empty it when done. Every now and then, I do a better job with my big vacuum cleaner.
I splurged and paid 50% more for the newer navigation one. It seems to work fine, remembers where it has gone, maps it in my smartphone, etc. Definitely recommend for those that need to vacuum more often. I just need another one so I don’t have to lug it upstairs and downstairs.
Ha, good luck.
I know of a chap who had one he left running while he went out.
When he returned, he found one of his cats had left a whoopsy, because lo and behold, when he opened the door the whole place had been covered in cat excrement.
I had one of those things. Used it once or twice and threw it away.
“Threw it away” he says. Would that be the cat or the vac?
I’ve had two Roombas. They do a better job than a teenage boy and you don’t have to argue with it.
But, they don’t last, eventually plug up with hair, and if you don’t feel like disassembling the thing you are out of luck. My last one goes in two foot circles because the left wheel is jammed.
For the money spent i could have hired a human cleaner and got better cleaning and less fiddling around.
Our daughter and son in law put 2 on their wedding registry so they could have one for upstairs and down.
Inversion table. I have had so many accidents involving my back, neck and shoulders that I have lost count. I have debilitating back pain and this has helped more than I can say. When used I stand taller and can last longer on my feet. Without it, life is pretty darn miserable.
ditto to that – I also love my inversion table
yes, agree have had one for years.Teeter Hang Up
I have one too but I’ll tell you the best thing I ever did for my back was upper cervical chiropractic. It’s not regular chiropractic. It deals only with your atlas. If your atlas is misaligned, it’s impossible for the rest of your spine to be aligned. Be happy to share more.
I have seen a chiropractor since I was a child, or at least a young teen. One even saved my life within the last 10-15 years, when I my C2 was way out of whack for way too long and had been totally misdiagnosed elsewhere. But, I cannot stash them in the room next door, nor would it be cost effective. 😉
They also saw me through a horribly painful dislocated shoulder.
This was a pleasant diversion.
The “robot vacuum cleaner” reference reminded me immediately about the one that Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) had navigating around his passed out Meth addict “friends” that were scattered across his living room floor. (Breaking Bad)
Quite a different image to Menagerie’s positive and practical narrative.
I hope your health will soon improve considerably.
Sundance and Menagerie.
You need to turn these posts into AFFILIATE MARKETING posts. It’s a great way to financially benefit from true, legitimate product endorsements. We would all love to purchase items through affiliate links on your posts.
There are entire sites now, yahoo, pure wow, etc that are solely affiliate marketing sites.
It’s a great way to add to your revenue. You recommend a product, set up a link so the customer clicks on it and buys from that click through session and you make a commission.
You just have to set up the affiliate accounts with each vendor or storefront.
https://www.shopify.com/blog/affiliate-marketing
Do it! Think of all of the fun Made in USA stuff we can discover and buy! At the same time , supporting TCT !
https://www.usalovelist.com/
I agree 100%!
Menagerie,
Thank you for this post. It was a nice break from all the bizarro happenings in the world.
Plus, I’ve got one heck of a lot of ideas for Christmas gifts!
I can’t see or hear about one of those things without thinking of Saturday Night Live.
This is wonderful. I have stairs, so I bought a tension rod to keep my roomba from walking down them. The space is large, so I got a shower rod. I enjoy hearing about battery powered tools. Any suggestions? I would love home improvement thread, and American Made Products. This has cheered me up.
I love my battery-powered leaf blower- Nikita. I use it every day. Sometimes I even stand in the doorway of my french door to the patio and blow out the twigs and leaves that our dog has carried in with him.
The strange thing about vacuums is that the very best ones suck the most.
I should have posted this earlier. ? (NO it’s not my cat.)
https://rumble.com/vaaiej-cat-rides-robot-vacuum-cleaner.html
I don’t know ’bout that….its gray….
Do any of you remember McGiver; a tv show? I am really good at McGivering due to living on an island off the coast of Maine and being poor and a back to the land hippie. So, I know how to live on as little as possible and also make-do…with next to nothing.
Anyway, I currently needed a spring for my screen door so it would close. I McGiver-ed it until I could get to a hardware store. I took two or three very strong and think rubber bands, the kind that hold together organic kale at the grocery store, and looped them together and connected them to each end of the hooks , one on door one on door seal, and voila…instant door closure. Then, a few day later, I realized I had a hair head band that was too tight, so I added this to the door closure. To this day still working, but I did make it to a Lowes and bought a genuine coil.
And now we know.
Did you know that there is a new generation learning from a new MacGyver show?
There’s 2 kitchen gadgets we love:
Pampered Chef apple peeler corer slicer #2430. Makes quick work of apples for pies and apple sauce.
Pampered Chef wine bottle opener #2199. Quick, doesn’t shred the cork or drive it into the bottle like some openers in the hands of a thirsty wine-drinker. 😉
Ok, this may be in a different price bracket, but I recently purchased a kubota b series compact tractor on craigslist for a steel. I’ve been raising kids, dogs, chickens, turkeys and growing veggies on 2 acres in Vermont for the last 15 years without one; like numbskull. Now I use it to mow, mulch, till, wheel barrel, fork lift, transport, lift, pull, tug, dig, trench, furrow, hill, cultivate, plow and last but not least…impress my wife. Yes, it’s been good for my Marriage.
I want one. So jealous.
Thanks, Menagerie
this post with all the comments has made my day
so fun?
Unemploy an illegal.
Alaskan Ulu knife. For hard to chop veggies, etc. that need to be cut very small, you can just rock this knife back and forth and the job’s done in a jiffy.
I have eyed this knife on Lehman’s many times!
And it’s the best pizza cutter. Beats those stupid rolling kind like a drum!
I have 3 or 4 ulus and love them. Best tool for filleting salmon!
Right before Christmas last year my hubby & I saw adds for the Battery Daddy ? We bought 2 for us (1 for our house & 1 for our camper) & 1 for each family! They were a hit!!
Doncha hate when ice cream gets icky after being opened?
~Self defrosting freezers are wonderful; buuut.
Plastic wrap under the lid of opened ice-cream
~ keeps it tasting good for quite awhile.
Huh. I guess it keeps air from leaching at the ice cream.
A smart person would’ve know that.
I’m going to have that put in Latin and adopt it as my coat-of-arms motto.
Thanks!
Ice cream never lasts that long around here.
But that does bring up a new gadget on my wish list. Ice cream maker. Recommendations anyone?
get well soon, and get well completely!
Menagerie, Charles Harper’s comment reminded me of something my dentist just told me. Prior to having rotator cuff surgery, he used an old laser on his muscles. I don’t recall how many days before, but he never needed physical therapy and now has full range of motion with no pain. My dentist is a big believer in lasers. He used them to do a root canal on me. The laser cleaned out the canal. Then he used another to stimulate bone growth. I don’t know if any of this can help you, but you might want to check out lasers to help heal bones.
Cold laser knocked out my pain from shingles that affected my face. Pain was 10, but came down to about 3 after three short treatments.
WOW! Over 580 comments for you, Menagerie! 🙂 And none of them removed!
This is one of the best threads ever,especially considering all the stressful things out there lately.Thank you Menagerie!
I’ve been looking for one of those vacuum seal machines lately.Haven’t figured out yet the best one to get,but I’m working on it.Any advice would be appreciated.
May the good Lord bless you all. Pax vobis.
Food Saver, I’ve used it for years. Wore one out and bought another.
My daughter bought me a robot vacuum cleaner many years ago when they first came out…I kind of resisted using it, but finally decided to give it a try. It was running all around the kitchen and along the baseboards doing a fairly good job, then it headed toward the family room. I suddenly remembered we had a step down into the family room and before I could reach it, the robot got to the edge and was dangling half over and saying “Uh-oh, Uh-oh” THAT was hilarious….
Didn’t use it much after that and finally gave it away… but, I still do remember chuckling about that…:)
Such a nice post! Hopefully your bones will give you a break (no pun intended) and heal much faster soon.
My latest most loved purchase has been a standard vacuum with a bag. It’s so light (good with my old self) without all the rarely used attachments (I have small vacs for that use), cleans incredibly better and I have zero dust flying everywhere when I empty the bag. Money very well spent.
Our Roomba is ,guessing, first generation and un programmable. So it requires more attention to keep it from getting into trouble; e.g. charging wires, shoe strings, sticking points under furniture. Sometimes, it will bypass rooms simply because it will continue to turn in one directions just because it’s mindless.
So, being mindless, I named my “old Joe”
Menagerie, would you consider writing up a post about Treepers chiming in about their favorite Made in the USA resources and things? It would be awesome to be able to learn and share. In any case, this post you wrote was an absolute delight and I wish you well as your body heals from recent issues. Prayers to you….
My backdoor doesn’t have a screen/storm door and the backyard is fenced in so I bought a magnetic screen door & my dogs love it. They can come & go as they please when the outdoor temp is nice enough to leave the door open. It keeps the bugs out, the dogs happy & is not expensive at all.
The dogs learned how to open it the first day we put it up.
Menagerie, Get well soon!
On another note, a few years back I read that those roombas were found to actually be mapping the home and exporting the data… To whom, I don’t know. But of course, with the internet of things, echos, smart refrigerators, smart thermostats, smart tvs, smart meters, and now smart toilets, we have zero privacy at all any more. (Unless WE are the smart ones…. and don’t buy all that smart self-surveillance junk). just a wee FYI.
As to the final bit, 3 or 4 Velux ventilating skylights with all the trimmings would be welcomed under my christmas tree.
Andersen Windows seem to be the best quality out here in CA.
My favorite little gadget in the world is my Mr. Coffee iced tea maker. Picked it up at a Black Friday sale 6 or 7 years ago on a whim, thinking it might save me money vs. the bottled teas I was drinking. Did it ever. After fiddling with it and learning it’s quirks, I use it on a daily basis. Drinking caffeine free, unsweetened herbal iced tea instead of calorie laden juices or beer helps with weight control & hydration. I can’t believe this cheap little thing has lasted this long. Bought an extra for if/when it blows up.
Second place goes to my DeWalt DCR010 Bluetooth speaker. It can run off the same battery packs as my tools if AC power is not available or inconvenient, is rugged and good sounding for its size. With the built in USB port, you can even charge your phone while playing music or streaming video. There’s just something fun about plopping this thing on an extra chair, plugging in your phone, and streaming an episode or two of Bannon’s War Room while sitting in a hot tub drinking a few beers and having your phone charged to full by the time you’re done.
This pampered chef manual food processor is AWESOME! Never cry chopping onions again. Works great to chop nuts, japs and just about anything else you want. Highly recommend. One of my most used kitchen tools. https://www.pamperedchef.com/shop/Kitchen+Tools/Specialty+Cutting+Tools/Manual+Food+Processor/2593
Laughed for days after reading a home owners ins claim for replacing 350o sqft of brand new carpet, owned by a cynical rumba user, with a lab puppy. The carpet was evenly coated with puppy poo, proving that overnight, the rumba did indeed ‘cover’ the entire carpet. Gotta love the dogs!
Just don’t get any appliances that have an internet connection unless you like being spied on.
I know. I was thinking this morning that unless I missed them I haven’t seen any Alexa’s here yet. 😉
You could not pay me enough to put any of those in my home.
Look up Dr. Joel Wallach. Your knee replacements were because your body is running out of the needed vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fatty acids it needs to make healthy cells, including bone cells. I have been on it for 2 1/2 years and it works for almost all chronic diseases. I’ll try the vacuum cleaner!
My favorite Roomba video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB5HECodo-k
Wee, ya made me laugh right out loud with this one!
Ya know it’s true! 😀
Wad-Free for bed sheets keeps sheets from wadding up in washer and dryer $20
My latest favorite is the Norwex basic cleaning and window cloth. OMG it works so well on windows, mirrors and countertops and is so much easier than windex. . I was previously a big fan of Ritz window wipes, but Norwex is even better.
Menagerie – ah, those two knee replacements. Had no idea.
We really need to talk. The VA’s diagnosis is it’s time to start acting my age, slow down and agree to a few replacement parts, but I swore off more cutting after #13. Still think it’s all in my head – as in too many blows to the head.
When finished with my pity party will meet ya back over at Stella’s, hopefully soon. Hope the mobility is going better, have included you in prayers.
Oh yes – favorite gadgets. Currently serviceable knees.