Scooba alternative solutions

[swamifox]

About the VINEGAR SMELL, you can add a drop (experiment with one drop first, then up the drops until you find the combo you like) of ESSENTIAL OIL in many different fragrances. However, all essential oils are NOT the same. From what I have read, only http://www.auracacia.com/ actually test their oils for purity and surety of organic claims. This is where I buy my oils from, although there are many, many places out there. I like the testing for quality aspect on this site. Good luck!

[slimes]

I tried Spic and Span concentrated liquid in my Scooba today.

I'll spare you the math but the volume ended up being a teaspoon of cleaner for a full tank. Yes, a teaspoon.

No extra foaming, no traction issues, clean floor. And a nice 'Sun Fresh' smell.

The MSDS lists the pH as 9.5 - 10.5 but they don't say if that's the concentrated or the diluted value. My guess is that it is the concentrated value since they can't know how you're diluting it.

For the math geeks:

I measured the volume of the clean water tank and it seems to be 32 fluid ounces (4 cups). The recommended dilution of the product is 1/4 cup per gallon of water. If my math is right that ended up being just under a teaspoon for the 32 ounce tank. And then I used an extra measuring cup from a 'nighttime cold medicine' to get that teeny amount of cleaner.

If I screwed up the math please let me know.

Okay everyone is messing with my head here. I went to Canadian Tire today and bought some simple green All purpose surface cleaner. It is concentrated and is in a spray bottle, with green liquid.

My question is everyone talks about 1:50 or 1:100 which is just so confusing. So my question is....

1.) Do I need to dilute the concentrated liquid first, and than add a teaspoon in the clean water tank? Or do I fill the tank clean tanks 1 litre and than add a teaspoon of concentrated Simple green?

2.) did I buy the correct simple green? I went to Canadian Tire and they did not have floor cleaner made by simple green but had this all purpose surface cleaner.

A bunch of people talk about simple green but they make 10 diffferent products, so which one is the correct one to buy? Does anyone have a picture of the bottle or the exact name of the liquid? They make a bathroom cleaner, and stone cleaner etc.

[mfortuna]

I use the all surface simple green for car related stuff. It has a pretty strong smell and it seems to foam a lot. A good starting point would be a teaspoon per 32 ounces which is about 1:96

[RoombaScooba]

So, is there a product on the market that is equal to or comes close? Well, there is no equal, but there certainly is one that comes close. You will be surprised.

FANTASTIK ORANGE ACTION SPRAY (just use it as a liquid) by SC Johnson, Inc.

1. D-Glucopyranose, oligomeric, C9-11-alkyl glycosides: This is a very mild emulsifier/detergent/surfacant similar to Polysorbate 20.
2. Water - approx. 95% water
3. All it is missing is the EDTA water softener/ph balancer - add Calgon Water Softener or any other softener that contains ONLY soda ash, washing soda, or sodium carbonate, as some call it. But ONLY USE THIS if you really need it - check your ph levels and hardness of water. Otherwise, you can do without.

and the dosage remains the same too, right ? i.e. 1.5oz per tank ?

[suzyq]

Thanks for all the helpful tips here. I live in Portugal and brought a scooba back from the UK with me. It's fantastic, brings a whole new meaning to "multi tasking". The first time I used him I just used plain water as Mr Propre doesn't seem to be available in Portugal, and he did a fantastic job, the floors have never looked so clean and what's more they stayed clean for much longer. Next trip to Spain I bought the Mr Propre as advised here. Next cleaning using Mr Propre again he did a fantastic job with no problems, but I have noticed that the floor has not stayed as clean this time, has anyone else noticed this happening? So nice smell and use more often or now nice smell and don't use so often.
I have just one question, I have a small level in the house about 15 sq m, so if I lift scooba from the lower level and start up again on the small level will he start from the very beginning of the cycle or resume from where he left off?
Thanks again for all the tips.
Suzyq

[Fraggboy]

Suzyq,

Welcome.JPG (7.41 KiB) Viewed 9929 times

The cleaning solution might be attracting the dirt quicker. It's the same principal using a steam cleaner to clean your carpets. The carpet will attract dirt quicker due to the soap not pulled up 100%.

Try using less Mr Propre. You might need to play around with the measurements to get it to your liking.

The Scooba will run until the clean tank is empty, or the battery is exhausted. You can do one part of the home, and pick him up (I press the clean button once. That will put the Scooba in Pause mode) and move Scooba to the other part to clean (Then press Clean button to resume). Granted, the first part won't dry as quickly due to the Scooba not running the drying cycle. It will perform the cycle on the other floor.

Hope this helps.

[debugger]

the first part won't dry as quickly due to the Scooba not running the drying cycle.

Have I totally misunderstood the purpose of the drying cycle?

My understanding was that it's purpose was to dry out the internal workings of the Scooba, not to actually dry the floor. I always assumed that the floor drying activity was limited to the squeegee action performed as part of the normal "Preps, washes, scrubs and squeegees" that happens continuously throughout the cleaning process!

Never had any problems with wet floors even if I stop it half way through a cycle!

[debugger]

Ok, answered my own question - from the manual:

Clean Button Light What It Means
Green -Cleaning
Green blinking - Scooba is drying its cleaning head; the clean cycle is almost complete

Internal Drying Mode
At the end of the cleaning cycle, Scooba will enter a brief internal drying mode to remove any liquid remaining on its brushes and inside its cleaning mechanisms. During this time Scooba’s Clean light will blink.
TIP: If you wish to end a cleaning cycle early, iRobot recommends activating the internal drying mode first:
• To start drying mode while the robot is cleaning, just press Clean.
• To start drying mode when Scooba is off, press Power and then press Clean twice.

[Fraggboy]

Debugger,

You are right that the drying cycle is designed to dry out scooba's internals, but the fan is still blowing on the floor, which does help evaporate the water left on the floor a little quicker. One may save a few minutes of drying time. Never stopped the Scooba before the drying cycle to time it.. *Shrugs*

[adam_lux]

Hi all

I think it has been mentioned several times, but i just want to tell you I use "Mr Propre" (Mr Clean) "Surfaces Fragiles" (in french) "Delicate Oppervlakken" (in Dutch) so "Delicate Surfaces" in English. I am in Luxembourg and know this product is also available in France and Belgium and probably in other countries in Europe under different names.

It is PH neutral, works just as well, if not better than Clorox, very little foaming, and smell delicious. Results give an amazing shiny clean floor at the end of a cycle.

Here is a link to the Proctor and Gamble website: http://www.scienceinthebox.com/cgi-bin/ ... E&id=128-3

I have tested many solutions and am very happy with this product. I hope to start a business soon selling Roombas Scoobas and other devices. I will also recommend and even possibly supply/sell Mr Propre "Surfaces Fragiles" as an easy to get alternative to Clorox.

I hope this helps

Mr Propre Surfaces Fragiles (delicate surfaces)

[Higher Than the Sun]

Here's another positive experience when using Mr. Clean (all surface). I filled the measuring cup up to the Clorox line and then filled the tank with water. There was a slight bit of foaming that had me worried, and when I ran the Scooba some of the initial liquid that came out seemed slightly foamy. However after a few minutes the liquid was coming out normally. The Scooba didn't seem to have trouble with traction, and it was able to suck it up rather well. For next time I'm considering using a bit less of the cleaning agent.

If you've only been using vinegar and water up until now, I can say that it is DEFINITELY WORTH IT to use an actual cleaning solution. I found this thread because I wasn't fond of the vinegar smell. I first ran my Scooba with white vinegar+water in a room that receives extremely heavy Roomba cleanings. The "dirty" water was barely dirty at all - I figured that it just meant that the Roomba was doing an amazing job. When using a cleaning solution (here, Mr. Clean), in that same room that had already received one Scooba cleaning and multiple Roomba cleanings, the water came out dirty. I mean really dirty, the sort of dirty I was originally expecting to see the first time I ran Scooba in each room.

So there's a bigger reason for switching to a cleaning solution than just the smell, it seems. Having seen that, I no longer feel that Scooba is a slouch compared to the Roombas. I still prefer my Roombas, but the difference in preference between the two just narrowed. (Not to mention that now the room smells quite nice!)

[newmom]

[quote="Higher Than the Sun"]Here's another positive experience when using Mr. Clean (all surface). I filled the measuring cup up to the Clorox line and then filled the tank with water. There was a slight bit of foaming that had me worried, and when I ran the Scooba some of the initial liquid that came out seemed slightly foamy. However after a few minutes the liquid was coming out normally. The Scooba didn't seem to have trouble with traction, and it was able to suck it up rather well. For next time I'm considering using a bit less of the cleaning agent.


So there's a bigger reason for switching to a cleaning solution than just the smell, it seems. quote]

So you are saying it will not damage the Scooba to use Mr. Clean instead of Scooba juice? Sounds too good to be true

[Higher Than the Sun]

I read through this entire thread and there was someone else who'd been using it for months on end with no problems. As long as it doesn't contain bleach I don't see how it could damage the Scooba. Bleach could be corrosive to the plastic, so that's why we avoid it. However for most other cleaners, it seems like the worst that could happen would be that it'd froth up too much, which would interfere with Scooba's ability to effectively spray solution (until you rinsed it all out), or that it'd be too slippery when on the floor, in which case Scooba would get ice skating lessons (and not much floor cleaning done).

I haven't used the regular Scooba Clorox solution, so I don't know how Mr. Clean compares. However I really like the idea of being able to choose the fragrance, and as of now there's no choice about that with the standard solution.

It's definitely worth a try, if you can get Mr. Clean for cheaper and in a scent that you fancy. Just make doubly sure that it doesn't contain any bleach, and when you measure out how much to use don't go above the Clorox solution line. If you go to the Clorox solution line it'll froth up slightly, but that doesn't seem to cause problems - you may want to try going with slightly less.

For reference, the Mr. Clean that I bought (which seems to be the same as used by an earlier poster in this thread) is "Mr. Clean Multi-Surfaces Anti-Bacterial" (although I'd actually prefer a version that wasn't anti-bacterial, but it was all that the store had at the time).

[TLCTimFL]

A simple suggestion: I premix a gallon of water with the the proper amount of cleaning solution of my choice and keep it with my supplies so I don't always have to mix when cleaning my floors. If you use an easy pour bottle with a handle, this allows you to pour from the gallon bottle directly into Scooba. Also, my bottle is clear and I used a permanent marker to draw lines down the side of the bottle to give me an idea of how much I want to use because I don't always fill the tank. For example, if I'm cleaning my small bathroom, there's no reason to fill the tank. I might use less than half a tank and so on.

[boilerbots]

I have been using the following solution.

http://www.floorcareproducts.com/armstr ... /index.asp

This product is available at Wal-Mart and is very inexpensive. The website shows that only this Armstrong product is safe on metal, plastic and even rubber. You couldn't ask for much more of an endorsement than that. It is not slipery and doesn't leave a sticky residue as mentioned on the label.

I ran this on a very dirty floor with warm water and the dirty water was very dark colored and the floor is pretty clean for a first pass effort. After the battery cools down I am going to run it again and expect it to be looking good.

In the FAQ they mention that SC Johnson has permission to use the Armstrong name on their own cleaner. It is not clear if the Armstrong brand of cleaner is the same checmically, the reason I bring this up is because it is available in much larger containers or might be available oversees for people to try.

[zweistein]

A Belgian webshop specialising in Roomba/Scooba claims about the Scooba 385 (http://www.myscooba.be/index.php?page=details&prod=5, my translation):

For the Europeran market, iRobot has chosen not to produce a specific cleaning solution, and lists the following possibilities itself:

• Only pure water.
• Combination of water and a dash of vinegar (not to be used on natural stone, slate, marble).
• Combination of water and a dash of Dettol.
• Combination of water and "Mr. Propre voor delicate vloeren".

Scooba may only be used with above cleaning product in relation to warranty.

Yes the last choice is the "delicate" version of Mr. Propre / Mr. Clean / Meister Proper / Don Limpio / Mastro Lindo, famous all over the forum. Is this a genuine official endoresement? At the very least it is an independent second source, because a search for "Dettol" on this forum doesn't yield anything (Dettol is a disinfectant, but I think everyone knows - they even have a facebook page, for crying out loud... well, I don't).

My Scooba manual mentions only vinegar and iRobot Scooba Hard Floor Cleaner, which it describes as coming in a bottle, while in fact 4 little bags are supplied. The name Clorox is not mentioned.

[cyautomation]

Hi All,

I am also located in Europe so I had to try other alternatives as well. With my Scooba 540, I am using Der General which is made by Henkel in Germany. I did the foam test that it is described in another thread and the foam produced is the same level as that of Clorox plus it dissolves very quickly. I cannot notice any difference in the traction on my ceramic tiles. It also dries relative quickly.

Here is a link of a photo:

http://www.henkel.de/de/content_images/ ... _1772W.jpg

I am using the blue one called "Fresh Breeze".

[kais]

Hi,

a small contribution to this list, useful for the Greek market.
Mr.Clean or whatever other name is used by Procter & Gamble is marketed in Greece with the Forte Xtreme brand name.
As you can see in the picture the ingredients are exactly the same, e.g., with Mr.Propre.

Forte Xtreme Ευαίσθητες Επιφάνειες

I have just used it with my scooba and it works perfectly.

[etvideoc]

This is a bit off the subject, but... my scooba leaves wheel marks on any floor and I don't know what the problem is. Does anybody else have the same issue. I have used all sorts of solutions from 10ml to 40ml, still no change. I am thinking of placing some mads behind the wheels (on the base) so that it abslorbs the water thus eliminating marks. Any thoughts.

[atomman]

Hi
If someone knows could they please add a link to a webshop(whitin europe) who sells Mr. Clean aka Mr. proper whom ships to Denmark.
Or any other alternative you could recommend.
I have not been able to find it on either ebay, amazon etc.