Hardwood Cleaning Robot

Product Description

Features

• 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

Top Reviews

It's not a vacuum, it's a wet/try duster. Roomba, Scooba, Mint, fight!
by THATCHMAN1 (4 out of 5 stars)
March 22, 2014

Full disclosure, I have been a Roomba guy for a lot of years, and I've also had two Scoobas. I was very interested in why this one was so popular, and what was so great about it that Roomba maker iRobot, would buy the company! I found it on a daily special and instinctively bought one.

When I bought this, I knew that it was a wet dry floor duster. I wasn't sure what to expect and I was really interested in the way that it uses a cube to "GPS" the indoors and allegedly cover everything in a more complete way than Roomba.

To understand my thoughts about this device, it probably make sense to fill in the picture with my experiences and thoughts on the Roomba and Scooba. It may be a long review, be warned.

I started many years ago with the Red Roomba and I found that it was good at vacuuming the house. I've always had hard floors, sometimes linoleum in some rooms, wood in others, with rugs around here and there. I've been happy with the Roomba. It does have replaceable parts though, like brushes. If you don't maintain those, in a year or two the vacuum quality really suffers. I'm now on my third Roomba through trading in over the years.

In those years I've also had two Scooba devices. Those are real floor moppers/scrubbers. They spray down cleaner, scrub, and suck it back up. They're a bit of an engineering feat to me, and I had more warranty replacements than desired on the first one. The second one was solid.

Before the Mint, my routine is normally to run the Roomba once a week in the bedroom, and once a week in the kitchen/office/living room. Often I can hit all of those rooms on a single charge, and if not, it charges again in a couple hours and I can do half in the morning and the other half in the afternoon.

When it comes to Scooba, I used it more when I lived in a house with linoleum in the kitchen. I now live in a place with all wood floors and a carpet bedroom, so there is no white linoleum that needs constant wet attention. With the Scooba, it needs semi-regular use or it dries out inside and you have to prime the pump. It also uses a different type of battery that is safe with water environments, which takes longer to charge, has less of a life, and requires frequent charging to keep it ready all the time. I might use the Scooba only a few times per year because I move the furniture, pick up the rugs, and go all out. It really gets things scrubbed, but it's a job to do so I use it less frequently.

In comes the Mint. I hoped that the mint would be a Scooba light-- giving the floor a wet wipe without all of the work of the Scooba. See, the Scooba would get caught on the carpets if you don't move them/pick them up/roll them, so it's more work. I hoped that I could get a wet cleaning with less work. I like Robots, and I'm lazy. And so far it has worked out pretty well.

Others have reviewed the Mint and what it acts like, how it works, and its functionality, so I will only hit that in a small way later. But my conclusion is here: Every time I clean the floor with Mint, it get almost nothing. I run the Roomba once per week and while running the Scooba would come up with a bin of dark dark muddy water, the mint hardly has anything on its cloth.

I went on a journey to figure out how people are using Mint, and I asked a question to the other buyers: How do you keep the cloth wet enough? Some people change it mid work (which resets the routine on this model) and some people spray the floor with wet cleaner before it cleans. Neither of those were overly thrilling options in my mind.

The Mint does not replace the wet usage I got from the Scooba, nor does it actually suck up lint, nor also work on carpet like the Roomba. If it gathered dirt or lint or dust, I would think it fits somewhere in the middle. But it doesn't. Running the Roomba must be enough, and the Scooba is there when a wet clean is needed.

I had hoped this might be both devices in one, but it really isn't. I also don't think it's a bad device. If I didn't have a Roomba to use regularly, I am sure this would pick up more dirt, or push around more dirt because there is nothing else cleaning. That said, I did want to provide at least a little feedback on watching it do it's work:
1. Charging is slow SLOW slow. I mean, overnight slow. I know there is another more expensive option, but my Roomba isn't special and it can recharge in just a few hours.
2. It is very quiet. It almost feels peaceful. It cleans in little one foot swoths forward and back, not long passes like Roomba. Roomba has a high pitched plastic mechanical whine to it, while this one is almost silent. It does still bang into things occasionally, but even then it's less violent and less damaging to things. You can watch TV while it's cleaning, take a conference call, etc. Definitely not possible with Roomba or Scooba.
3. It does sometimes get lost. I live in an open floorplan that isn't a perfect square and sometimes in the far edges it bangs around because it's lost its home base connection.

If I had to chose one single product, it would be Roomba. If I had to choose a second, it would be this device. But the best solution of all, at a cost, is both a Roomba and a Scooba.

It's kind of like having a desktop computer, an ultrabook and a tablet. They're not the same but in the end they overlap enough that it doesn't make sense to have all three.

I'm interested in what others think! Open to comments below!
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They're still in Mint condition
by Sam-I-Am (3 out of 5 stars)
October 4, 2014

I purchased two of these Mint cleaners to give as gifts. Both purchases took place here on Amazon in December of 2011 and they cost $198 ($207 a piece with shipping added) at that time. Before purchasing these I read reviews in Consumer Reports and compared features and specifications between the Mint and the iRobot Roomba.

One of the two units I purchased was a gift for my mother. She has dogs, one with black hair, and her kitchen floors are white tile. It seemed like every time I went over to her house she was sweeping up and I thought this would make her life easier. The second Mint I purchased was given as a gift to a friend and his wife. Their home is smaller, no pets, two kids. Both gift recipients seemed excited to get these and initially I heard about how in my mother's case, the dogs would bark excitedly at it when it was running or in my friend's case, that the kids would want to see it in action every night.

However, once the new wore off they started getting used less frequently. By 2013 when I would go over to either of my gift recipient's homes I no longer even saw the units sitting against a wall charging up. I really got my answer this summer (2014) when I was over at my friend house and saw the Mint up high on a garage shelf. Same is true in the case of the Mint I gave my mother. The last time I was at her house I asked her where the Mint was and it took her quite a while to even locate it.

The title of my review implies both are still in Mint condition, a little play on words, but I went with this to illustrate that these units never became indispensable cleaning tools in either household. Both ultimately went the way of other kitchen gadgets once the new wore off and now both units are taking up space and collecting dust. Based on the reviews these have obviously won over several of their owners and maybe that's the better point to this review. If you're buying one of these for yourself it probably means that you've done your research and feel this is something you will incorporate into your home and lifestyle. But if considering this as a gift to make life easier on a loved one, you might be better off going with an Amazon.com Gift Cards - In a Gift Box - Free One-Day Shipping and letting the gift recipient decide for themselves whether or not this is a device they are likely to embrace.

I hope this was helpful if you're considering this as a gift as well. I purchased mine here on Amazon in December of 2011 and the price was $198 each. Shipping for each unit was an additional $9.21.
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This is a GREAT little floor unit for mopping wood laminate floors!
by TammyA (5 out of 5 stars)
June 1, 2014

After spending a couple of years with a bad back and frequently unkept floors, I decided I finally had to do something. Skeptical of robots actually cleaning well enough to warrant the $$$, I started with a used but Like New iRobots Roomba 440 vacuum for the carpets, and LOVED that...so I figured I would see what there was for my kitchen wood laminate floor. After reading tons of reviews, and to save some dollars in case this didn't pan out, I chose to purchase from Amazon an older but "like new" Mint Hard Floor Cleaner 4200 (now owned by iRobot and called the Braava 320). The unit appeared to have never been out of the box, though the box was older and scuffed.

I've only have had the Mint 4200 one day, and normally I wouldn't rate anything this quickly, but I am so impressed with this little unit. I pulled it from the box, let it charge overnight, easily set it up with a wet Swiffer cloth (after having already swept my floors yesterday), and set it on my kitchen/utility area floor. I set its Companion Cube (er Northstar Navigation cube) high up so it could scan my L-shaped kitchen with middle island, and turned the floor unit on. My husband and I drank a cup of coffee as we watched this little robot work its magic. (Now this is the kind of housework my back enjoys).

The little Mint 4200 methodically and meticulously mopped across the floor, even figuring out the odd island in the middle of the L-shape without any issues, even cleaning in the back utility area of the "L" out of sight from the cube. I had wondered if I might need 2 navigation cubes, but the one cube set high did the trick

The unit I received was dated 2012, and I had the pleasant discovery that the manufacturer had listened to customer feedback from earlier units and had upgraded so you can now pause the Mint 4200 to replace the cleaning pad without interrupting the map cycle. You only have to press the mop or sweep button once when it is running to pause it, replace the cleaning pad, then push again for it to restart using the same map, which works if you place it where it originally began. (I actually just replaced it where I had paused it, and it seemed to figure things out just fine).

I first tried the unit with the wet Swiffer cloths I had in the cupboard, and they fit fine and did an expected job of cleaning. However since I've always disliked the dull look left by the Swiffer wet cloth on my laminate floor, even if I carefully wet mopped it, I chose an uncleaned area and tried the supplied microfiber mop cloth wetted with soapy water and a couple of drops of Dawn (just a little Dawn dish soap and lots of water as one reviewer recommended). I was AMAZED at how well that worked. It actually cleaned AND left a buffed glow on my laminate when the floor dried.One mcirofiber cloth kept wet for a surprisingly long time, but with the pause feature, it was very easy to rinse and replace the cloth to help with my extra dirty floors. I plan to purchase a set of the microfiber mop cloths as that will be the way for me to go. I can refresh as needed, and when truly grungy, wash the cloths in the laundry. A set of 3 (sold on Amazon for $19.99) with my original 1 in the box will keep me in fresh cloths for a very long time.

Since my floors had been neglected for some time, I chose to run the Mint twice...actually just pausing and replacing it at different areas. The Mint had more than enough juice in the battery to do my very dirty kitchen floor twice in a matter of about 1 1/2 hours.

If it lasts as the other viewers have said, I will be a very contented camper for a long time. So content that the family has dubbed my new little robot helpers Wall-E (the iRobot vacuum) and of course this little kitchen maid mopper, Eva...she's even white with the little blue buttons.

So Wall-E and Eva are happy servants in my now much cleaner home...I couldn't be happier, my back couldn't be happier.
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How I learned to like this machine.
by Michael Fumento (4 out of 5 stars)
November 21, 2012

FIRST POSTING

It's really just a duster, which was okay because my big problem was kitty litter that once kicked into the air coated all the floors. Even still, it needed to run a lot just to keep up with one kitty. Worked okay for two days and conked. The light indicates it's fine, but it doesn't move. So the diagnostics are useless. I've heard there IS product support, but the leads I have followed so far have been dead. Like the machine. Oh yeah, nice companion for my cat, too. For two days.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

After being comatose for two days my unit works again. My best guess is because I stupidly wet the cloth while it was on the unit, and the water seeped into the electronics.

That said it IS just a glorified duster. My only source of dirt is from the cat kicking up litter in a covered box. That said, the unit has to run constantly to (almost) keep up. In one minute of mopping you can pick up more dirt than it does in an hour. But seriously, the cat DOES love it and my Colombian friends think it's cool. But given the expense and the fact that you still do have to change the cloths and recharge the battery and it loves to get lost and beep every once in awhile until you track it down, it probably wasn't a good investment.

UPDATE JAN 27

I've basically changed my mind for the better on this thing. My place has only hard floor. Some type of tile. And all the floors were perpetually dirty because the cat doesn't just use the litter box as a bathroom, she loves to play in it and kick up dust. The dust settles throughout. I spend a lot of time barefoot and can't stand the feel of grit on my tootsies.

So I figured if she's going to perpetually dirty the floor, I've got to perpetually clean it. Hence I bought this glorified Swifter. Didnt seem to do much good at first. Tootsies didn't feel any cleaner. BUT once I had given the floor a really good pre-clean, it has in fact done its job of perpetually keeping the floors clean. Sure, I have to charge it a lot and it doesn't change its own cloths. Also it gets stuck a lot and I have to rescue it. But that doesn't take much time. One key IS to use cloth. The paper things are more convenient but less effective. Only takes three minutes to rinse out the cloth.

In fact, it seems to run in one-hour cycles and when you look at that cloth at the bottom it's always gross with kitty litter and kitty fur. That's what I would otherwise be walking on. Plus, yes, the cat truly enjoys it. Sometimes it's her friend; sometimes an alien invader in the home she owns. At first I thought it a waste of money but no more.
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The Mint is great for hardwood floors
by The Man, Myth & Legend (5 out of 5 stars)
April 17, 2013

I am 7 days into owning my Mint hardwood floor cleaner. I have to say without a doubt this device is worth every penny. Living in Southern California has it perks, but a downside is the air is always filled with dust and dirt. Add that to owning a dog and having 2 boys + me and my bride and the daily buildup of dirt within our home is crazy.

Let me note... I did not purchase this Mint cleaner as a mopping machine. I purchased it with the goal to not have floors that have hair and dust buildup 12 hours after a full sweep and mop.

Day #1: Mint was impressive out of the box. Our home is just over 1,700 sq.ft. and about 70% of it is hardwood floors. After setting it up with 1 satellite it covered roughly over 1/3 the house. After it finished one room I simply moved the satellite to allow it to cover the other areas. To avoid having to do this you can buy more satellites. I avoided this until I was able to see the Mint worked.

Day #2: With Mint exposed just how terribly dusty our home was. We allowed the device in the bedroom and it promptly went to work under the bed, dressers and night stands. Good God it was freaking dirty/dusty/dog hair filled. We have only lived in the house for 2 months and it was bad. But Mint cleaned it all up and we are good to go.

Day #3: I took the time to test our Mints mopping capabilities. Before I purchased Mint I read the reviews on Amazon. Most of them outline the mopping functionality was not stellar, but it worked. Overall I have to agree. The mopping worked, but the device will only do 350 sq.ft. in mop mode as it uses a lot more battery life. The device cleaned/mopped well, but it is not something you will want to use for deep cleaning.

Day #4-7: Mint is keeping the floor both dog hair and dust free. The biggest review win for me here was my wife clearly feels the task of sweeping is 100% covered by Mint. It takes 1 minute of time to get mint going and the device takes over.

I will be buying 2 more satellites to allow Mint to cover the entire home in one setup. Overall this has a small cost, but it is worth it in my eyes.

The more we use Mint the less dirt Mint is picking up as the house is remaining clean. I am planning to do a 2 week video review on Mint and cover off on things in more detail. Overall after 1 week, I feel Mint was well worth the price and would recommend this for anyone with hardwood floors.
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Great product!
by Tracker (5 out of 5 stars)
November 23, 2012

I have had this cleaner for about a year now, and I have not had a single problem with it. I have all hard wood floors, and the amount of dirt this picks up each time I sweep is amazing. I usually send it around 1-2 times a week usually twice with a dry swiffer cloth for each room followed by the mopping wet swiffer cloth. We walk around barefoot without feeling any grit under our feet. It is great! My floors even passed the Korean mother-in-law test, and now she wants one! I really love how low maintenance this cleaner is. You just charge it--no element cleaning required. Just toss the cloth when you are done. (Sorry, I tried washing the reusable cloths that they give you, but it was kind of gross to think all that was going in my washing machine, so I switched back to disposable.) Overall this is a great product for the price and the amount of problem-free use I get out of it. As other people have said, though, this is not a vacuum cleaner. It will not pick up solid objects. If any food, etc. is on my floor, I spot sweep then follow-up with Mint.

Update: I have had my original Mint for almost 2 years now without a problem. Then, I ordered another Mint about 6 months ago, but the treads came loose. I have been really impressed with their customer service. I emailed Mint from their website about the problem and have received timely replies. Originally I thought it was my older Mint that had the problem, which they said would cost me $30 to fix. I didn't think that sounded too bad, but then I realized that it was actually my newer Mint (in warranty) that was damaged. I sent them proof of my order, and got an email and a call back that they would replace the unit within 7-10 days and to just ship back the old one with their provided box. Of all the electronic repairs I have had to pursue over my lifetime, this one was pretty painless. It is just nice to know that the company still stands behind their product.

Update 2 (pet hair): Mint and Mint replacement still going strong, but we have added a 110 lb. Anatolian Shepherd to the mix. Our new dog sheds like it is her job. I just wanted to update that I am especially glad we have the Mint. With the amount of hair our dog sheds, I can't imagine a vacuum cleaner holding up without good upkeep of the elements (which history shows, I will not do). The Mint does fine, but I have to check for the tufts of hair that sometimes end up around furniture edges. The pet hair also calls for additional Mint passes.
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My Mint is my new best friend! Fantastic mommy helper!
by sassymom (5 out of 5 stars)
February 29, 2012

I have had this robotic floor cleaner for about three months, and my Mint is still my new best friend!

By the end of the day, our hardwood floors have accumulated layers of evidence that there are toddlers in the house. Little ones play, eat, crawl, climb, and crumb all over our floors. The Mint is the IDEAL mommy helper! Each evening, after the little ones are in bed, I roll up our area rug, put up our chairs, and start the mint. First on the brush cycle, then on the mop cycle. While the Mint details my hardwood floors, I can enjoy dinner and get other tasks done. This saves me time, and ensures that the floors are clean and safe for the kiddos the next morning. It has become part of my routine and really helps keep the house tidy.

Pros:
1) It works! Gets all the corners, picks up lots of dirt, and covers every last inch of the floor. High tech and smart.
2) The mop cycle is FANTASTIC. It uses real back/forth mopping action, which scrubs the floor clean.
3) You can either use Swiffer sheets (dry or wet) or use the included cleaning cloths. This means options depending on how dirty your floors are.

Cons:
1) It is NOT a vacuum. It works best if you run the vacuum first. This is absolutely not a big deal for me as vacuuming is much easier than dealing with a mop & water.

I love my Mint and am very happy with my new friend : )
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My Best Friend
by Dave and Colleen (4 out of 5 stars)
April 10, 2012

I purchased the Mint a little over a year ago to attempt to keep up with ridding our ebony stained wood floors of cat hair. I have had some issues with the Mint shutting down and quitting after it "thinks" its done, and I have to start it over, but it is not that serious of a problem. Other than that, I have not had any issues with it. It will sweep our living room (approx 20x27) and if I set it up right after I will have enough charge left to mop as well. I definitely recommend this product for people with animals or that are concerned about dust, as it will not pick up large particles - but makes a huge difference when it comes to pet hair. The GPS is also very accurate. I have found that if I step into its path while it is cleaning and do not attempt to move, given enough time it will attempt to go around me. This little guy definitely helps out a lot with the cleaning process!
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Good product, but not the Holy Grail.
by TXGoddess (4 out of 5 stars)
November 16, 2014

I'm deducting one star only because of the relatively short battery life and "wall" setup.

The cleaner does what it says it will do. I use the swiffer wet pads to clean. I have yet to have one come back clean, even though I clean the floor almost daily. The Mint ALWAYS picks up dirt. It gets under and around things that would be cumbersome for me to do with a swiffer. It occasionally gets itself stuck under the edge of a rocker recliner or ottoman, but not enough that warrants a reduction in rating.

The battery usually only lasts long enough for me to do my living room or my kitchen/breakfast nook/laundry room. I'd guess maybe 300 sq'? There's no easy way to switch out the pads in the middle of a job. It seems that the program restarts at the beginning, rather than where it left off. That leads me to the wall issue. There's no option to set up a virtual wall (like a roomba), so you have to set up a physical barrier if you want to contain the cleaner to a specific section. If you change pads in the middle of a job, it often starts cleaning areas that its already done. The only way to make it stay on another side of the room is to block it.

That said, if it had the ability to do virtual walls *or* a longer battery life, it would be a five star product. Either of those improvements would allow me to get a larger area done at one time. I'd recommend it for anyone who, like myself, work long hours and simply don't feel like sweeping every day. I set it to do one area in the morning while I get ready for work, charge it all day, then set it to do another area at night while I prepare dinner, etc.
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We love this thing!
by Korr (5 out of 5 stars)
September 15, 2012

We love this thing - it works very well. I even dropped it as I was unearthing it from the styrofoam clench before I was able to use it. Dropped it from perhaps 4 feet onto a hard, wood floor. And it still works! This thing is hardy and well-made. We have FOUR dogs and three of them are Shelties - suffice it to say that dog hair is ubiquitous in our house. Have had the device (we call ours Lurch) for 2 weeks and am mighty pleased with its mopping AND sweeping abilities. Both functions work great. We have a gigantic room encapsulating a kitchen (it was even brave enough to clean under the stove), dining and living areas. Lurch travels intrepidly everywhere taking dog hair with him and never repeats a spot. Sometimes one charge in Lurch can last two entire cleaning rounds. Highly recommend to those who don't wish to mop or sweep a moderately dirty floor every day. The only drawback I can think of is that Lurch likes to go under rugs that are not heavy (light-weight, non-padded Navaho rugs, for instance) and sometimes gets stuck under there. But it's only happened twice out of the probably 30 times that we've used him. Otherwise, he artfully dodges all of our other rugs, furniture he can't scoot under, and other objects. Lurch is great!
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If you like clean, this is for you.
by Barry Connors (5 out of 5 stars)
March 15, 2013

My wife has dust allergies and I keep the house pretty dust free for her sake so wet mopping is a daily chore. The mint is a blessing.

I read complaints about it, but I have none. It is not meant to wash your floors, it is a dust mop or wet mop and it does the job like nothing else. I use a large machine to wash the floors once a month and I use a Roomba as well. It rarely gets stuck and when it does, it lets you know with a beep. You can stop it and start it as many times as you like and it continues without missing a spot.

Also you can literally go to bed while it does your bedroom because it is so quiet you can hear nothing from it.

I only regret that I did not buy the extra wet cloths with it when I bought the mint but I will remedy that on the first sale I see.

I would recommend this to all my friends without hesitation but I would also reming them that it is not a maid. It does not pick up the things you lay around on the floor.

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