40 People Share Their Cleaning Fails, And They Are Hilarious

Robot vacuums were supposed to make life easier, but these cleaning gadgets have a talent for turning ordinary chores into comedy. From tangled cords to runaway machines, the promise of hands-free cleaning often ends in a mess that needs even more cleanup.

In this roundup, people share the funniest robot vacuum fails they have seen at home, at work, and everywhere in between. The stories are full of pets, kids, broken gadgets, and machines that clearly had a mind of their own.

Some of these cleaning disasters are so absurd, they almost make the vacuum the victim. Read on.

The first robot vacuum was invented by James Dizon, but it wasn't until 2014 that futuristic vacuuming became a reality. They were science fiction a decade ago, and now these flying saucers make up one-fifth of the global vacuum cleaner market.

The Roomba remains a bestseller, accounting for 70% of total robot vacuum sales. It’s expensive, the prices start at $300, but still, over 14 million units have been sold.

The iRobot CEO and co-founder Colin Angle told TechCrunch that Roomba’s high sales prove it’s “a steady business for a consumer product that starts at a price point that tends to be a bit higher than your average human-powered home cleaning hardware.” In the meantime, Angle predicts that home robots will gain more importance as our homes become smarter.

However, some opponents argue that robot vacuums will never replace conventional cleaning tools since they don’t perform their job properly.

“After six months of regular cleaning with the top-of-the-line Roomba, all of this debris still managed to pile up in a single 6-by-9-foot area rug.” It took only 15 minutes to clean that mess with a human-powered vacuum.

Another disadvantage of robot vacuum cleaners is that homes with many obstacles are not friendly to robots, which quickly get trapped in household messes. Items thrown on the floor, cables, and laundry piles, everything can be a trap for these devices.

So, if you want it to work, you have to clean up before setting it free. And that is where the trouble starts.

That’s the part nobody mentions in the commercials.

1. "My Parents Tested Using Robo-Vac To Clean The Unfinished Basement And Apparently Left The Walk-Out Door Open"

FliesLikeABrick

2. "Local Doggie Daycare Learned A Valuable Lesson About Leaving A Roomba In The Reception Area"

jacksonkeirmclean

3. "Wife And Teen Daughters Said Vacuum Wasn't Working, Checked Roller Brush"

imnotmarvin

4. "Roomba Tried To Make A Break For It Today"

Shocknawe-21

5. "Forgot My Headphones On The Ground While The Roomba Was Running"

Shiby92

Some of these failures are less about cleaning and more about pure chaos.

6. A cliff

ferbass

7. "Bumped The Empty Button After Finishing Vacuuming"

VicVinegar23

8. "Just My Neighbor Vacuuming His Grass"

mideonequalsratings

9. "My Robot Vacuum Ate A Piece Of Chalk"

Hamperstand

10. "Mother Knew I Wanted A Roomba But Didn't Want To Waste That Much Money On One. So She Found One For A Bargain. Note, It Has Zero Vacuuming Ability"

edgeofruin

11. "Apparently My Husband Hasn't Learned How To Hide His Charger Cords From 'Eva' The Vacuum"

g0087

12. "A Volunteer At Our Local Cat Rescue Turned On The Vacuum"

Ski_ND

13. Drunk Roomba

hi.imfancynancy

14. Your vacuum cleaner doesn't work? Why?

ireadforthearticle

15. "When The Robo Vacuum Ruins Its Perfect Track Lines Returning To Base"

matthewbronk

16. "I'm Afraid Our Vacuum Will Quit Soon. It Seems He Had An Interview"

PhoenixK

17. "This Is What I Woke Up To"

TriestGieter

18. "Apparently My Dog Thought The Roomba Was An Assailant"

Apolymoxic

19. "This Is Carl. He Likes To Squeeze Into Impossible Spots And Then Sleep. This Is His Favorite Spot; It Takes 2+ People To Get Him Out"

fromalisonwithlove

20. Dog and Roomba

Makattic

21. "I Found This While Vacuuming Under Our Bed"

Domestica

22. "My Girlfriend Was Wondering Why Her Vacuum Was Not Working Anymore"

johnfaber

23. "I Hear Screaming Coming From The Living Room, Only To Find My 5-Year-Old Daughter On The Floor With Her Hair All Sucked Up And Tangled In Our iLife Robot Vacuum"

tabithadudley

And then there are the ones that look like they planned their own escape.

This also feels like the “robot” phone hype, with its AI “super brain” going head-to-head with iPhone 7e.

24. "Roomba Has Gone Rogue"

live-love-explore

25. "My Brand New Roomba Ran Over My Puppy's Poop And Proceeded To 'Clean' The Rest Of My Home"

screamicide

26. "This Is What Happens When Your Wife Leaves The Door Open To The Pool Area. Your Expensive Robot Vacuum Decides It Wants To Meet The Pool Vacuum... Goddammit"

pianoman1969

27. "Started Cracking Up When I Discovered SNL’s Mr. Bill Stuck Like This In The Roomba. Poor Guy"

goobqueen

28. "Cat + Paint Can + Roomba"

Pliny_the_middle

29. "The Roomba Didn't Come Home Last Night After Its Scheduled Cleaning And Is Nowhere To Be Found"

Bishopwsu

30. "Came Into The Kitchen To Find That My Dog Trapped The Dead Roomba With His Toys"

spritzofperfume

31. "This Vacuum At Work Hadn't Been Cleaned In A While"

ElBurritoNinja

32. "Why You Shouldn't Agree To Dogsit When You Have A Robot Vacuum"

Zammonster

33. "Not Only Did It Steal The Bloody Shower Towel, It Tried To Hide Under The Vanity. I Suppose It Wanted To Snack In Private"

Sidragon1

By this point, the vacuum is basically part appliance, part troublemaker.

34. "Just Vacuuming The Street In Front Of The 5-Star Hotel"

Rx-Ende

35. "Just Found Out I Bought A Vacuum That Doesn’t Have Any Vacuum Capabilities; It Just Rolls Around The Floor"

jackux1257

36. "Roomba Suicide In My House Last Night. It Somehow Wrapped Up Its Sensors In Toilet Paper And Headed Off The Edge"

Envoy_to_the_Stars

37. "Received A Notification From My iRobot App: 'Roomba Requires Your Attention. Roomba Is Stuck Near A Cliff'"

BubbaYoshi117

38. "My Buddy's Girlfriend Has A Husky And Hasn't Vacuumed For A Few Months. This Came Out Of Said Vacuum After"

1eyedwunderweasel

39. "Our Roomba Had A Run-In With Naked Barbie. Naked Barbie Lost"

zbibbo

40. "It Made It Less Than A Meter From The Charger Before Asking To Be Charged Again"

Klikini

41. "Apparently I Found A Loose Thread While Vacuuming"

BTYM

42. "Never Vacuum Your Keyboard"

Brownerbae

43. "Found Out Why The Roomba Quit Working"

mrmcgeek

44. "Came Home From Dinner And Found My Vacuum Hanging On For Life"

klippers

45. "Today I Got Home To A Vacuum Robot With Artistic Pretensions"

soundjack

Maybe the robots still need a little supervision after all.

For more household drama, read about the woman begging her husband to press one button.