To most the humble mop is just that, a mop. But, there’s actually a huge range of quality on the market and whilst it may seem like a pretty trivial article to cover, a decent mop can not only save you time, but also money.
Best Floor Mop
- Vorfreude – Floor Mop
- Vileda Easy Wring Mop & Bucket Set
- Aootek Stainless Steel Deluxe 360 Spin Mop
- Bissell SpinWave Mop 2052E
You see, some mops work best on certain floor types. Later in the article, I look at the best floor mop for things like laminate flooring, hardwood and even tiled floors. What works best on one, might not necessarily work well on the other.
Throughout the testing process, I found that the quality of products varied massively. So, below we’ve included which we think are the best mops in the business right now and if you’ve got that 99p rag head from Tesco, then it’s time for a change!
Vorfreude – Floor Mop
Vorfreude’s low price flat floor mop is for moist floor cleaning but it can also be used dry to dust and polish your floors. The swivel head mop has a built-in spray and is ergonomically designed so that you can easily moisten and polish your floors.
The Vorfreude mop is suitable for use on all hard surfaces and is very cleverly designed. There’s a built-in bottle inside the mop handle which will hold up to 700 ml of water and the detergent of your choice. To wet the floor, all you need to do is pull the trigger on the handle and a small amount of liquid is dispensed into the microfibre cloth mop pad. It’s a brilliant design and you’ll really appreciate not having to bend down or mess around with buckets of dirty water.
All parts of the mop are built to last and reusable. The microfibre cloth mop pad is machine washable and is designed to attract dirt, hair and debris to leave your floors hygienically clean and looking immaculate. Vorfreude promises that the head can be washed more than 1000 times and offers a lifetime guarantee on all parts of the mop.
The mop feels sturdy once assembled and it lives up to the promise of not over-moistening the floor surfaces. All the same, there were areas that I had to go over with a scrubbing brush to get them really clean. The Vorfreude will handle general cleaning but it didn’t manage the muck at my kitchen door or a small sauce spill that had dried on the floor next to my cooker.
Nevertheless, I was very happy with this little mop, particularly at such a low price. Having to scrub a couple of small areas by hand still isn’t as time-consuming as filling and emptying buckets of water and drying off floors that are too wet.
The Vorfreude mop is available with free delivery from Amazon.
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back to menu ↑Vileda Easy Wring Mop & Bucket Set
Vileda’s mid-price-range microfibre mop and pedal assisted bucket is a winning combination. Although not as quick as a trigger operated flat mop, this more traditional mop design is very effective at clearing grime from your floors. The triangular mop head is the perfect size for getting into corners and under furniture and gives you excellent control of the amount of pressure you apply.
The head is composed of both white and red fibres and the red fibres are abrasive and great for lifting tough dirt. You can throw the whole mop head in the washing machine when you’re finished and Vileda also sells replacement heads for when it eventually wears out.
Another handy feature is the telescopic handle which allows you to adjust the length to the task you are doing. This also makes the mop and bucket easy to store as you can squeeze them into quite a small cupboard.
The Vileda Easy Wring and Clean Turbo Microfibre Mop and Bucket Set is available on Amazon and you’ll get free delivery with Amazon Prime.
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back to menu ↑Aootek Stainless Steel Deluxe 360 Spin Mop
Aootek’s low price stainless steel handled spin mop is designed to give you all the benefits of moist mopping with an instant dry finish. The manufacturer promises that the self-wringing spin mop head will wring out twice as dry as a foot pedal mop bucket. All you need to do is to push the handle against the bucket and the mop head will spin off excess water.
The mop head is made of microfibre and it’s fully machine washable. Aootek includes 3 mop heads in the pack and you can expect one of these to last about 6 months if used twice weekly. I was excited to try out this mop and bucket, mainly because the mop looked so different to anything I’ve used before. A spin head mop is a whole new concept for me although I have seen them in use by professional cleaners which is generally a good indication that something really works.
The bucket itself felt a bit light and flimsy so I’m not sure if it would hold up to long-term regular use but I do like the design. There are two compartments inside the bucket, each of which has a spinner mechanism. One is for rotating your mop in water and the other is to dry it out. On my first go, I mopped my laminate kitchen floor and I was quite pleased with the effectiveness of the spinning action. It handles far heavier dirt than a flat mop and call me sad but I quite enjoy using the spinning mop head because it looks great in action!
However, although the Aootek cleaned pretty well, my floors definitely weren’t drier than usual and having just tested a pedal mop wringer, I have to disagree with the manufacturer’s claims. The spinner isn’t any drier than the pedal wringer and I needed to dry off my floor with rags before pets and kids were let loose to do their dirty work.
The Aootek Spin Mop & Bucket is currently available on Amazon with free shipping on Amazon Prime. The product comes with a 1-year guarantee.
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back to menu ↑Bissell SpinWave Mop 2052E
A word of warning: Once you try out an electric mop, you’re going to find it VERY hard to go back to manual mopping. I can’t find a single thing I don’t like about the Bissell spin wave. Of course, an electric mop will cost a bit more than a manual mop, but the Bissell is quite reasonably priced and in fact, you get lots for your money.
The mop handle holds a transparent liquids bottle which you can fill with plain water or a mixture of water and detergent and click into place. You simply plug the machine in and run it over the surfaces you want to clean. Two mop heads rotate in multiple directions to clean and polish your floors and the microfibre fabric picks up and holds dirt, grime and hair.
The Bissell weighs 8.5lbs so it’s not too heavy to carry up and down stairs. The spin pads can go in the washing machine and 2 sets are included in the pack as well as a sample bottle of Bissell’s own-brand detergent formula.
The SpinWave mop is currently available on Amazon Prime.
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back to menu ↑The Verdict
Different floor types benefit from different mops so, the best mop for laminate flooring may well be different from the best mop for tiles or for hardwood. Furthermore, different households have different cleaning requirements. For this reason, I’ve broken down my verdict into sections
back to menu ↑Best Mop for Laminate Flooring
I loved the convenience of Vorfreude’s flat floor mop. The fact that you just spray and go and can throw the microfibre pads into the machine after is just so handy. I also admire Vorfreude’s eco-friendly ethos and I like that they encourage customers to use natural cleaning products like vinegar and essential oils.
We should all probably be thinking more about the environmental impact of our cleaning practices. I know I definitely should!
back to menu ↑Best Mop for Tiled Floors
When it comes to manual mops, I favour the ‘shaggy-headed’ traditional mop type because this allows you to put some elbow grease into your cleaning. This kind of mop will get into the grooves between tiles, underneath kitchen dressers and into corners.
Of the manual mops I tried, the Vileda Easy Wring Mop stood out for a number of reasons. I found the foot operated wringer really effective. I also loved the mop head itself for the abrasive red fibres which lifted dirt quickly and without too much scrubbing. For me, it felt like this was by far the most practical mop. The telescopic handle made for easy storage, the mop heads are machine washable and the bucket was tough and well designed. On top of that, the price tag isn’t going to break the bank.
back to menu ↑Best Mop for Natural Hardwood
I couldn’t believe the shine on my hardwood flooring after using the Bissell. I am a bit precious about my original flooring so I generally shy away from wet cleaning but because of the very dry finish it gives, Bissell SpinWave is perfect for sealed wooden floors. My wooden floors were shinier than I’ve ever seen them after using the SpinWave.
back to menu ↑Overall Best Mop
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that the Bissell SpinWave Mop 2052E was the big winner for me. Like lots of people, I have mixed flooring in my home; laminate in the kitchen, tiles in the bathrooms and natural hardwood flooring upstairs in the landing and bedrooms. If you are like me then the Bissell is ideal. The spinning mop heads will clean the grooves of your tiles. The scrubbing pads are tough enough to lift mud or dried on food from your kitchen floors and it won’t damage delicate hardwood.
You will have to invest a little bit more but in my opinion, it’s well worth it so you can kiss goodbye to mops and buckets.
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back to menu ↑Floor Mop Buyer’s Guide
There are a number of things to look at when picking out the best floor mop for your home cleaning requirements:
Mop Head Material
Mop heads come in a variety of different fabrics. Cotton, Microfibre and Sponge are the most common of these. Microfibre is far superior to cotton in a mop head as this fabric is designed to attract and trap small particles of hair, dirt, debris and grease.
In general, a good quality microfibre cloth will pick up 20% more dirt than its cotton counterpart and it won’t rot or mould which cotton has a habit of doing. Many manufacturers now make mop heads machine washable which is both handy and hygienic.
Stay away from mops with disposable cloth heads or sponges. Long-term these are uneconomical and harmful to the environment.
Mop head shape
Flathead pads and what I call ‘shaggy’ mop heads are the most usual kinds of mop head. Usually, flatheads do a better job on very flat surfaces without any grooves. They’ll be more suitable for laminate flooring than tiling for example.
Shaggy mop heads which can be triangular or circular are better for getting into corners and doing tile grouting. These also give you more control over the pressure that you can apply when dealing with tough dirt.
Mop handle
Typically mop handles come in wood and plastic. Wood is solid and durable but watch out for how the mop head is attached. Cheap plastic fittings can often break, leaving you with a wooden pole and no way to re-attach the mop head. Wooden mop handles are also not adjustable so this means you’ll need a tall space to store them in.
Plastic handles are often adjustable which as well as accommodating different height users and varying tasks makes them easier for storing in small spaces. Be wary of very light plastic mop handles. These are often low quality and will break which is both inconvenient and expensive in the long run.
Electrically powered mops
Electric mops can be fantastic at saving you time and effort on hard flooring surfaces. These take the tough work out of mopping and there’s no need for bending down or sloshing around with dirty water. Electric mops will entail a bigger investment and you’ll also need to consider the fact that they’ll have to be plugged in.
I hope these tips will help you navigate the muddy water of mop-buying! Enjoy your sparkling, shiny floors.
