iRobot Scooba 390: The Next-Generation Household Appliance

* Disclosure: Mom Central received a complimentary iRobot Scooba 390 to facilitate this review.

One certainty all Moms can agree upon centers on the inevitability of housework. No matter the age of our kids, what other pressing obligations we have at the moment, or whatever household crisis we face, the floor still needs scrubbing, dirty dishes continue to pile up, and no one can ever find clean clothes.

But this realization also presents a particularly troubling dilemma. Whether we’ve made the decision to stay home, downsize to part-time work, or scale back outside activities, we do it so we can spend time with our kids – not clean the house. As a result, we struggle to find solutions that allow us to focus on our kids, while ensuring our families live in a somewhat orderly environment – whether it involves hiring outside cleaning help, finding multi-tasking products, or discovering high-tech household innovations.

Recently, I found a product that epitomizes the latter – the iRobot Scooba 390 floor washing system. Of all household tasks, scrubbing the floor represents one chore that’s caused me serious time and misery over the years. From my tile kitchen to the expanse of hardwood throughout my entryway and dining room, my floors need constant attention, and I dread to think of the time I spent – away from my son and daughter – wiping up dining room spills, sweeping away salt, toweling off tracked-in mud, and scooping up dropped ingredients from dinner prep.

So when I first learned of the iRobot Scooba 390, I immediately dove in to get more details. This version represents an update of the first Scooba model, with the size of the circular device doubled and the battery life increased by 30%. Once charged (it takes about eight hours), the Scooba can clean 850 square feet of floor space before it needs to be recharged. It also features leading-edge technology that maps out the room and helps the device avoid rugs, furniture, and stairs to prevent falls or mishaps.

The Scooba offers a four-step cycle, which covers everything you’d ever want in a floor-cleaning device. It preps the floor by sweeping up small particles such as dirt and crumbs – a new feature on for this model – then washes, scrubs, and finally “squeegees” the floor dry. Instead of chemicals, the Scooba uses fresh water, with an option to mix in a bit of white vinegar (for any non-marble floor), or iRobot’s Scooba Natural Enzyme or Clorox Scooba cleaning solutions. Finally, the Scooba cleaning design ensures that only clean water or solution will reach your floors

The Scooba’s technological capabilities and effectiveness puts it into the workhorse appliance category – similar to the family dishwasher or washing machine – which makes its $500 price tag on irobot.com a worthwhile investment. And, compared to long-term cleaning help, it’s a bargain. Now that I’ve used the Scooba, I find it nearly impossible to imagine a return to my previous system of paper towels, brooms, dust pans, mops, and vacuum cleaners – just like I don’t want to ever think about hand-washing dishes after a big family dinner or dragging clothes, sheets, and towels to the laundry mat. By eliminating a huge chore, the Scooba has already shown its value by allowing me to spend more time with my teens or just have a minute to myself after dinner – and that’s a timesaver I find priceless.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.