or generations, technology has helped people with household chores, giving them back valuable free time. In 1900, an average household spent 58 hours per week on housework. By 1975, that had fallen to just
18 hours, largely thanks to washing machines, dishwashers and other labor-saving devices that require a small amount of setup and then complete the tasks themselves.
Yet some chores are still time-consuming: interior cleaning alone demands almost three hours per week for the average American. That’s almost one-fifth of the total time spent on household chores. Technology helps—it’s easier to clean the floor with a vacuum cleaner than with a dustpan and brush—but it’s still a manual task for most people.
In addition to cleaning up after the family—and pets—more people are now working from home, which makes household messes easier to accumulate and more tedious to tidy. However, a new generation of robot vacuums and wet-dry vacuums are rolling in to revolutionize this chore, providing user-friendly, effective and reliable cleaning, and freeing householders to spend their time elsewhere.
Untapped potential
Robot vacuums have been around for a couple of decades, but have not yet become commonplace in the home. Early models would get stuck on obstacles, get their rollers tangled with hair and have inconsistent cleaning results. Early adopters often had to ‘pre-clean’ by clearing the floor and checking the robot’s path, which could eliminate much of the potential timesaving.
This was a particular issue for pet owners, whose homes have more fur and hair on the floor to get caught in the machine. Roborock, a global leader in connected home technology with almost 10 years in building robot cleaners, is keen to understand the needs of as many of its potential users as possible. The company recently surveyed 10,000 pet-owning professionals worldwide about their cleaning challenges and needs. This revealed that removing hair from the floor and carpet was by far the most time-consuming part of cleaning up after pets. Two-fifths of respondents said they spend up to 30 minutes a day on pet-related cleaning, while almost three-quarters spend at least half an hour on other home cleaning tasks. But help is now at hand.
The S8 Series we have developed is a game-changer, introducing complete, one-stop solutions to customers around the world.
Richard Chang, founder of Roborock, says: “While home cleaning appliances such as robot vacuums and wet-dry vacuums have become increasingly sophisticated over the years, cleaning effectiveness has remained somewhat hit or miss.
“The S8 Series we have developed is a game-changer, introducing complete, one-stop solutions to customers around the world.”
Today’s robot vacuums and wet-dry vacuums, including Roborock’s S8 Series—
comprising the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, Roborock S8+ and the Roborock S8—are far more advanced than previous generations. For instance, Roborock’s world-class research and development team has produced a dock that the S8+ can use for emptying its dust bin. The Pro Ultra’s RockDock Ultra, meanwhile, is an all-in-one, zero-maintenance dock where the robot can empty its dust bin, wash and dry its mop to avoid mold and odors, and fill up with water and cleaning fluid.
For business professionals, these robots are the ideal home help. Their Reactive 3D Obstacle Avoidance System means they can identify objects in their path and plot a course around them, removing the need for a pre-clean. Roborock has also developed an easy-to-use smartphone app where users can program a timetable to schedule cleanings at convenient times. That means there’s no need to worry about the clean happening during an important conference call, for example. In fact, it can be scheduled for any time—householders don’t even have to be home.
For a small device, suction power can be a challenge. However, the Roborock S8 Series offers a market-leading 6,000Pa (Pascals—the international unit for vacuum pressure). More suction means a faster clean, which is ideal for those juggling multiple tasks. A Carpet Boost+ system uses ultrasound to identify carpet and then cleans it twice, picking up 30% more hair than previous models. Other features include the new dual rubber roller brush, which resists hair tangles. For hard floors, a built-in mop uses high-speed scrubbing and consistent pressure to ensure they are perfectly clean. When the vacuum is cleaning a carpet, the VibraRise mopping system is lifted out of the way so the carpet stays dry.
Like all technologies, robot vacuums are innovative and effective tools that enable their owners to get more done and provide more freedom over how time is used, transforming how we approach household cleaning. An automated solution means householders can get on with something more productive—whether that’s working from home, career development or spending time with their pets—confident that their surroundings will remain consistently clean.
Unmatched power
Despite numerous labor-saving devices, we still spend a significant amount of time on household chores. A new generation of robots is set to change that.
Research
Advances in technology mean industry-leading, intelligent cleaning solutions are more accessible than ever. Find out about the smart home of the future, and how it can make your life more comfortable.
Wall Street Journal Custom Content is a unit of The Wall Street Journal advertising department. The Wall Street Journal news organization was not involved in the creation of this content.
Richard Chang, founder of Roborock
How much time do you spend on cleaning up after a pet each day?
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Aside from cleaning up after a pet, how often do you clean your home?
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Which part of the house do pet owners spend the most time cleaning?
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Which of the following do pet owners do most often when cleaning up after their pets?
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