Is a Robot Better Than a Kärcher? I Put Window-Cleaning Options to the Test
Hi to everyone who just can’t rest unless they do the housework themselves — I’m Hide, tech journalist and part-time house-husband. Homemakers out there, have you taken on so much that it’s become too much?
Right now I’m raising my four-year-old and my two-month-old daughters mostly on my own. I also have my own work during the day, so it’s pretty tough, but thankfully my wife leaves the parenting decisions to me. Thanks to that, I’ve been able to automate a good chunk of the housework.
This is my fourth year with a window-cleaning robot. I doubt anyone else in all of Japan has been optimizing window-cleaning robots for four years (lol). I’ll explain what to do by hand and what to leave to the robot.
For homemakers, even one less chore is a win. If you make up for what window-cleaning robots aren’t good at, you can automate regular window cleaning too.
HOBOT-R3, the best window-cleaning robot
## It can’t remove stubborn grime
First, choosing a robot: I strongly recommend HOBOT. The one I use and love is this compact HOBOT-R3. It sticks to the glass with strong suction and powers through grime with its spinning pads.
HOBOT-R3 is cute when it’s moving
I’ve also tried the type that clamps both sides of the glass at once, and battery-powered types, but my conclusion is that this corded one is the most usable. The others often didn’t run properly — stopping mid-clean with sensor errors, or needing a knack to clamp the glass and throwing errors depending on its thickness.
The clamping type takes some knack depending on how thick the glass is
HOBOT’s robots, on the other hand, ever since the older 388 model, reliably clean just by sticking them on and pressing the button. If it doesn’t run properly, you lose the motivation to use it, so this reliability is key.
The earlier model sprayed on one side only. It worked hard too
There are lots of square robots too, but personally I find this oval shape gets things cleaner. Square ones don’t do any rotating — they just move up, down, left, and right — so they never quite get the grime off.
HOBOT has square models too, but for now I prefer the oval one
But even this oval model can’t remove stubborn grime. That’s an important point to keep in mind. It’s better to use a window-cleaning robot to keep things clean rather than to clean off dirt.
Once it gets this dirty, it won’t get completely clean
## Wait — does the Kärcher get it cleaner?
I also compared it with the much-talked-about Kärcher KV4. This product makes wiping easier with a vibrating pad. On tables and such it’s really impressive, getting things sparkling way faster than wiping by hand.
The Kärcher KV4 has strong vibrationIt wipes while dampening with cleaner, so grime comes off easily
The unit’s 500 g weight is just right, too: not heavy to hold, but its own weight helps apply pressure. Thanks to that, it gets horizontal surfaces wonderfully clean.
It shines on horizontal surfaces like tables
On vertical surfaces like glass and mirrors, though, it sometimes doesn’t perform as well. Upright, its weight doesn’t help, so you have to press it firmly by hand, but the strong vibration often makes it lift off. For vertical surfaces, the HOBOT-R3 seems better in terms of leftover streaks and how clean things get.
On vertical surfaces, the pressure escapes, so the self-suctioning window robot wins
## Just loosen stubborn grime first
After a lot of trial and error, I concluded that to automate window cleaning, you just need to loosen the stubborn grime first. Spray something that doesn’t foam, like alkaline electrolyzed water, so the dirt comes off easily, and the robot will clean efficiently.
Loosen the grime first, and the robot alone gets it plenty clean
It comes with tons of cleaning cloths plus spare mounting frames, so when it’s really dirty, I keep swapping them out as it cleans.
Getting a big stack of cloths is nice too
Some of you might say, “Then what’s the point of the robot’s built-in spray!” — but the robot’s spray is like when you breathe “hahh” on glass before polishing. It focuses on leaving no streaks, so think of it as purely for the final polish. Normally you’d expect streaks unless you added alcohol, but the ultra-fine ultrasonic spray leaves no marks even with the dedicated cleaning solution.
It gets pretty wet, but leaves no streaks
## Then use it regularly to keep things clean
As I said at the start, window-cleaning robots are basically best for keeping things clean. So once you’ve removed the stubborn grime, use it regularly — every three days, once a week, whatever.
Think of it as using it often to keep things clean
At our home right now, vertical surfaces are handled by HOBOT and horizontal ones by the Kärcher, so it’s almost fully automated. Man, clean windows are great. Our place is tiny, so we have lots of mirrors too. For some reason the kids would lick them, which made cleaning a pain, but now it’s zero stress (lol).
It’s not just about bringing in robots — understanding their strengths is what matters. Why not automate more and more of your housework and get more time for yourself?
