Mint Braava 4200 Floor Cleaner Review

This little floor cleaner exceeded my expectations. I bought one that had been returned to Amazon but was still in original packaging and had not been used. I paid $140 for it instead of the regular $200 retail, with the understanding that it still has warranty and could be returned if there was anything wrong. I have used it for 3 full battery cycles and have not had a single problem. If you want to get one, it is a good idea to read the Amazon reviews to know what it will and will not do. I agreed with the mostly 4 and 5 star reviews.

What does it do? It is an electronic dust mop, not a vacuum, which I consider a plus as the vacuum type models are noted for damaging floors. Also, a big plus is that it is completely silent except for when it lightly bumps a piece of furniture. It uses either the cloths that come with it that are machine washable or disposable Swiffer wipes that you can buy anywhere. It will also use microfiber cloths that I purchased at Bed and Bath, 10 for $7.99. They are a little large but can be folded under so the don't interfere with the center sensing track. It cleans edges and corners well as long as the corner is not too small. It goes under items very well and I love how it cleans under our king size bed. The GPS tracks very well and it has not missed a spot except where the area was too small for it to get into.

Additionally, the best surprise is how well the mopping feature works. Seriously, it does as good a job as when I do a damp mop. I doubt it would clean up really dirty or sticky areas well, but it did clean spots and left both the laminate in my kitchen and the tile in my bathroom just sparkling. It is perfect for laminate as you decide how wet you want the cloth. You can also buy a water dispenser for mopping that clips into it, but unless I had really sticky floors with little kids I doubt the average person needs that.

The advice is to clean your floors really well, which I did on Tuesday. Then you run it 2-4 times a week just to keep the floors clean.  I can see this saving me many hours of cleaning and making the deep clean easier when I do have time to deep clean.

It goes around area rugs just fine.

It is my preference to do one room at a time and then reset it, so I can change the cloth. If you have it do  the whole house (if your GPS cube will cover your house--mine doesn't), if you try to change the cloth it resets. Doing one room at a time makes sense for me, but others prefer to do it the other way. All you have to do is close the door or block the entry with a piece of wood or something simple.

It senses stairs, but just to be safe, they suggest a block on the stairs. It made me nervous around the stairway without a block as it looked like it went to far to be safe. It did not fall, but I don't want to risk it.

It left no spots or streaks.

Another tip is to use a light spray mist of cleaning product (I just use vinegar and water in a bottle) and prespray any area that is really dirty and/or spray lightly around the room as the cloth will get dryish toward the end of the cycle. It did my entire bathroom and kitchen before it got dryish, which is fine for me.

I give this machine 5 stars!

Pros-
Cleans well
Is silent
Easy to use
Excellent tracking
Goes under most furniture
Gets dust bunnies and pet hair superbly
I think the price is a real deal for what it does
It takes 16 hours to charge the first time and then about 8 after that
It is just perfect for floor maintenance.
It doesn't scare the dog at all.
It needs NO cleaning products at all. Water does the trick.
Quite easy to learn to use.

Cons-
It can get stuck under something but rarely (it does notify you that it is stuck)
Your GPS cube needs to be put up on a table and you need to make sure nothing
like a cupboard is above it to block the signal which bounces off the ceiling.
It won't pick up big things like chunks of paper
You do need to pick up everything off the floor or it will go around it
The sweeping cycle will go 3 hours and the mopping will go 2 before you need to charge it (not
really a con for me but some people buy 2 machines so they can do the whole house at once.
It won't deep clean a sticky mess