O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner Review

O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner Review

The O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner is just one robot mop in a world of many. The competition is cut-throat, to say the least, but the O-Cedar floor mopping robot manages to hold its own quite well for a low-cost machine.

The O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner (Link)

When compared to other floor mopping robot devices, the O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner offers less of a mopping action and more of a dusting feature. Even with this “fault” in mind, however, this is an exceptionally affordable and quite useful product to add to any floor cleaning repertoire.

The Basics

So, what is the O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner? It falls somewhere between a duster and a mop. There is no vacuuming action to this machine so don’t expect it to suck up any pet hair, but there is plenty of floor dusting action. What good is it to dust the floor? Did you know that humans shed between one-half to one and a half pounds of skin a year? That’s a pretty good reason to consider a dusting robot if you ask us.

How does this floor cleaning robot work? It’s actually rather simple in comparison to a lot of the other mopping robots out there. The O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner requires charging and fitting with four disposable mopping cloths. Two wheels on the bottom of the cleaner then wheel it around the floor allowing it to mop any dust (or dead skin, YUCK!) as it goes.

The Nitty Gritty

Affordability

When it comes to cost, the O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner can be yours for a fairly reasonable price point…at least until you factor in the cleaning cloths. The machine takes 1 cloth at a time and this will last for a single cleaning. Replacement cloths are available for around 10 dollars for a pack of 20, meaning that one pack will last twenty cleanings. How often do you need to use the device? Well, that all depends on how “filthy” you are. We estimate that the average household would put this little robot into action at least five times a week, which means you are looking at a total of just over ten dollars month to run this puppy. Not too hefty of a price tag, but still an investment that stacks up in comparison to mopping robots that use washable cloths.

But cost aside, how does the O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner measure up?

Sound

It’s quite a quiet machine, running just a little louder than the dishwasher (think newer models, not that old clunker you grew up with).

Navigation

The O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner fits easily under furniture and makes an effort to reach the bottom of baseboards – a frequently missed area when cleaning floors. Unfortunately, this cleaning effort generally results in dust and debris being swept up against the baseboards as the machine moves. This means having to make a one sweep follow-up when the floor cleaner has finished its cycle.

While we’re talking about the inconveniences of the O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner navigation, it’s time to mention the big flaw with this machine – the complete lack of an intelligent navigation system. It’s unfair to expect much from a low-cost machine, so perhaps we are being too critical, but you can only rescue a floor cleaning robot from the bottom of a flight of stairs so many times before you give up completely. That’s right, there is no “cliff” sensing technology in this sweeper so if you have stairs, take note. It’s not only the stair issue that becomes bothersome with this mopping machine, however. The O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner travels in a straight line, hits a wall (or falls downstairs), turns its wheels, and takes off in another straight line. This method of cleaning results in clean sections of floor, but randomly patterned sections with dirty patches in the middle.

Let’s also take a moment to talk about obstacles, simply put, your O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner is a little like an inebriated partygoer. Ask it to take a simple route and not walk over any grates, curbs, or high piled carpeting and you’re going to be fine, expect it to tackle these things and you’re going to be sorely disappointed (but hey, at least the mop isn’t going to vomit on your carpet).

Cleaning Cycles

The O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner offers two cleaning cycle options – a short cycle lasting 30 minutes and a long cycle which is supposed to last 120 minutes. We say “supposed to” because that’s what the packaging says, but the fact of the matter is that it will just run until the batteries die.

Cleaning Ability

This is a machine that is designed to “finish things off” in our opinion. Use it as a primary floor sweeping robot and you’re going to have problems. It simply cannot manage any significant amount of debris or anything larger than dust. If you’re looking to get rid of that top layer of dust in an unused room or finish off a sweeping job, then this is a good investment. If you’re looking to sweep up after your kids running around the house or your shedding dog…forget it, you’re simply going to end up with random piles of debris throughout the house.

Redeeming Qualities

With all of this said, is there actually anything redeeming about the O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner that makes it worth the investment? We’re glad you asked because there are a couple of features that we rather like.

  • The cleaning cloths on the O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner are large enough that they allow for sweeping underneath low-lying furniture and appliances. This is something that many of the most complex floor cleaning robots overlook.
  • The O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner is something of an Energizer Bunny. With regular charging, this little machine keeps going and going.
  • It is actually possible to substitute just about any floor cleaning cloth for the O-Cedar refills. We found online where a user had been cutting Swiffer cloths in half and sticking them to the O-Cedar, which is great if you have extra Swiffer cloths laying around. It still may not be a cost-efficient cleaning method, but it’s still not a $400 investment all at once.

Is the O-Cedar O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner Worth It?

The answer to this question depends on what you are looking for from your floor cleaner. If you are looking for something to replace your need to sweep the floor, then you’re looking in the wrong place (would you pay a couple twenties for a lifetime of sweeping floors?) If, however, you are looking for something to do an in-between sweep cleaning and tackle lightly layered dust, then this is worth the investment.

Looking for something to do a little more heavy lifting? We recommend the Braava Jet 240.

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