Is the iRobot Looj ready for its close-up?

Consumer Reports News: October 04, 2010 04:24 PM

If you caught Julie Edelman, who calls herself the Accidental Housewife, waxing poetic about the remote-controlled iRobot Looj robotic gutter cleaner on this morning's Today Show, you might want to do a little more research before running out to buy one. That's because starring in a sound bite is much easier than chomping through a clogged gutter.

The compact, caterpillar-treaded Looj certainly looked capable enough crawling across the unobstructed table on the Today Show set (watch for its appearance three minutes into the video). But the Looj was less impressive when its rubber treads and impeller met the rougher road prepared by Consumer Reports' testers.

When inserted into a 60-foot stretch of 5-inch wide gutter loaded with wet and dry oak leaves, the Looj often flipped the leaves onto the roof or back into the gutter. And only by repeatedly commanding the Looj to move back and forth were we able to dislodge dense buildups of leaves and debris. A quick screening of the video shows the Looj in action—and at times inaction.

While our full report does note some conditions where the Looj might make sense, other cleaning and preventative measures—such as some of the gutter guards we tested recently—are probably a better way to go. (Full Ratings.)

—Gian Trotta

More infomercial tests: The iRobot Looj was just one of 14 " As Seen on TV" staples like the Slap Chop food processor, Garry vacuum and ShamWow absorbent cloth that we found didn't work as well in front of consumers as they did on camera.

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Is the iRobot Looj ready for its close-up?

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