Three years ago, I bought the first-generation Narwal floor mopping robot and used it for about two years in total. Over time, Narwal released the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generations, but after extended use, I found several issues.
- Sweeping and mopping took too long. Since I have a furry friend who sheds hair daily, I use a cordless vacuum cleaner for dusting and pet hair. After vacuuming, I’d let the Narwal robot mop, which was quite time-consuming. Before each mopping session, I had to pick up charging cables, dog toys, and children’s toys from the floor; otherwise, it could cause irreversible damage as the robot would occasionally drag hard objects and scratch the floor.
- Being a first-generation device, the robot’s base station only had air drying functionality and lacked the ability to blow-dry the mop, so the mop would often remain damp and occasionally emit odors, requiring manual rinsing.
- The base station’s chassis often needed to be removed and cleaned, as it tended to accumulate dirt and grime, making it difficult for the floor washing robot to clean effectively since the mop couldn’t be properly cleaned.
Later, I considered replacing the Narwal robot with a floor washing machine, but at the time, these machines couldn’t fit under the bed when placed horizontally, so I abandoned the idea. However, recently, I discovered that Narwal had released a floor washing machine that could fit under the bed and included a drying function, which essentially met my requirements. I purchased one on JD.com to give it a try.
Let’s unbox it first.
Accessories and the provided cleaning solution.
After assembly, this is what it looks like.
There’s a small screen on the handle that displays the machine’s status and provides voice prompts.
Fully charged, filled with water, and ready to mop. The floor washing machine remains in standby mode with the handle upright; you need to press down and then press the power button. It defaults to the previous mopping mode. There are four cleaning modes in total: Smart, Speedy, Quiet, and Strong. In Smart mode, the machine will automatically determine the level of dirt on the floor and increase the power for cleaning if it detects heavy dirt.
Now, I can essentially combine sweeping and mopping in one go, without the need to vacuum first and then mop, saving a lot of time. Moreover, the level of cleanliness after mopping seems better compared to using a floor mopping robot, and I’m quite satisfied with the performance.
During the cleaning process, if the machine detects that the brush roller is dirty, it will prompt you to take it back to the base station for cleaning. When you put it back on the base station and raise the handle vertically, the machine will automatically increase its suction power to remove debris from the dust channel and transfer it to the wastewater tank.
After returning it to the base station, you can press the self-cleaning button to automatically clean the brush roller and dust channel.
After self-cleaning, let’s take a look at how clean the base is.
It’s good, the base tray is still quite clean, but there are some stains. Fortunately, this tray is detachable, making it easy to rinse and clean.
DIY Dust Detection Feature:
Dyson had a laser dust detection feature, but Narwal didn’t have it. So, I looked on Taobao for a similar solution. I found some accessories that were essentially green LED lights mounted on the left side panel of the vacuum cleaner. They disperse light through a lens, shining it in front of the vacuum cleaner, allowing you to see very small dust particles. However, I heard that this type of green light is not friendly to dogs. Also, the side panel of the Narwal machine is sloped, so it couldn’t be securely attached with double-sided tape. I promptly returned it.
Later, I thought it would be better to directly buy a light to attach to the top of the floor washing machine, aiming it downward toward the floor. The effect should be similar, so I bought one with a magnetic LED light tube.
It’s designed like a pen clip with a small magnet on top, so you can attach it to the floor washing machine by sticking a small iron piece on it. It’s convenient and the brightness from the seven LEDs is adequate. Additionally, the clip can be rotated to adjust the direction of the side light, allowing you to modify the angle of the light on the floor.
Since the light is positioned above and aimed downward, it doesn’t interfere with the base station.
After cleaning, you can simply remove the wastewater tank, pour out the wastewater, and dispose of hair and solid debris that’s been trapped by the filter. Rinse the wastewater tank and filter with tap water—it’s quite convenient.
In summary, this floor washing machine currently meets my daily cleaning needs. The self-DIY dust detection light allows me to see dust and hair on the floor while mopping, making it convenient to do multiple passes manually if necessary. Due to the installation of this light, the brush roller’s front part protrudes a bit, so it can’t vacuum close to the wall, but
this floor washing machine is designed to clean along one side, so it can still handle cleaning near the wall.
The only downside I’ve noticed is that this machine, while it can reach under the bed and sofa, can’t reach areas less than 15 cm in height. Also, if the wastewater tank is relatively full when cleaning under furniture, water can overflow past the side sensors, causing the machine to stop working. Therefore, it’s important to clean under the bed and sofa before mopping, or it could be troublesome.