Corners are the places where the dirt comes to hide. That’s where we don’t look at often, but when we do, we often find a pile of dirt that’s been there forever. Cleaning corners is a pain. But is a robot vacuum the solution? Do robot vacuums clean corners?

Robot vacuums can clean corners to some extent. D-shaped robot vacuums with side brushes can clean corners better than round-shaped robot vacuums. How well a robot vacuum cleans corners depends on the side brush’s length, the suction level, and how close it can get to the corners.

Let’s take a look at what type of dirt in the corners if you only use robot vacuums to clean, how the side brush, the suction level, and the vacuum shapes can determine how well robot vacuums clean corners.

Dirt In The Corners

Generally speaking, robot vacuums can do a good job in the corners for big dirt. However, with much smaller and lighter dirt, they tend to leave some dirt behind.

Even when robot vacuums manage to collect those dirt, they will still release some out back to the air and eventually end up in the corners again.

I only use the robot vacuum to clean my floor, and here’s what I’ve found in the corners after a few weeks.

Side Brush Length

How well robot vacuums clean corners depends strongly on its side brush. The longer and bigger the side brush it, the better it can reach to the corners and the better it can clean.

D-shaped robot vacuums often come with longer side brush as it is not blocked by the wheels in the bottom like round-shaped robot vacuums.

Robot Vacuum Shapes

The most common robot vacuum shapes are circular and D-shaped. Circular robot vacuums are easier to navigate around the house but are unable to get close to the corners. Meanwhile, the flat edges of D-shaped robot vacuums allow them to get closer to the corners and wall edges.

Therefore, the D-shaped robot vacuums often can clean corners better than round-shaped robot vacuums.

Not only the shape of your robot vacuum but where its side bursh located also impacts on how well the robot vacuums can clean corners. If the side brush is located in a place that allows it to reach deeper to the corners, the better it can clean.

Round-shaped robot vacuums often have their side brushes located near one wheel, while the D-shaped robot vacuums have their side brushes located on the edge, which allows the side brushes to get as close as possible to the corners and wall edges.

Suction Level

The stronger the suction level, the better it can clean. Same thing applies even for cleaning corners.

When cleaning corners, the side brush will try to brush the dirt and the suction will collect it. When the dirt is too far from the side brush’s reach, the strong suction level will still be able to collect some more dirt.

How To Help Robot Vacuums Clean Corners Better

There are a lot of small dirt in the corners. If your house only have regular square corners, a round robot vacuum or a D-shaped robot vacuum can do a good job collecting big dirt from the corners, whether it is cereal, a piece of lego or a small cotton pad.

However, the tiny dirt is the tricky one. They are so soft and small that the side brush cannot get into, and the vacuum can suck it in and release it back out through the filter.

There are some notes you should take a look at to help your robot vacuums clean corners better.

Don’t Leave Your Curtain Hanging Low

Not only if your curtain is too long, it can get tangled by the robot vacuum (for some robot vacuum models, this is no longer a risk), but your long curtain can block the camera and sensor of the vacuum, preventing the vacuum from going closer to the corners and the edge.

Roll your curtain and give it a simple knot to temporarily keep it higher to avoid blocking the robot vacuum.

Keep An Open Path To Your Corners

Try not to block your corners with furniture or bookshelves. Make ways for your robot vacuum to be able to navigate and go in and out to get to your corners.

A round robot vacuum can generally go in and out a certain path better, as it doesn’t get block when turning around with its shape. A D-shaped robot vacuum can get into this trouble if the way to your corner is too narrow.

To avoid this, make sure you leave enough room for your robot vacuum to have access to your corners as well as leaving them.

Keep Your Corners Free From Cords, Cables, Wires

Because that’s where the dirt hides. Some robot vacuums can detect obstacles to avoid them. So if your corners are not clutter-free, those robot vacuums cannot get in.

In case the robot vacuums do not avoid these, cords, cables and wires can get tangled in the robot vacuum’s brushes, causing problems.

Sweep Dirt From The Corners Yourself

No matter how much we love to delegate the cleaning task to robot vacuums, they are not the perfect solution for all cleaning problems. Sometimes you still need to put in a little bit of work to clean the house the way you want to.

There are that tiny but stubborn dirt will always be at the corners.

You don’t have to do this every day, but once in a while, grab a broom to sweep the dirt from the corners yourself. Good thing is you don’t even need to sweep it all the way to the trash bin, you can just sweep it off the corners, and leave your robot vacuum to do the rest.

Even though robot vacuums cannot clean corners spotlessly, their performance is still great.

Are they perfect? No, they are not.

But are they worth it? Heck yes, they are.

Read on my next article on “Best Robot Vacuum For Corners“.