The Braava jet m6 is the latest robot mop from iRobot – designed for hard floor surfaces.
We received the Braava jet m6 along with the Roomba i7+ and was anxious to test it out. Why? I had just bought a not inexpensive Vileda microfibre mop set to clean the floor properly – I have little inclination towards manual labour.
Before you read this review of the Braava jet m6 mopping robot we suggest you read all about iRobot and things like preparation for cleaning for our Roomba i7+ (review here).
Let me tell you that I had high hopes for Squirt as GadgetGuy’s Thomas Bartlett had reviewed its predecessor the Jet 240 (4-out-of-5) and the Braava 380t in 2016 (4.1-out-of-5).
Thomas’s only issue, “If you want it to take on floors with dried-on goop and piles of dust and dirt and make them pristine, you’ll be disappointed. But if you want easy maintenance of basically clean floors, then the Braava 380t will save you a lot of time.”
Now before you read on the Braava Jet m6 is a very different robot to its predecessors – amazing what a couple of years of new technology makes.
Braava jet m6 by iRobot
Website here
Price: $1149 online or from major retailers.
In the box
- Braava jet m6 (‘jet’ means it squirts water out the front)
- Base charging station/drip tray
- 2 x single use wet mopping pads
- Washable wet microfiber pad
- 2 x Single use dry polishing pads
- Sample size Braava jet Hard Floor Cleaning Solution
First impression
Squat, white, square and easy to use with clean, spot and home buttons. 254 x 260 x 90mm x 2.2kg. The docking station is marginally larger and about 100mm high. It needs a power point and a clear .5m each side and 1.5m in front.
Fire up the iRobot Android or iOS app (that we had installed for the Robbie the Roomba i7+).
Charge (about 2 hours 0-100%), fill the water tank, fit the correct pad – and go.
Well, first do a training run to build a map, and like Robbie, it needs to explore your home a few times before the map is accurate. It started going north/south/east/west/everywhere and gradually settled down into a logical pattern.
First training run 
Third training run
In fact, its first run was 1:45hours and subsequent runs have reduced that to 1:17 minutes.
If this seems slow – well it is. Speed freaks could do it with a hand mop in 10 minutes. But speed is not the issue – convenience is. It can link to the Roomba i7+ so that it starts after the vacuuming is complete. That is handy as you only need to prepare the home for a clean once!
So ultimately use the Roomba i7 first and the Braava jet m6 next – all while you are out of the house. Both talk to each other – marvels of Wi-Fi.
You can also set up voice commands (OK Google tested- “OK Google, tell Squirt to clean the dirty, grimy, kitchen (or anywhere).
Mopping preferences
We discovered that the app allows for detailed clean (default), deep clean (slower and uses battery faster) and extended clean (faster – probably for floors in good condition). You can also adjust the jet spray amount to match the porousness of the floor. For example, real timber floors need less water so as not to get into the grain or gaps between the planks. Faux wood, lino or tile can use more.
We have bamboo (probably a veneer), and by default, the jet setting was on maximum. Start with the defaults – you will know if it is not right for your floor.
Cleaning pads – 270 x 110mm
- $54 – 2 x washable microfibre wet mopping pads
- $54 – 2 x washable microfibre dry sweeping pads
- $29 – 7 x single use wet mopping pads
- $29 – 7 x single use dry sweeping pads
OK, these prices are not too bad, but you need to decide what pads to use and buy them.
Note that the washable microfibre pads are best hand-washed and sun-dried to protect the fibre slide attachment pad.
So, what about that Braava jet Hard Floor Cleaning Solution?
The manual clearly states ‘Braava jet Hard Floor Cleaning Solution is the only solution that can be safely used in your robot mop. Please do not use other cleaning solutions.’
The tank holds about 450ml of water, and it recommends 60ml of the cleaning solution be added (or use water only). The solution is on the US site here for US$7.99 for 473ml (7-8 uses), but I could not buy it anywhere in Australia. Enquires at listed retailers drew a blank.
So, I started looking at what else you can use – if at all.
The US support site states that there are two non-iRobot approved cleaning solutions:
- Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner (Australian website here): This solution is pre-mixed – just fill the 450ml reservoir. This is at Spotlight for $23.10 for 2.5L (6 uses), and some shops sell 4L packs (9 uses)
- Clorox Ready Mop: This solution is also pre-mixed. (this may be in the US only as it is not sold here but is on eBay with extortionate postage from the US).
It also states that you should not use (because these may clog the spray nozzle)
| Vinegar | Bleach | Ammonia | Mr Clean |
| Lysol | Dr Bronner’s Products | Polishes or waxes | Pine-Sol |
| Anything soapy, such as Murphy’s Oil Soap | Essential oils such as peppermint oil | Any supermarket hard floor cleaning solution | Baby Shampoo |
I will ask iRobot Australia for clarification and suggest they put the solution on the website.
Why not just use water?
Water works for relatively clean floors, but it has no grease-cutting ability so it cannot break it down and mop it up. You could impregnate the removable pad with a light detergent (or anti-bacterial like Dettol), but that may induce streaking.
Wet Mopping
Fit a pad – Squirt autodetects which type of pad and adjusts the program – so you can’t fool it.
We initially tried a single-use wet pad, and by the end of the first mop, it was filthy. It is made of reasonably resilient paper fibre, so we rinsed, and sun-dried it and used it for two subsequent mops. I am sure that iRobot does not want to hear that, but that is our job. We expect the microfibre wet pad to last a great deal longer. Both types of pads gave an equally good clean.
The water reservoir should last for at least 100m2.
What you can and can’t wet mop
Obviously, the answer is hard floors – yes and everything else – no.
So, when Squirt builds its initial map, you need to close all doors accessing carpeted areas.
We also found that the Dual Area IR barrier with the Roomba i7 works, so that is handy to keep Squirt away from areas you don’t want cleaned.
Eventuality the map is complete, and you can identify no clean zones- viola.
Dry sweeping
The microfiber pads can us used for dry sweeping. We did not see the use as the Roomba i7 should do its work first. On our one attempt, we found that any detritus generally fell off as it turned around! But it was handy for a very slight polish.
Sill height
It’s one weakness – it cannot negotiate even over a few millimetre high sill (typical of tiled bathroom edges), so you will need to take it to these areas, start it and close the door!
Does Braava jet m6 work?
Mostly yes and a little no.
Yes, it works a treat on hard floors, but it is more a light maintenance mop. Over three mops (one week apart) the pad became progressively less filthy and stubborn marks began to move. So, rule one – use it weekly to get your floors into the best condition.
When it sees a dirty patch is will go into spot mode and focus on that area.
That is why its best with a cleaning solution – to remove more than light grime.
Battery
It lasted 1:45hours (doing about 70m2) and still had some charge left. As it has a recharge and resume feature, I don’t think this will be an issue in larger areas.
Maintenance
Replace pads and wipe drip tray. That is it.
GadgetGuy’s take – Braava jet m6 is great for a weekly mop
We could not fault the mop – especially by the third run when its mapping was complete. By that time the floors had only a week of grime – no stubborn grime and months of neglect – to clean. I recommend you use the cleaning solution – it makes hard floors squeaky clean.
It is small, so it gets into tight places. As it is square, it does cabinet edges very well. But there was one occasion where its square shape defeated it, and the app told me it was trapped. As it is quiet, we used the chime locator to find it.
Our only other recent experience was with the Deebot OZMO 930 that scored 3.6-out-of-5. It is a wet and dry vacuum, and while that is logical (one device to do two jobs), it means compromises the Braava jet m6 does not have.
For example, the Deebot does 20m2 – the Braava does 100m2 or more. We said, “It’s a $1300 wet and dry robot vacuum that does well on timber and tiles – not so good on carpet. The mopping is more a cursory wipe and is not the reason to buy.”
Well, Braava jet m6 is excellent on hard floors but use it weekly to get the floors clean and keep then that way. Also, use its voice control to clean high traffic areas like the kitchen more regularly.
Note: After we do a review, we read international reviews to see if we agree or at odds.
ModernCastle has a good review, but overall, we question if almost any other review or paid blogs used the product at all – frequently citing incorrect specifications, uses, etc.
I particularly like the oft-cited statement, “Finally, when it comes to cleaning liquid, you can use any liquid cleaning detergent you favour.”
Any solution but theirs voids the warranty (if you need to claim).
And almost all state its “Arguably the best…”
I guess they just read a press release – we do not.
