All About Life Without Maids

[YJL]

I'm counting down to next week when my helper of five years leaves. It may take awhile to get use and settle down with the routine but given the thoughts that I no longer have to put up with her nonsense, I'm all ready for it to take charge!

Some of the things I got ready are Happycall pan, a turbo broiler, spin mop and piles of cooking recipes

[Peace Charlie]

Hi YJL, so Happy for u … I hope i have the courage too but my girls are still young quite hard mayb 1 fine day I will be like u now I’m half prepared liao i bought a pressure pot for soup if i cook the soup in d am and came back after work the soup will still be hot thus down with one menu…next i will look into the sweeping and mopping … clothes will be taken care by d washing machine…will train my girls up…

[soonlee.012396ng.012396resources-sg.012396com]

SMH FOREST:

Hi daranic, pm-ed u 1 link... the fb ones will do so when i'm off work...

Please PM me too the recipes link. Thanks!

[dasalo]

3 Cheers to all giving up maids in their life. A good start to a happier, wholesome family life.


It may be difficult at first but pressed on, it is worth it! Keeping this thread burning with encouragements and supports for each other.

[fifiyeo]

mamemo:

Ok, here's my 3 day review of our newest pet at home, Roomba 550 :


Day 1 : I went home during lunch to run it, since my office is quite near. Along the way, I took note of what needs to be done to remove obstacles, e.g. wires, clothes rack etc.
Day 2 : Scheduled it. I went home at 4.30pm cos I wasn’t feeling well, so I managed to see it start exactly at 5pm. It vacuumed all areas and managed to find its way home at 6pm ! Even at day 2, the dust it collected is still quite substantial.
Day 3 : Got stuck at my balcony door’s groove. resolution : I use dining chairs to block

We can feel the difference in the cleanliness of the floor. Even my husband who wasn’t very interested during the demo, is convinced.

However, you need to roomba-proof the house:
1) no thin/loose wires on the floor or anything that can tangle with the wheels.
2) The curb to the kitchen should not be too high, else it cannot cross over and come back.
3) For low furniture, there is tendency that it'll get stuck, so need to find ways to prevent it from going under them.

We feel it's a good investment despite the inconveniences of roomba-proofing the house

Roomba proofing the house is a once time investment. Then the roomba will do its magic. :rahrah:

[fifiyeo]

LOLMum:

mamemo:

Ok, here's my 3 day review of our newest pet at home, Roomba 550 :


Day 1 : I went home during lunch to run it, since my office is quite near. Along the way, I took note of what needs to be done to remove obstacles, e.g. wires, clothes rack etc.
Day 2 : Scheduled it. I went home at 4.30pm cos I wasn’t feeling well, so I managed to see it start exactly at 5pm. It vacuumed all areas and managed to find its way home at 6pm ! Even at day 2, the dust it collected is still quite substantial.
Day 3 : Got stuck at my balcony door’s groove. resolution : I use dining chairs to block

We can feel the difference in the cleanliness of the floor. Even my husband who wasn’t very interested during the demo, is convinced.

However, you need to roomba-proof the house:
1) no thin/loose wires on the floor or anything that can tangle with the wheels.
2) The curb to the kitchen should not be too high, else it cannot cross over and come back.
3) For low furniture, there is tendency that it'll get stuck, so need to find ways to prevent it from going under them.

We feel it's a good investment despite the inconveniences of roomba-proofing the house

thanks for sharing. just one or two questions.

do i have to move my dining chairs for it to clean the floor ?

so if it sense something like maybe the table leg, it would move away and not hit it and get stuck there?

which model did you buy and is that for dry cleaning only or it comes with wet function?

cheers.

Roomba will bump around like a little bumper car and goes into places as long as there is room for it to go in. It is a dry vacuum. If you want a wet floor washer, you'll have to buy the Scooba.

[fifiyeo]

SMH FOREST:

BeContented:

[quote=\"mamemo\"]Ok, here's my 3 day review of our newest pet at home, Roomba 550 :


Day 1 : I went home during lunch to run it, since my office is quite near. Along the way, I took note of what needs to be done to remove obstacles, e.g. wires, clothes rack etc.
Day 2 : Scheduled it. I went home at 4.30pm cos I wasn’t feeling well, so I managed to see it start exactly at 5pm. It vacuumed all areas and managed to find its way home at 6pm ! Even at day 2, the dust it collected is still quite substantial.
Day 3 : Got stuck at my balcony door’s groove. resolution : I use dining chairs to block

We can feel the difference in the cleanliness of the floor. Even my husband who wasn’t very interested during the demo, is convinced.

However, you need to roomba-proof the house:
1) no thin/loose wires on the floor or anything that can tangle with the wheels.
2) The curb to the kitchen should not be too high, else it cannot cross over and come back.
3) For low furniture, there is tendency that it'll get stuck, so need to find ways to prevent it from going under them.

We feel it's a good investment despite the inconveniences of roomba-proofing the house

Hee hee, I just started using my newly acquired Roomba 760 yesterday.
Together with DS, we followed it around for a while
Agree with the points you have mentioned.....it is important to Roomba-proof the house. One thing tho, the way it cleans looks a little 'inefficient'.... lotsa zigzag and sometimes going past the same area/path many many times. Perhaps it's trying to map the house, not sure since it's first-time use only.....but there are many 'blind spots' so I believe routine 'intelligent human intervention' aka me....is still required

However, I do find the house generally cleaner, DD commented on it too....and I have promised to run it only when she's back from her CCA today (show her the 'toy'). Also, I cleared the bin after 1 use and the dust collected is really way better a broom!! But if cost is an issue, I think the normal magic wipe can do a pretty decent job in picking up the dust on the floor too....but small particles will not be picked tho.

Now gotta think of when to acquire my next toy - Happy Call Pan.........

Just wondering, where does those hair that's on the floor end up in for the Roomba? I own a Samsung Navibot... and somehow, the hairs ends up in the brush!! Had to pull those hairs out... so, am wondering if i had gotten the wrong \"toy\" instead!!! :frustrated:

Also, sometimes, the Navibot still makes rounds before it returns to its charging station... :roll: but my charging station is at the end of the dining, not really centrally located.. not sure if its due to this?? How does the Roomba seems in this aspect??

Does the Roomba touch and go when it hits the wall? Or it has a sensor? The Navibot has a sensor, so thats the thing that sold us, cos it wun hit the wall..[/quote]All of us have short hair at home so I don't know how it works with long hair. But the fur (from my cat) and our hair all goes into the bin and you just have to slip out the bin and pour away the dirt and hair collected. Mine is also a Roomba 550.

[fifiyeo]

BeContented:

1amber:

[quote=\"BeContented\"]

Now gotta think of when to acquire my next toy - Happy Call Pan.........

Please give review once acquired ok! :boogie:

Actually there is a thread on it already
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=25600

I dun cook a lot, hence has been procrastinating on this HappyCall pan
But I think eventually....eventually will get it [/quote]
Thanks must go check this out!

[mamemo]

fifiyeo:

Roomba will bump around like a little bumper car and goes into places as long as there is room for it to go in. It is a dry vacuum. If you want a wet floor washer, you'll have to buy the Scooba.

All of us have short hair at home so I don't know how it works with long hair. But the fur (from my cat) and our hair all goes into the bin and you just have to slip out the bin and pour away the dirt and hair collected. Mine is also a Roomba 550.

Yup, roomba is like a little bumper car, so it'll bump the dining chair legs too. I have to put my chairs aside so that it'll go under the dining table, else the space of the chairs' legs are too narrow for it to go through. I'm thinking of buying those black rubber pads to stick around the roomba so that it doesn't scratch the furniture.

It'll slow down before it bumps a large obstacle like the wall or sofa, I guess to minimise impact. Regarding the wall, I've seen it going along the edge of the wall and the side brushes would sweep the edges, which is actually what we want !

I don't think it has any mapping mechanism though, seems rather haphazard. That's why the salesman recommended us to run it daily, so that in case it misses one spot today, it'll cover it the next day.

Yesterday my roomba got stuck on the base of the standing fan, so I put something at the base of the tower fan so that it cannot climb up. Hmm, so far only went home 1 day out of 4 days....let's hope that it'll go home today.

[mamemo]

YJL:

I'm counting down to next week when my helper of five years leaves. It may take awhile to get use and settle down with the routine but given the thoughts that I no longer have to put up with her nonsense, I'm all ready for it to take charge!

Some of the things I got ready are Happycall pan, a turbo broiler, spin mop and piles of cooking recipes

Hi YJL, how good is the spin mop ? What's the difference between that and a normal mop ?