Vacuum cleaners

A robot for the daily pass, a stick for the spills:

households that own more than one vacuum nearly always end up with that pairing. The robot runs on a schedule while the flat is empty, though it never climbs a stair and stalls on phone chargers. The cordless stick hangs on its wall charger and comes down for crumbs under the table or sand carried home from the beach, and it is only ever as good as its battery. A corded canister never runs flat and is still the cheapest way to do a whole house. Handhelds live in the car. Drum machines that swallow water and sawdust are wet-and-dry vacuums and sit with the pressure washers and steam cleaners under cleaning and household, and if the dust hangs in the air rather than settling on the floor, air purifiers are the better answer.

Tile floors and the robot that mops:

with fitted carpet so rare, a heavy motorised carpet head adds little, while a robot that drags a damp pad behind it can take over the daily mopping. Between robots, the split that matters is navigation. A gyroscope model cleans in rows and forgets the house once it docks. A laser model, the one with a round turret on top, keeps a map, can be sent to a single room and told to stay away from the dog’s bowl. That turret makes it taller, so measure the gap under the sofa and the beds before choosing. A plain dock only charges, while the bigger stations empty the bin into a bag and wash the pad, which means bags and pads to keep buying.

What a laser robot or a Dyson stick is worth:

a laser-mapping robot that also mops costs around $170 to $300 new, a model whose station empties and washes for it costs more than double that, and a cordless stick from Shark or Dyson runs from about $250 to $650 depending on the generation. Second-hand, the battery sets the price far more than the age does. A Dyson whose original pack gives up after a few minutes on boost is worth much less than the same model with a fresh pack, because a genuine replacement pack is not cheap. The run time printed on the box is measured on the lowest power, so a pack that clicks out without a screwdriver is worth paying a little more for.

A tired battery and a hair-choked brush roll:

that is where used vacuums fail. Ask for the stick fully charged and switch it straight to maximum: it should hold steady without surging or cutting out. On a Dyson, that surging points to a blockage or to a filter that is dirty or went back in damp after washing. Then pull out the brush roll. Hair wound tight into the end caps chews the bearings, and a roller that wobbles is finished. With a robot, let it run a short cycle and find its own way home. The laser turret should spin quietly, the drive wheels should drop and spring back when you lift it, and the side brush should not be splayed. A robot brought in from China may only pair with the app set to that region, so ask where it was bought, and have the seller remove it from their account and reset it before you pay.

Handing over a robot vacuum with its dock:

the dock and its power lead have to go with it, because a robot cannot charge without them and a buyer driving in from David or Penonomé will not want to find the base missing. Time a stick from a full charge on maximum, put the minutes in the title and say whether the battery is original or replaced. Photograph the model label, under a robot or on the body of a stick, and add a short video of the robot docking. Pack any spare brushes, bags and mop pads, and unlink it from your app before the buyer arrives so it works in their home the same evening.