One thing about me is that I’m always mopping or vacuuming my floors!
Our old house was nothing but carpet & it honestly drove me insane because I had to vacuum every single day. Why? So much dust. I had a Shark Navigator Large Dust Cup Capacity vacuum & that thing was full every single day. It got to the point where I was sick & tired of carrying it upstairs daily, so I bought a handheld vacuum. We went through multiple ones & none of them really panned out.
Then there were the bathrooms! So many Swiffers for a while! It started to feel like too much waste, so I settled on spraying the floor & using reusable wipes attached to the Swiffer.
It was seriously exhausting. We moved into our new house, which is 100% hardwood, but mopping every single day is still a chore. We have a Shark wet/dry vac, which is great — don’t get me wrong — but it’s still a 40–50 minute task every day. And don’t even get me started on the collection tank… but that’s for another post.
I never could pull the trigger on a robot vacuum or mop. We lived in a two-story house instead of one floor, plus the outlandish cost. I get it, it’s doing a whole chore that can take up to an hour & it can get into every little space. But still.
Finally, Shark had the Shark Stratos Robot Vacuum & Mop on sale for 65% off at Target. On top of that, I had a 20% off coupon, multiple saved gift cards & 2% cashback rewards on my Chime card. I couldn’t pass up that deal.
Just remember all those savings for the end.
There are many features I love about the Shark Stratos Robot Vacuum & Mop. One is that it maps your entire house, allows you to draw lines to designate rooms & detects which areas have carpet.
Once that’s set up, you can create a schedule for how often you want it to vacuum and/or mop. There’s also an option to clean specific rooms at any time. For instance, sometimes I forget to leave my bedroom door open, so I’ll vacuum my room afterward.
From the app, you can also mop or vacuum a specific area using “Spot Clean”. This is super handy if you spill flour on the floor or drop an entire jar of pasta sauce.
For all you Alexa lovers out there like me, you can also program it using Alexa commands. I have mine set up so when I say, “Alexa, have Winston vacuum the dining room,” the robot vacuums the dining room. I’ve also set it so that every time I leave the house, it automatically vacuums.
With all that being said, if you shed a lot like I do or live in a high-dust area, this vacuum is perfect for you. The canister is always filled with hair & dust. I know it says every 30 days, but I empty it at least once a week.
Our Shark’s name is Winston (yes, you can name them). His schedule is to vacuum the entire house every day at 7:15 pm & at 7:00 pm Alexa announces that everything needs to be picked up. Once finished, he returns to the docking station, empties his dust bin & charges himself.
I will say the dust bin emptying process is loud. If you’re planning on running your Shark vacuum while your baby is napping, you’re sleeping (especially if you’re a light sleeper), or during meals, just be warned. The robot announces each step; filling the water tank, emptying the dust bin, washing the pad, etc. so there is a warning if you’re paying attention.
Aside from being loud when emptying the bin or cleaning the pad, the vacuuming & mopping themselves are a bit noisy. It’s not as loud as a traditional vacuum, but it’s not silent either. If you’re having a conversation, you’ll need to talk a little louder & if the TV is on, you’ll have to turn it up.
Honestly, that’s my biggest complaint.
A couple of other things I didn’t like: despite the “never touch” claim, I’ve had to fix or pick up the robot multiple times. There have been a few occasions where the mop pad didn’t stay on & needed to be reattached. Also, when it docks after vacuuming, the mop pad sometimes gets lodged, this has happened fairly often.
A few times, small items like batteries, lids, or socks have gotten stuck or pulled the pad off, which is annoying. So if you have small children who leave things out all the time, this might not be for you.
I will say it’s great at vacuuming up dog hair. After my neighbor’s dog comes over, I always vacuum right after he leaves and make sure to empty the dust bin.
My only other complaint is that the dirty water tank should have some kind of odor absorber. There’s no way it could sit for 30 days with that smell. Winston mops every day, we don’t wear shoes inside & it’s mostly dust, yet the water always smells & has a lot of residue. I wish there were an option to hook up a hose to drain it instead of keeping it in a container.
I do like the size of the water tank; it’s a great size & holds a lot. Again, Winston mops every day, and now that it’s winter, even more often because of the shoe area & having a pet in the house. That has been a big plus in cutting down on the nastiness in the home.
Now for the real question after all the pros & cons: is it worth the full price of $999.99? Absolutely not. Yes, it gives an hour plus back each day, vacuums spaces I can’t reach that collect dust & cleans itself; but that’s a steep price for what you’re getting. One appliance that takes up space & costs as much as a large bill? No.
Would I pay $400 or less? Absolutely. For everything listed above, the hour plus I get back each day alone speaks volumes.
I love Shark products! They’re great, but sometimes the price tag is a little too much for what you’re receiving.