Buy Evolution Robotics Mint Automatic Hard Floor Cleaner, 4200 Review

Evolution Robotics Mint Automatic Hard Floor Cleaner, 4200

• Compact robot floor cleaner runs up to 3 hours on single charge using microfiber cloths or most brands of disposable cloths
• Guided by North Star Navigation System to methodically clean open areas, around furniture and rugs, and along room perimeter
• Whisper-quiet operation; turns itself off when finished
• Low maintenance with no bins to empty or filters to change
• Measures 9.6 inches wide by 8.5 inches deep by 3.1 inches high; 1-year warranty

Mint sweeps and mops hard surface floors automatically, using popular dry and pre-moistened disposable cleaning cloths or re-usable microfiber cleaning cloths (included). Dry sweeping mode is ideal for picking up dust, dirt and hair. And Mint’s special mopping motion gets deeper dirt and grime off your floors. Guided by the North Star Navigation System, Mint tracks where it cleans so it doesn’t miss a spot. Mint starts by cleaning open areas, moving methodically back and forth across the floor. Mint detects and cleans around furniture and other obstacles as it encounters them. Mint then follows with a perimeter sweep along the edges of furniture and baseboards, then returns to where it started and parks itself. Smart sensors help Mint avoid area rugs and raised carpet transitions, detect areas that are too low to enter and avoid falling down stairs.

List Price: $ 249.99

Price: $ 194.54

 

This review is from: Evolution Robotics Mint Automatic Hard Floor Cleaner, 4200 (Kitchen)

First: notice the 5-star rating that I have given this.

I agree with all of the 5-star reviewers: this product is worth the price (have had it about 6 weeks now). I have used it on vinyl (Congoleum/linoleum) floors, tile floors and wooden floors. It works well on all of them. Time will tell more.

However, rather than repeat what others have said, I will describe some aspects that might disappoint you when/if you buy it, but these do not outweigh the benefits.

- This does NOT do a deep clean. That takes elbow grease and this, naturally, is not heavy enough to scrub that well (you wouldn’t want it to be that heavy). You will have to do a deep clean first. The Mint will then maintain that clean floor. I use it about once a week.

- The designers did a generally good job, except for the week when they all took vacation at once and let the janitor decide where to put the charging port. Believe or not, these idiots put the port in a spot on the underside of the unit. You have to turn the thing upside down to plug the charger in. An automatic charging-base system would have been a much better approach than having to plug it in manually every time.

- Sweeping: does an ok job, but it would be difficult for such a device to get everything. It is more useful when cleaning (washing).

- Washing (as opposed to sweeping) battery life is about 2 hours and it takes about 45 minutes to do a 12 x 20 area having several obstacles (island, tables, multiple angle walls, etc.). This allows me to wash with a mild detergent and then do a second pass to rinse (see below).

- While the Mint senses an overhang and will not fall off, it does often stop moving and generates an error message. It’s as though it gets confused and just gives up.

Tips:

The Swiffer washing rags work, but leaves a bit of a sticky residue. Water, with a little bit of Dawn dish-washing liquid (seems a little better than the Ivory) or Ivory liquid dish soap, and the Mint washing rag works better. I soak the rag in a bowl of solution and then pour a little of the solution at different spots on the floor to make sure the rag on the Mint remains wet. Following that, I use the same process, but only water to rinse any residue away, again adding water on the floor to help keep the Mint rag wet.

When you clean with many floor cleaners, including too much vinegar, the floors have a sticky residue that you will hear when you walk on it long after it’s dried, and which will attract dirt, unless you rinse the floor after washing. One or two squirts of Dawn in a bowl of water is all you need for this maintenance activity. For a very soiled area, you may want to hand-clean it or pour a little of the solution on it to let it dissolve the dirt before the Mint gets to it.