This small robot will banish germs from your hotel bed

The more I travel, the more I realize that germs are lurking around every corner. And now, after years of travel under my belt, I’m that person who sanitizes every surface around her plane seat after boarding. And I won’t apologize for it either. It’s one of the many tried and true ways to eliminate germs and stay healthy in the air. But what about after you land and check in to your hotel?

While many hotels maintain superior cleanliness standards, not all are as tidy as you’d hope. Even regular and careful cleaning can leave germs behind on various hotel room surfaces. But now there’s a new way to give any hotel room an instant and effective cleanup.

Robot On The Road

It’s called a CleanseBot, and it’s a patent-pending disinfecting robot that packs super sanitizing technology into a pocket-sized device. It features a UV-C light to disinfect and sanitize. The light helps to prevent the spread of airborne viruses and more. In fact, according to an independently conducted study, the CleanseBot killed 99.99 percent of E.coli. Learn more in the video below, from the CleanseBot Kickstarter campaign:

Surface Study

Think that lugging a tiny, disinfecting robot with you on all of your travels is a bit much? There are a lot more germs lurking around hotel rooms than you think. Researchers from Purdue University and the University of South Carolina sampled a wide variety of surfaces in multiple hotel rooms in Texas, Indiana and South Carolina. What they discovered was bacteria — a lot.

You’re most likely to find germs — including fecal bacteria and other illness-causing bacteria — on bathroom sinks and floors, light switches and TV remote controls. Try spending a night in a hotel room without coming into contact with any of those surfaces.

Get Your Own Bot

Finally convinced it’s worthwhile to carry a cleansing robot around on your vacations? You’re not the only one. The device moved from Kickstarter to Indiegogo on Jan. 6. Since then, the company has raised more than $1.3 million. It blew away its initial goal thanks to eager buyers.

Don’t delay. There’s still availability for early backers. While it’s still in its prototype phase, you can buy the device at a discounted price of $99. That’s a steep discount off the full price of $259. The device itself will be available in April 2019.

It’s time to start counting down to meet your new best travel buddy!