iRobot Scooba 300 Series

Roomba's best friend – If you have a Roomba then your next purchase should be a Scooba, they are the best of friends and will give you time to put your feet up or do something you enjoy more than cleaning floors. Either way Scooba is not a luxury, specially if you have hard floors, the tiled floors here just sparkle once Scooba has done her bit. No expensive… Read more ·  1

detergents as you can easily use Vinegar and water or put a few drops of your favourite essential oil into the water to leave a pleasant perfume. Scooba scrubs your floor clean then the squeegee blades dry it so there is no need for you to do anything, other than empty the tank when the cycle is completed. Cleanup of the machine is quick and easy and with dirty water in it's own tank so all you need to do is flip the cap and empty the contents. Too easy!!

LOVE IT – I love my scooba, which I have used for over 10 years. It saves me slaving over a dirty floor mop, and does a great job cleaning my floors. The suction could be better, but in my hot climate it dries in minutes. It is easy to use and clean and I have tiled floors throughout my home. A very large area. Scooba covers them all with ease.  Show details ·  1

Scooba has made my life so much easier – I am an older woman with vinyl floors throughout all living areas. I live with two small dogs and a rag doll cat in the house, so you can imagine the fur. I already own a Roomba I use daily but struggled with washing the floors. I got a Scooba. Omg, I am in love. Been using Scooba for a week now. It not only senses and goes over spots of spilt… Read more

tea for example, it cleans totally.

Then, the best thing is it almost dries the floors. You can walk on the kitchen floor while Scooba is cleaning.

Scooba is much quieter than Roomba.

Cleaning of filters is easy.

Negatives: it doesn't dock itself, but must be plugged in to recharge.

The brushes are difficult to replace after cleaning.

The cost of the cleaner is prohibitive so I am just using white vinegar in the water very effectively.

Garbage with worse backup – I bought one of these units and the best it did was go in small circles, eventually it kept giving a full waste water tank warning. I followed all of the booklet fixes and eventually contacted the Australian agents. The help desk said that maybe some vinegar in the water would help! With backup like that I took it straight back to Harvey Norman… Read more

Erina where it worked for them. They did not accept that it didn't work for three separate members of the family and promptly charged me a restocking fee of 20% of my purchase price. Slightly more galling was the restocking charge went on to the extended warranty also.

I would not own a product that firstly didn't run, but after a car journey seem to work OK. If you want reliability I would not recommend this product.

Crap service, Okay product – The product is fairly good at cleaning the floors when it is working!!! It first had problems after only two weeks of having it. I thought that's okay its under warranty. I phoned Brand developers Aust. and at first they wanted me to freight the item to them, at my expense, so they could look at it. It was only after I went to Harvey Norman (where… Read more

i purchased the product, they were great) that Harvey's said they would send it to Brand Developers. I was laughed at over the phone by Brand Developers after I had brought the Roomba 780 (which is awesome) and the Scooba 390 (Crap) a total of $2000-. There is almost nil service. I am currently trying to get the product repaired again!!

Not happy Jan!!!!

Keep away from all Brand Developer Products, there is no service :(

Great Device, Love it to bits – After owning a scooba in the U.S.A, one of the first models out, which worked like a charm, my partner and I decided to buy one here. He went searching and doing the research on the newer models. He found one out of Florida on eBay a 380 model , and we had a friend flying over to visit for a while so he brought it with him. Took up half his… Read more

suitcase. It was a bargain at under $200, plus it had heaps of spare parts. He bought it untested, and unfortunately it worked for a day or two and then came up with errors all the time. Not giving up, he found another one, a 390 model out of Melbourne, ( we live in Perth ) again on eBay, this one the seller had a good star rating and it was only used a couple of times. So we bit the bullet and bought it and after a week or so it arrived. All excited and after charging up the battery we placed it in the tiled games room, but lo and behold it only lasted 10 minutes or so and gave up the ghost. From here we put another battery in, a brand new one that we bought for the earlier 380 model, and put it to the test. Well this time it went for nearly an hour. Even though we were initially bummed about the original battery the 390 model came with, we were happy. My husband found out the battery was as new as was claimed so he just charged it up for three whole days, it ran for around 40 minutes or so, then on the next three day charge it went for more than an hour or so. With a couple of dogs in the house, and most of it being tiled this has been a great tool. We also have a couple of roombas too, two different models ( don’t ask how we ended up with two of them ) and my husband just loves them, the vacuum cleaner is in a cupboard and barely sees the light of day, it literally is gathering dust.

Our tiles aren’t exactly flat and the grout is quite deep, so while it does a great job cleaning and scrubbing we found that sometimes it didn’t pick up much of the dirty water, but left the tiles clean nevertheless. It can also leave the ground a bit wet, but it’s no worse than a mop, and usually dries quickly. While the 380 model requires water and a solution of some sort like a bit of vinegar to work, the 390 is just fine with plain filtered tap water. We add vinegar sometimes and at other times we add Simply Green. The vinegar can leave a bit of a smell, especially if you add too much to the water, ( my husband just chucks whatever he feels like at the time ) so only a little will do, if you measure it out, the smell doesn’t last that long.

Even though they are quite expensive here in Australia, sometimes you just get lucky on eBay or Gumtree and find a great barely used second hand one. The Roombas have been going for two years or more now without a hitch, and so far the Scooba is working well, hope it lasts like my old one did.

Terrible – Although the Scooba saved my back and did quite a good job at cleaning the lino and wooden floors it only lasted 6 months before parts started falling off. Will cost me over $500 to replace all the parts needed. Definitely not worth the money! I wouldn't recommend this lemon to anyone Too expensive!

Like It Alot! – I purchased the scooba about a month ago now, and i love it. Its an amazing addition to the family,everybody is still fascinated by it. I live in a family of 5 with 3 dogs in a 4 bedroom house so you can imagine the mess that goes on especially when it rains! The scooba does a good job with cleaning i would safely say on par with anything i… Read more ·  1

would do maybe even better. I do find i have to enclose it in a small area, otherwise my house doesn't fully get cleaned on it's battery life and refilling its tank twice. I haven't had it go through the beam thing ( that stops it from going in rooms or carpet). But i have to rescue it from carpet if i forget to close a door. I've only had to rescue 1 or 2 times from getting stuck underneath my couch but for me that is easily fixable.

I do find it leaves water streaks like a mop does but maybe not as much. I have fallen over as a result as that but my own fault. It is extremely cost effective as i use vinegar and water, it leaves a shine and as mentioned before a better job then i would do. It is quite noisy but i don't mind as i don't have to clean the floor. I suffer from back problems so this is a handy device around the house.

Overall i would buy one again if something were to happen. Cost effective, does a good job in a confined area, back problems no more when mopping! It is expensive but i think worth it, it is noisy, goes on carpet if doors aren't closed.

Shocking – Thought this product would be great after have the roomba vacuum . Not happy with the amount of money you have to spend on something that doesn't do it's job right. It would bump into my furniture than just stop on the spot. Didn't clean the floors right. Would leave marks. And if you have ducted heating this machine is a waste of time as it get… Read more

cought on the ducks and anything else small around. So much for free gift after the false advertising on this product I now have to send the free gift back I received for spending and wasting my time on this.

Great Little Addition – I've had the Sccoba for a couple of weeks now and I think it's brilliant. We have used it every day with normal water in our main living area and the floors feel they have been mopped. I run a family day care and its a great little device to clean my floors daily! It is quite expensive but will definately be worth it Cleans well, time saving, easy to maintain, Expensive, can be noisy, squeegee can make an irritating noise, Show reply

Battery life terrible – After purchasing the Roomba and being pleased with product I decided to splurge on the Scooba. What a mistake that was. Battery life is appauling and is lucky to last 20 minutes (i'm being generous). It leaves blotchy looking streaks ( I use the recommended vinegar). I have replaced the battery on the Scooba 3 times in less than 18 months at $70… Read more

each a pop and each battery has been a poor performer even when brand new. No wonder they only give a 6 months warranty on batteries. In my opinion, it is more hassle than it's worth.

leaves streaks on floors. Expensive. Awful battery

Terrible, loud, doesn't clean – Sooo loud. If you think you can relax while it washes, forget it. Sounds like an aeroplane, needs to be redirected constantly and even when I put it over milk spots (from baby bottle) several times, they are still there. Doesn't leave dry floor as advertised and can go around in circles for ages if you don't move it manually. In summary, useless and I will be sending it straight back.

Scooba 385 – Very dissapointing, bought from a dealer, fresh out of an unopened box, the roomba 385 was put to work after an overnight recharge. While i did not object to the operational noise and the unit tracked arround the room, its little brushes working, the unit did not suck up any dirty water. Undaunted i went on the net to research solutions , prime… Read more

the unit said one source, followed this advise, no joy. The I Robot support site provided more advice, following thier diassemble and re assemble suggestion no joy. Contact with the irobot support team resulted in an exchange for a new carton fresh unit. The second unit made more noise, tracked arround the room but did not pick up any water. All previous solutions tried to no avail. Both units flooded the floor waith dirty water which when dried left dirty streaks over the water , all using chlorox , then vineger all according to specification. Returned unit. Scrubs well Wont pick up dirty water

Great Machine – After being so happy with my robot vac the lg roboking, i decided to get a mopper as my floors are a majority tile. I was disappointed the only options on the market are Scooba and Mintplus, and in my opinion the mint doesnt count as it just pushes a wet cloth around. So i bought the scooba after much research, and reading much reviews… Read more

which were generally positive. I do agree with some of the reviews saying that its only worthwhile having if you have large areas that need to be washed, as maintenance alone for the scooba can be more than breaking out the mop and bucket for a bathroom.

after mastering the machine and virtual walls it does a very very good job on my tile. I feel like my home is much more healthier because of the vinegar solution killing germs and other nasties.

It doesnt get into the corners and edging but it gets close. stubborn stains will need lots of passes or in most cases a simple pre-treatment generous spray of water is enough before letting scooba loose is enough to be done in 1 pass.

I wrongly believed i had marble tiles and was limited to baking soda as my solution but after learning i didn't have marble I could use vinegar safely. Either solution is very cost effective. The official iRobot Scooba enzyme solution is only sold in the states and as a result is hard to source and horribly expensive to buy (eg USA Ebay seller has 6 bottles delivered (about 380 uses worth for $100.)

I found that sectioning my areas scooba does a better job than roaming around larger areas due to its random navigation.

What i dont like is nimh battery system - why dont irobot use lithium ion already? Because if this, the scooba needs to be plugged in 24/7 when not in use and the battery needs to be properly conditioned once in a while. Still a 3rd party replacement battery is relatively easy to get and affordable. Always does a great job- sterile clean floors! Very cheap alernative solutions, widely available parts, plenty of community support & following, solid brand, Noisy, hard & expensive to get official solution, specific storage needs,

A Surprising Performer that Surpassed Expectations - Great for Large Tiled Floors up to 800 sqm – My marvellous little wet tilefloor Washer. If you live a busy life but find yourself constantly needing to mop your floors, then this little hardworking beetle is for you! Turn it on while you're out and come back to a shiny floor. (NB not for wooden or unsealed floors) A little heads up here. My first Scooba 380 impressed me to bits on first… Read more

run but motherboard malfunctioned on 3rd run hence got sent back for full replacement. Note however both iRobot & vendor fishisfast were quick to uphold their warranty. Replacement Scooba is a workhorse and I am enthralled by it's amazing cleaning prowess using the Natural Enzyme Cleaning Solution. It's into its 7th month now and I use it on average 3-4 times a week. Love love love my Scooba to bits. My Scooba was purchased on an "on the side basis" but as it has turned out this little ripper of a tile mopper surpassed my expectations (or lack of) after all the less than glowing reviews on amazon.com about it's past history of durability issues. I will update again in 6mths to 1year to see if it holds up. So far... love it. I run it a lot in the kitchen and laundry area where the dog eats to remove dried smudges etc and each time.

There are only two operating buttons, firstly the "Power" button followed by the "Clean" button. Easy enough. Fully charged the Power button lights up "Green" but when low on battery it turns "Red". An indicator with the word "I'm stuck" cutely lights up with it's trademark "hi-lo double toot" when Scooba is stuck. Perhaps a little telling that it is expected to get stuck a fair bit. This was my experience in the first Scooba (3 days) but the replacement rarely gets stuck. If it is swallowing something it shouldn't, it makes a screechy noise which should alert you. Manufacturers have a self-diagnostic system whereby Scooba emits different tunes depending on the nature of the malfunction or problem. A quick reference of the manual will help you isolate the issue which in most cases can be rectified at home. Within warranty, iRobot US (note US only) is amazing, simply return the item after a simple phone diagnostic with HQ. If you are way outside warranty or overseas, eBay and internet support is rife with "How tos" that would see your Scooba fixed in no time without incurring impossible shipping costs.

Functionally this is how I score it:

Performance: 5+ star (it is a really surprising performer and I am so glad I got it)

Ease of use: 5 star

Ease of maintenance: 4 star (month 5 on, it is getting a little stinky. Tip: Do not to let dirty water sit in the machine till the next cycle but take time to rinse it out immediately) Given it's a little finicky but not that difficult to clean after every two runs or so. It'll only take 5 minutes.

Noise level: 3 star (ok so it's a little screecher but I can live with that for what it accomplishes)

Durability: TBD

Support: 5+ star if you are a US customer, irobot problem shoots and diagnoses over the phone and immediately agreed to replace the unit although that did not take place as I was an international customer, the vendor fishisfast upheld his own warranty and was extremely professional about it.

Needless to say I was only into my 3rd month of running the 380 when the uber'd 390 was announced. The 390 cosmetically colour matches the roomba 770&780. Qs will undoubtedly be flying whether it is worth the upgrade... If you have not owned one before, this could be a good time to pick up the latest model 390 or cut a good deal for the 380 during its runout sale. Used with Natural Enzyme it keeps my tiled floors immaculate and fresh.

Excellent! Very happy! – For a tiled house this is a must have. Only takes a minute to empty the dirty water and refill, and uses vinegar which is the cheapest cleaner around. Combine with the Roomba and you have a cleaner house and more time. Money well spent. This is an amazing invention. I hate mopping and now I dont have to. Never goes on carpet, wont fall down stairs. If only iRobot had made our dog! Doesnt return to base like the Roomba. Show reply

It is OK but requires a lot more attention than the Roomba – The Scooba does a good job, the only benefit that I have discovered is that it mops so that I don't have to. Scooba requires a lot more attention than the Roomba. To ensure that Scooba cleans effectively you need to contain it to a small area with the virtual walls at a time and then move them to the next area to be cleaned. You cannot let it… Read more

roam over large areas or it will miss large sections.

Not quite the set and forget until the end of the cycle that I had presumed would occur.eg:

I found it annoying that the battery lasts longer than the cleaning solution so you need to top up half way through.

It doesn't return to the base at the end of the cycle so you need to hunt it down. So either you wait until the floor is dry or you walk over a wet floor which is inconvenient given that it needs refilling to complete the job.

It seems to get stuck a lot more frequently than the Roomba and requires rescuing which is annoying as once again you then need to walk on a wet floor.

In my opinion it leaves the floor just as wet as if you mopped. I have a smooth tiles so I am not sure how it would fair on highly textured tiles.

I was quite disappointed with Scooba's ability to clean the grout between the tiles. It is no more efficient than if I cleaned with a standard mop.

Does a fairly average job with oily marks on tiles and any ground/dried in mess.

The cleaning solution recommended is hard to source and incredibly expensive to purchase.

On the positive side it doesn't run over the rugs however I have yet to determine if it would run over the carpet especially if it had a low pile.

It is fairly noisy but happy to put up with this given that I don't have to mop.

It is very easy to clean post use, fill and empty.

It does a reasonable job of mopping however for the price I expected a lot more from the Scooba.

Because of the level of intervention required to mop all the tiled floor in one session. I find that I don't use it anywhere near as often as my Roomba which is very much set and forget until it requires emptying and the brushes cleaned.

Would I purchase a Roomba again? The answer would be no. Not that it does a bad job of mopping. Just that it is far more labour intensive than I expected and for the price I would have expected more in terms of performance.

I use it everyday!! – Have owned this since Dec 2010 - and to be honest I do love it and it gets used everyday. We live in a house with all hardwood floors - and with 4 bedrooms it is a lot of floor. We run this every day and it makes such a difference in keeping the dust a bay which is notorious with hardwood floors. But the unit isn't without its faults. It… Read more

stopped working (lights wouldn't even turn on) after around 2 months of use... returned it to Harvey Norman and it took over 6 weeks to be repaired and sent back to us. Also sometimes it doesn't suck all the water back properly, resulting in water all over the floor and an empty dirty water tank at the end of the wash... but then other washes it does a perfect job... suspect that it won't last a full 12 months... which isn't good considering the $600 odd price tag.

BUT there isn't anything else like it on the market so for now will keep relying on it to keep our floors clean. Cleans the floor while I am out!! Needed repairs, not sure how long it will last.

Love it! – I have had my Scooba for over two years now and haven't had any problems with it (touch wood). If it broke tomorrow, I would definitely go out and buy another. Great as I have back problems, means that I don't have to mop very often at all and I and I can put it on every other day. By that I mean the job it does of cleaning is good but I find that… Read more

from time to time (every three months or so) I need to go around and do a manual mop. You also have to make sure that you clean all the parts thoroughly (and I mean thoroughly!!). It took me a very long time to master he cleaning but I actually use the tap water pressure to rinse out the entire water tank, otherwise I do have problems with inexplicable errors. Also have to watch you don't overfill it otherwise you can get water pooling on your floors. Every time I have had a problem with it stopping etc, I have emptied it and given it a good clean out and a big piece of fluff or something has come out and it has then been good to go again. Does a good job of cleaning the floors, uses vinegar as the solution which is very cost effective It is noisy but I tend to just go elsewhere in the house. Best to confine to a small room otherwise it may not do the entire floor in one battery/water cycle.

Great when it works – Bought online from the states, so that could be part of the problem. When it works it is great and does a good job, but in the 2 years it have been back to Salton Australia twice, bought 2 new batteries, sent it back to the states under warranty once and has had problem after problem. Sensors been replaced, 2 circuit boards, and I honestly don't… Read more

beleive it has been misused or over used

I do use it a lot, but not sure if I would buy again unless I knew it was a better more stable model Great at vacuming dog hairs, with new battery lasts long, Problematic, frequent breakdowns

Can't believe I didn't buy one sooner! – I love this cleaner. I have back problems so couldn't mop too often , but after having a baby I decided to take a risk and see if the irobot scooba was worth it's price tag. It was! My floors have never looked cleaner, and my back had been saved! I also love that it uses tap water and vinegar as the cleaning solution - cheap and easy! It does… Read more ·  6

a great everyday clean, however is best if you use it for small areas at a time so that it cleans them more thoroughly. It doesn't clean up dried spillages very well, but I just wipe them by hand. Also doesn't get right into corners, but that is to be expected.

Although my vinyl plank floors look beautiful, now that my baby is crawling I can see that the scooba just does a surface clean only, because my baby's knees and feet still get dirty after crawling around. However I doubt I'd be able to get the floors immaculate by hand anyway, so as long as the floors are germ free & look nice it's good enough for me! Leaves floors shiny and clean without me being home. Just uses vinegar and water to wash with. Doesn't spread dirty water on the floor (has separate tanks for clean and dirty) Loud, bumps everything, often goes through the included invisible barrier thingy, just does a light surface clean, battery doesn't last long & takes forever to charge again, needs to be on charge when not in use, bit fiddley to clean afterwards

Good! – It's the most fantastic bit of household equipment! About time IT types stopped faffing about making robots that can climb stairs or whack each other, & made something USEFUL. And the Scooba is useful. It cleans my floors very well while I do something a bit more fulfilling. I've had it a month now & it has been in action at least 4 days out of… Read more ·  1

7.

My floors look cleaner than they've ever been. Does AT LEAST as good a job at floor cleaning as I would - & a lot more often!It uses clean water to wash, does'nt reuse dirty water like a mop & bucket.Its rotating brush cleans grout REALLY well.Easy to clean out after use.Endlessly fascinating to watch in action It is as noisy as a particularly whiny vacuum cleaner. I don't mind though, gives me a good excuse to go somewhere else - preferably with a cup of tea....You do have to clear up the room first. Sweep & pick up stuff, as its vacuum ability is limited to small bits of fluff.In a really big room, you may have to empty & refill the tanks to completely clean the floor.