Upgrade your floors with the best mops for eradicating dirt, grime, stains and dust from your home. These are the models that we've tried, tested and deemed the top-rated options for your home so that you can clean more efficiently.
Get a full-cleaning experience with these mops by using them to freshen up your baseboards and wall tiles too, and get your money's worth at the same time. Keep things sparkling at all times, and finally upgrade that old mop you've got that spreads more dirt than it cleans up.
If you find that the mops you've used in the past can be a little puzzling, then look no further than these intuitive, cleverly engineered mops. They have great features, including robot options that eradicate the task for you altogether, to make sanitizing extremely easy.
You can bring up historic dirt and totally change the look of your home with the steam cleaners that are included in this guide too, and lift the grime that's been there for a while. Plus, we also have eco-friendly products with machine-washable heads, so that you won't be repurchasing another mop for a long time yet.
Dirty carpets, too? Check out our guide to buying the best vacuum.
The best mops to buy for a clean home
The O'Cedar ProMist MAX Microfiber Spray Mop mop offers the very best in spot cleaning for hard floors: robust, durable, and easy to operate, it's the best floor mop for everyday spray cleaning. This mop is durable, makes cleaning easy, and has a trigger right in the handgrip to release the cleaning solution, helping you target tough stains for maximum impact. The microfiber pad lifts dirt off the floor rather than pushing it around and is machine washable. The water cartridge is very easy to refill, and the pivoting mop head not only makes it easy to flip the double-sided microfiber head from one side to the other, but it also allows you to easily clean corners and under furniture.
It's a great option for vinyl floors thanks to its microfibre pad, which will make it hard to accidentally soak your floors. While this mop doesn't come with any extra features, it is affordable and very robust — so we can't really complain. We've had ours for two years running and it's still going strong.
Our review of the Shark Genius Steam Pocket Mop is currently underway, to give you to most up to date information available.
If you’re not into using harsh chemicals to sanitize your floors, the Shark Genius Steam Pocket Mop sterilizes them with water only. This mop takes just 30 seconds to heat up and, because it requires no cleaning solutions, is ideal for allergy sufferers. The microfiber pads that come with it are double-sided — an ideal setup if you want to clean your kitchen and bathroom at the same time but don't want to use the same pad to do so.
You can use the Shark Genius Steam Pocket Mop on all sealed hard floor surfaces from marble to laminate and also tiles, and it has a steam blaster mode to tackle stubborn stains with ease. Please note: Hardwood floors are too porous for steam mops, so don't use a steam mop like this on your wood flooring. If you have a large area to clean (or want to deep clean), the 15-20 minutes this mop lasts before you need to refill the tank may not be enough. Just something to think about. Also, the Shark Genius Steam Pocket Mop is corded — so be sure to check that there's an electrical socket near wherever you'll be cleaning.
Our review of the iRobot Bravaa Jet 240 is currently underway, to give you to most up to date information available.
The iRobot Braava Jet 240 is the design to go for if you don’t want to spend time mopping your home. To get the mop ready, all you have to do is fill up its water tank, pop in a mop head (either a single-use head or a reusable microfiber version) and you’re set. The mop works by using a mixture of vibration and pressure to clean floors. Once on, it will use its intelligent software to adjust how much water it uses, and how many vibrations are required to clean your floor. It automatically senses floor types including hardwood, tiles, or stone. Spilled coffee? The iRobot Braava's jets tackle almost any stain with ease.
The thing we love the most about this robot mop is how it senses where your furniture is, then automatically avoids it. You can select certain areas or rooms for it to stay away from, too — for example, the area near the dog’s food and water bowls. The last thing we’re going to rave about is its battery life. It lasts for a whole two hours from a single charge, so it can mop all you need it to in one fell swoop.
'Overall, it's a decent mop that has lasted a long time, and it cleans well whether you use a floor cleaner or just water. It is a little difficult to use it with a bucket because of the swivel head, and it performs better if you machine wash regularly.' - Anna Cottrell, Consumer Editor at Real Homes
Looking for an eco-friendly mop? Your search is over. This E-cloth Deep Clean Mop requires no chemicals to leave your floors sparkling clean. The only thing it needs is enough water to wet the microfiber mop head.
After using this mop in our home, we think it's great for use on laminate or vinyl floor types, and is perfect for sanitizing with ease, especially if your bathroom tiles tend to get grubby easily. The mop itself is made from durable, lightweight aluminum, with a telescoping handle that extends up to 63" for those hard-to-reach places. It's also said to remove over 99 percent of bacteria from your floors, using nothing but water — no chemicals needed.
When we tried this mop out, one of the things we liked most is that you can just pop the detachable mop head in the washing machine when it gets a little grimy. We also liked that you can buy different mop heads to tackle specific problem areas. If you have pets, there's a special duster mop head to efficiently remove dust, fluff, and hair from hard floors.
'I needed to find a hard floor cleaner which was kind to our restored wooden floors, affordable and easy to use. The Bona Wood Floor Cleaner does all of this. I'm really happy with the results.' - Jen Oksien, Large Appliances Editor at Real Homes
The Bona Hardwood Floor Spray Mop is specifically designed to clean your hardwood, laminate, or other types of sealed wooden flooring with care. We like this mop's machine-washable cleaning pads and an easy-use trigger that sprays cleaning solution out of a cartridge-load reservoir. It's meant to work hand-in-hand with refillable cartridges of Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner, and that solution deserves its own shoutout for being pH-neutral, non-streaky, and non-dulling. It's safe for use on all unwaxed, unoiled, polyurethane-finished wood floors.
Although you should note: this cleaner might not be in your local grocery store (though more specialty retailers like The Home Depot and Bed, Bath & Beyond do stock it). We also feel the need to mention the fact that the Bona Hardwood Floor Spray Mop has been used to clean places such as Westminster Cathedral, The National Portrait Gallery, Nike Headquarters, and the Singapore Art Museum. How's that for a series of distinguished endorsements?
'This brilliant mop from OXO has made mopping my large 2-bed apartment 10 times easier. It's easy to manoeuvre around and under furniture with a large microfibre head to cover more space in less time. Its water bottle is sizeable enough so that I can fill it and get 3 uses out of it, and it's generally easy to use. It has a slide-out tile scrubber that I use for more than cleaning my tiles, but also to remove anything from mud to food spillages from my floor. My only complaint? It only comes with one mop head!' - Annie Collyer, Deputy Ecommerce Editor at Real Homes
Designed with dual functionality, the OXO Good Grips Microfiber Spray Mop is just what you need to clean various floor surfaces, including those areas that are often considered hard-to-reach. This mop's large, microfiber pad makes everyday mopping easier than ever. It also sprays the cleaning solution of your choice; just fill the reservoir and squeeze the handle to activate the spray. The really clever part of the OXO Good Grips mop is its slide-out tile scrubber, which is perfect for tackling tough stains in your bathroom or kitchen or getting into corners. It's designed so that you can easily detach the large mop head, hands-free, which leaves a sturdy scrubber attached to your mop handle. Scrub away at the tough spots, then slide scrubber — and handle — back into place in the mop head.
Been scouring the web for plastic-free mops that also work well? Although we haven't been able to find a completely plastic-free model, the Full Circle mop comes extremely close — and all its plastic content is from recycled sources. Firstly, the eco-friendly credentials: the handle on this mop is made from bamboo, which is a sustainable and biodegradable material. The head attachment is made from recycled plastic, and the microfiber mop head is machine-washable. But an eco-friendly mop isn't worth much if it doesn't do its job well, right? Happily, users report that the Full Circle mop is easy to use, lightweight, and works particularly well on wooden floors.
'This handy little appliance looks and works a lot like an upright cordless vacuum, except you fill it with water and a mild detergent. Then, it both sucks up everything in its path, and also (gently) scrubs your floors with a hardwood-safe foam spin brush. I think the biggest win for me here was the suction. When I mop, a lot of times I still feel like I'm just pushing dirty water around on the floor. But the iFloor3 not only sucks up all the dirty water (and dog hair and granola bar crumbs), it also has a clean water reservoir that spits out clean water and detergent, as you move around the house, so you're not re-using the dirty stuff.' - Kaitlin Madden, Contributing Editor at Real Homes
The Tineco iFloor 3 isn't technically a mop — it's a cordless floor washer or wet/dry vacuum. This relatively new category combines the tasks of a mop and vacuum cleaner into one, making light work of keeping your wood floors or other hard surfaces dust- and dirt-free. The best part about this floor-washer is how effortless it is when compared to traditional mopping. It reminds us of a carpet cleaner for hardwood floors, in that it has a clean water tank that you fill with water and cleaning solution, and a dirty water tank that fills up as you mop. Another one of our favorite parts about the iFloor3 is seeing just how much grime ends up in the dirty water tank, even after cleaning our floors with a different mop just hours earlier.
Since it's cordless, the iFloor 3 does need to be charged — so you'll need a closet or out-of-the-way spot to house it on the charger when not in use. We like that this device comes with a power-saving mode designed to tackle average jobs while preserving battery life. We also found that when cleaning multiple rooms with hardwood floors, the water tanks needed to be emptied/filled multiple times. However, that empty/refill process was still easier than wringing out a mop every few minutes.
How we tested the best mops
We established what we think are the best mops by testing the majority of these models out within our own homes. With the first-hand experiences that we've had, we've formulated our opinion of what the very best models out there are. We've also indicated within this guide the mops that we're currently reviewing, so that you can check back and see what we thought of them once we've put them through their paces.
Where to buy a mop?
There's so many mops out there that you're bound to find one that's just right for you. The retailers we would recommend are:
- Amazon's mops
- Bed, Bath & Beyond mops
- BestBuy's mops
- Home Depot mops
- Lowe's mops
- Macy's mops
- QVC mops
- Target mops
- Walmart mops
- Wayfair mops
Which type of mop should I buy?
There are lots of different types of mops. The more complex the design, the more you can expect to pay for it. When you're calculating costs, don't forget to factor in the cost of replacement mop heads. Read below for a quick summary of the types of mops that you'll find in stores and online, and what they are best for.
- Flat mops or spray mops have a spray mechanism inside; they may use either a single-use, disposable cleaning pad or a washable, reusable pad.
- String mops tend to be made of cotton or microfiber. These are durable, and some come in spin versions that wring as much water out of the mop head as possible. Heads up, this type of mop also requires a bucket.
- Sponge mops are good for getting into tiles, and normally feature a wringer mechanism to ensure you don't soak your floors.
- Dust mops require no water and can be used to clean walls, lights, and furniture, or to dry-mop your floors.
- Steam mops are the best option if you're after something to help you deep clean and sanitize, although they do come at a higher price.
How to decide which is the best mop for you
Which material?
The material in your mop head can make a big difference in your cleaning results. The most popular choice is microfiber, as it's soft, hygienic, and fast-drying; microfiber mop heads generally do a great job of swooping up dirt, water, and bacteria.
If you're dealing with tough, stuck-on stains, you may need a slightly more abrasive mop head to help with scrubbing. These may be made from stainless steel, plastic, or microfiber. While these are excellent at removing stains and embedded dirt, they shouldn’t be used on limestone, marble, or hardwood floors; they’re just too rough.
Sponge mops are also a great choice if you're dealing with smooth, flat flooring; it's hard to beat their absorbency and gentle scrubbing power. However, keep in mind that any sponge mop head will eventually wear down and need to be replaced.
Most non-sponge mop heads are machine-washable, which means you can reuse them many times. Of course, there's the extra security of knowing you're starting with a clean mop, too. With that said, always double-check to make sure your mop head is meant to go into the washing machine.
Does it require a bucket?
If you're after a quick and easy-to-use mop, it's best to steer clear of ones that require a bucket. Instead, choose a spray mop for a faster finish; these mops-without-buckets also cut down on the amount of storage space you need.
Spray mops have a built-in bottle that you fill with a mix of hot or warm water and your chosen floor cleaner. Once that'd done, using the mop is as simple as squeezing the trigger (usually built into the handle or hand-grip) to dispense the cleaning solution, then scrubbing away.
Weight
While weight might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about mops, it can be important if you have mobility or hand issues. Some spray mops, in particular, can feel heavy when loaded — but then again, using a spray mop saves you the strain of lugging a water-filled bucket around or, worse, trying to empty it when you're done. Keep those considerations in mind as you shop for a mop.
Extra features
Some mops come with a free bucket, extra mop heads, or other accessories that can be useful for cleaning your home. But eventually, those freebie replacement mop heads will run out, so always check much it'll cost to buy your own.
What is the best type of mop to use on hardwood floors?
Your best option for hardwood floors is a mop with a flat microfiber head that won't disperse too much water, such as the Bona Hardwood Floor Mop or E-Cloth Deep Clean Mop. This is because microfiber soaks in water and other liquids a lot more easily and quickly than other materials — and the one thing you don’t want to do is soak your hardwood floors.
How often should I mop my floors?
Other sites may say you only need to mop your floors once every two weeks, but we say, do it whenever it’s needed. It’ll depend on whether you have pets, children and how many people come in and out of your house a week, after all. If you’re looking for a number, our tip is to mop your floors once a week, or after each time you vacuum. Of course, some weeks you may want to clean twice if have people coming over or you've got small children living with you. We get it.
How often should I replace my mop?
That'll depend on how often you use yours, and whether the mop head is replaceable or detachable and washable. If the mop head is replaceable, discard yours after about six to eight months of use — sooner if you clean very often.
After a while, your mop will just be redepositing dirt and bacteria back onto your floor. If you have a detachable, washable head, pop it in the wash every month or so and discard it after two to three years of use, depending on how worn it is.
