Best floor mops for hassle-free cleaning, tried and tested

We were thoroughly impressed with the clean this mop gave, as was our professional tester. The large-capacity bucket means it’s great for large floor areas, and the wheels mean there’s not too much heaving it around. But it does take up a lot of real estate in our cupboard, so if you’re limited on space, this might not be the mop for you. One other thing we liked in “set up” was that you can adjust the height on this mop very easily at the lever halfway up.

When you press your mop in the wringer, it spins around to get all the excess water off. This meant our floors dried much quicker than when using our old mop and bucket set up. Plus, there was less wasted water and cleaning product used, which in our eyes is a win-win. This mop is great for big messes, cleaning the worst our kids could throw at the floor.

Beldray has created the answer to those with scant storage, but who love a mop and bucket combo. This bucket takes up a minuscule amount of room, yet you can still use good old-fashioned steaming hot water and detergent – great for killing nasty germs on the floor.

The rectangular bucket has one side for soaking the flat-head mop and another for wringing out. This meant we didn’t have an excess of water slopped across the floor. However, we did find it a touch fiddly to angle the mop to get it in the slots in the bucket, and you have to fill the bucket to the top to be able to fully submerge your mop. Even though we marked this mop as adjustable height, to adjust it involves unscrewing the handle and taking sections out, so it’s not something you’re going to want to do on the regular.

Having said this, we loved that there’s a scraper on the side of the bucket for cleaning the mop head. And the small bucket doesn’t feel heavy for taking up and down stairs. The mop itself doesn’t feel the sturdiest, and we felt this performed better on low-level dust and dirt than anything too high octane.

This mop looks quite fancy. It comes with a bottle reusable “cartridge”, which is already filled with fluid specifically designed for wood floors, plus a sachet of concentrated detergent, so you’ve got two full bottles before you need to restock. A trigger in the handle shoots a smattering of cleaning product as and when you want, and we found the rectangular pad was great for getting in and out of corners and under sofas with ease. It’s quite a wide head, which means we got our mopping done in double-quick time.

The Bona is clearly very well made and feels pretty heavy-duty. The two microfibre pads mean you have one to use and one to wash at all times, so it isn’t harbouring grim floor germs. The pads aren’t very abrasive though, so aren’t suitable for hardcore scrubbing.

We found this spray mop to be a great versatile option. The rectangular head is quite short width ways, but it’s also angled, which meant it was great for getting into tight spots. Plus, the removable microfibre mop head was great for slinging in the wash.

The handle is one of the sturdiest we tried, and there’s a hook integrated into it for easy hanging if you wish. The reservoir is also a decent volume – we were able to get around the whole floor of our house easily without refilling it.

The best thing about this mop, though, is that you can detach the mop head without touching it with your hands. This then reveals a scrubbing brush at the end, which shifted dried-on dirt easily. This clever trick elevated the mop above many of the other spray mops we tried. It can handle light dust and dirt, as well as heavier messes.

This is the Rolls Royce of floor mops, with a price tag to match. It is pricey, but if you want your floors absolutely sparkling with very little input from you, then this is the mop for you. Fill the reservoir – there are markers on the side so you can be sure you’re putting in the right ratio of water and detergent, whether you’re cleaning a big area or small – then switch it on and two large rotating mops whirr into action, buffering the floor and getting rid of every inch of dirt.

When not switched on, the Bissell is quite heavy, but when operating, it’s one of the lightest mops we tested. And little kids and pets fear not – it’s incredibly quiet. We managed to clean every hard floor in our house in about 20 minutes, and normally that takes a good hour.

A spray trigger in the handle means you can decide how much detergent to dispense, and going back and forth over stains eradicates everything in a couple of swipes. It even got rid of paint that had been in the grain of our wood floors for years. Honestly, we are total converts to the electric mop world.

Lakeland is surely one of Britain’s best-loved homeware brands, so you know you’re in safe hands with this no-nonsense spray mop.

Fill the onboard water tank, use the trigger handle to dose out the detergent and water, and you’re away. There’s one microfibre pad, so you’ll need to cover all areas before slinging it in the wash, or invest in a spare (£5.99, Lakeland.co.uk).

The rectangular pad is easy to swivel into corners, around obstacles and under furniture. It’s also nice and lightweight. However, the microfibre pad isn’t amazing at scrubbing dried-on dirt from floors, so this is better suited to dust and light dirt.

This mop is so much fun! Admittedly, the novelty wears off, but it also makes speedy work of cleaning floors. Push the microfibre-headed mop in the bucket and it spins the head in the water, getting all the dirt off and giving the mop a thorough rinse. Then, as you lift the mop out, give it another push and the mop head spins again, getting rid of all the excess water. This meant we didn’t have loads of water slopping about and our floors dried in no time.

The microfibre head is not amazing alone for scrubbing off dried-on grub, but with the help of hot water and detergent, it made pretty light work of our floors. The bucket is average size for storage and includes a carry handle for easy moving about (no wheels here, though). The handle on the mop is tactile, too, and meant our hands didn’t ache even after a good scrub.