Meet Henry, Donette and Nettie. Three very different members of the household, each with a job to do.

There are now three vacuum cleaners living in our Andalucian house. Two of them are robots. The third has been with us for so long that he’s practically family. We appreciate that three hoovers might sound a little excessive. But there’s a method to what might initially appear to be madness. And, as with most things in this house, there’s a story behind it…

a house with a lot of floor…

Our house is old, rather large and not particularly interested in conforming to modern expectations of level surfaces. At almost 300 square metres, spread over two floors with a roof terrace above, there’s a considerable amount of floor to keep clean. Downstairs, we have relatively smooth, newly laid tiles. Upstairs, the original floors are considerably less predictable, with uneven surfaces, rugs and the occasional obstacle.

We’d been considering a robot vacuum cleaner for some time. The idea of something quietly taking care of the everyday dust and debris while we got on with other things was enormously appealing. But we soon found ourselves contemplating not one robot, but two. Extravagant? Possibly. Practical? We thought so.

Our reasoning was fairly straightforward. These are clever little machines, with their own mapping systems, charging stations and cleaning routines. We didn’t particularly fancy unplugging everything and carrying a robot up and down the stairs every time we wanted another floor cleaned. And with so much ground to cover, we wondered whether dividing the workload between two machines might eventually prove kinder to both of them than expecting one to do everything.

Time will tell whether that theory holds up. But the convenience was persuasive enough.

donette arrives…

Donette was our first. A Xiaomi S40C, she arrived with considerable expectations attached. We’d imagined a beautifully efficient little machine quietly navigating the upstairs rooms, vacuuming and mopping while we congratulated ourselves on our excellent decision. And, to be fair, much of that happened.

But Donette also introduced us to the peculiarities of robot ownership.

Her mopping system initially caused problems, with airlocks preventing the water from flowing properly. There were investigations, experiments and a period during which she was very firmly on the naughty step. Returning her was seriously considered. Eventually, we worked out what was happening, resolved the problem and gave her another chance. She’s been making up for lost time ever since.

However, she’s also discovered that some things are beyond even her abilities. The shag-pile rugs in our Seventies Room, for example, proved rather too ambitious. Those are now left to someone with considerably more experience. More about him shortly…

and then came Nettie…

With Donette settling into her responsibilities upstairs, we introduced Nettie to the ground floor. Nettie is a Create Netbot LS50, and she has a slightly different approach to life. For one thing, she empties herself.

We knew, in theory, that her docking station would automatically remove the collected dust. What we hadn’t quite anticipated was the noise. The first time she returned to her dock and emptied her dustbin, it sounded as though a small jet engine had started up in the house. Five seconds later, silence. Efficient, certainly. Subtle, perhaps less so.

Nettie has the advantage of working on our relatively flat downstairs tiles, while Donette negotiates the more challenging terrain upstairs. Both vacuum and mop, and both have already proved enormously useful.

If pushed to declare a favourite, we might lean ever so slightly towards Donette. Not because she’s necessarily better. Simply because she was our first. We suspect parents of more than one child may recognise the sentiment, although we’re saying absolutely nothing about that.

two robots. one decision…

We’re not suggesting that every household needs two robot vacuum cleaners. For a smaller home, one would almost certainly be sufficient. And even in a larger house, there are other ways of managing the cleaning. But for us, having one machine permanently based on each floor has made sense.

They each have their own charging station, their own mapped territory and their own responsibilities. There’s no carrying equipment up and down stairs, no relocating docks and no asking one machine to tackle the entire house. We also hope that sharing the workload might reduce wear over time, although it’s far too early to know whether that will prove true. What we do know is that both have earned their place.

And despite the occasional technical hiccup, we’re delighted with them.

but what about henry?

Ah, Henry. Long before Donette and Nettie arrived, there was Henry. He’s been with us since our West Didsbury days, travelled with us to Istria and eventually made the journey to Andalucía. He’s seen houses, renovations, building dust and more changes of scenery than most vacuum cleaners could reasonably expect. He has no app. No mapping technology. No automatic charging station. And certainly no self-emptying system that sounds like an aircraft preparing for take-off.

What he does have is experience. And, importantly, the ability to deal with things that his younger colleagues can’t. Those shag-pile rugs upstairs? Henry’s department. The more awkward cleaning jobs? Henry again.

So while Donette and Nettie have taken over much of the everyday floor maintenance, Henry isn’t going anywhere. There’s room for everyone.

a few months from now…

We’re still relatively new to living with robot vacuum cleaners, and there’s plenty more to discover. We’ll be interested to see how they cope with regular use, how much maintenance they need and whether our decision to buy two continues to make sense. We’ll report back once they’ve had a few more months to settle into their routines. In the meantime, there’s a big  introduction still to be made.

We’ve deliberately kept Donette and Nettie apart so far. But we think it’s time for a family photograph. Henry will, naturally, take centre stage.

Henry. Donette. Nettie. Nobody’s being made redundant.