"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

She sure looks sweet doesn't she?  Well, this canine has given my family a lot of joy over the last few years but she's got her issues too.  One of them is her habit of leaving copious amounts of fur all over our home.  To be fair, she does have some help.  Her three sister-cats can drop some locks too.

You read that right, FOUR furry animals live with my FIVE (furry?) family members in ONE house.  So, here's my first "You've gotta try this!" find.  The iRobot Roomba is one of those inventions that you almost can't believe, even after you've seen it.

My mom has seen my house and my household of creatures and decided that I needed a Roomba, so she gave me one as a gift.  In case you're wondering, a true LazeGirl is never offended by someone trying to make her life easier, you know.  I knew the Roomba would work but I had my doubts that the seemingly small debris bin would hold all the fur that accumulates on my floor.  Well, let me tell you, he works really, really, really well!  SO well, in fact, he is now an honorary part of the family.  

Here's what you'll need to know about YOUR Roomba.

• You'll need to pick up any small cables, shoestrings, paper, ribbons...well, anything that you wouldn't vacuum over with your manual vacuum cleaner.  This is especially important since you won't be there to rescue the items from the Roomba.  (And that's the BEAUTY of the Roomba!)
• The Roomba runs under furniture so block off any areas where the Roomba might become lodged accidentally.  You'll find out where those spots are the first couple of times you run it.  
• The Roomba isn't exceedingly loud but it is a vacuum cleaner and it's not silent.  You'll want to turn the Roomba on when you are leaving the house or going to sleep for the night.  Of course, this is after the first few times you use it.  You're going to want to watch it for a week or so because it's just so cool!  
• The debris bin is on the small side so you may want to run the Roomba every day.  This depends upon your situation, but if you have several pets like I do, you'll want to run it every day.  In the morning, or when you return to your home, empty the bin and check the brushes for any debris that may have wrapped around the brush assembly.    
• Clean the filter regularly.  If you use the Roomba every day, clean the filter at least once each week.

Pick the right Roomba for YOUR home:

I have the iRobot Roomba 620 Vacuum.  I push the top button just before going to bed and it takes about an hour to vacuum 1300 square feet (carpet, vinyl, and hardwood flooring) on the main floor of my home.  My cats and dog don't seem to mind the machine at work.  When the debris bin becomes full or the battery charge gets low, the Roomba runs right back to it's dock and begins re-charging. Emptying the debris bin is easy as is cleaning the brushes and filters.

If you are looking for something even more fancy, there are PROGRAMMABLE Roombas!  This means you can program the Roomba to begin at a certain day and time.  The 650 Vacuum is programmable if you need that functionality.

And, if you're looking to amaze your friends or you just NEED to latest and greatest, the iRobot Roomba 980 can be controlled using your smartphone.  It will also dock, recharge, and then continue to vacuuming job until it's done.  I wouldn't need this feature in my small home but you might!

So, I hope you'll enjoy what I lovingly refer to as the LazeGirl's best friend, the iRobot Roomba.  I mean how much better can life get when you wake up in the morning to clean floors and the only finger you lift is to push a big round button?