Product Review: Mint Hard Floor Cleaner

A few weeks ago, I purchased the Mint Hard Floor Cleaner by Evolution Robotics. Earlier in the summer, my Father and I had laid vinyl planking all through the first floor of my home. It had previously been two-thirds carpet. My mom had warned us that, though it would look great, it would actually be a lot more maintenance than carpet; particularly because we had chosen a dark floor.

We underestimated how much more maintenance that would be. The floor showed everything (which made us realize how much "yuck" the carpet had been hiding within its fibers). We loved the floor, but there had to be another option to the constant dry and wet mopping.

I had considered the robot vacuums, but their reviews on hard floors were sketchy. Then I saw the Mint which, rather than vacuuming, was a mop. After a few more weeks of research I decided to pull the trigger.

Not one regret, our "Rosy" is worth every penny. Does she clean the floor as well as a person? No, but if we clean at a ten, Rosy is doing a good 9. The benefit to Rosy is that she cleans more frequently. If we are headed out the door, we set Rosy to work before we leave. I will usually set her to clean nightly once everyone has headed upstairs, or if she is still charging, I will let her loose in the morning before everyone else is awake as I head for work.

It takes her about an hour to mop the floor of our small kitchen, living room, and dining room. I do a dry mop and a wet mop about once each day which keeps our floor very clean. In fact, we haven't cleaned the floor once in the two weeks that we have owned her.

She uses various sensors to map the floor as she cleans. There have been a few occasions where she has gotten herself trapped, or stuck under a door. She loses her place when you pick her up, but that just means she starts over. No big loss.

The Mint comes with two dry mop cloths and one wet mop cloth. We just throw them in the washing machine after use. The Mint can use Swifter cloths, but I have found some cloths at the dollar store that work particularly well.

I am a geek, so the thought of having a robot floor cleaner was appealing. However, all novelty aside, the Mint is an extremely practical and useful item that I highly recommend.