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From laminate to tiles, say hello to sparkling floors with the GHI's top mops 12mm Laminate Flooring
Cleaning hard floors can be tedious, but the best mops have been designed with ease and efficiency in mind. Most use microfibre cloths that pick up and grip onto a lot of dirt, meaning you can get the job done faster.
Some are self-wringing, others are designed for both wet and dry mopping, and many have telescopic handles that can be extended or shortened to suit your height. Spray mops, which do away with the need for a bucket, are another great option that can help make a mundane task simpler.
If you want squeaky clean floors on any budget, we've tested and selected the best mops available to shop now:
The GHI team put a range of mops through their paces across vinyl, ceramic tiles and wood laminate. Our rigorous testers dirtied each floor with mud, tea and cooking oil and left the stains to set.
They then recorded how many sweeps each mop took to clean the floor fully. They also judged how comfortable each one was to hold and manoeuvre.
This mop comes with a bucket that has a built-in spin system designed to wring out water more efficiently. It's a really handy feature, although we found the splash covering around the top of the bucket a little tricky to remove when trying to empty it.
The microfibre mop head cleans up all dirt with two speedy swipes though, and the telescopic handle means you can adjust it to suit your height. The mop head struggled to clean corners and grouting on test due its round shape, but it's machine washable and our floors were dry just 11 minutes after cleaning, making it a top all-rounder.
This flat mop is made for sprucing up hallways and kitchens. Its large head makes quick work of big spaces and is flexible enough to clean under appliances or furniture.
It performed particularly well on vinyl and the cleaning cloths are attached with Velcro, meaning they can be easily removed for machine washing. It’s also lightweight to use with an extendable handle to save you from back ache.
Simply a scaled-down version of the previous mop, this miniature model is perfect for bathrooms as it's nifty enough to reach into awkward spaces. It’s compact in design and really easy to store, making it a top choice for smaller homes.
Like its big brother, it fared fantastically on vinyl. However, it tends to redeposit a small amount of dirt and it struggled to clean grouting thoroughly.
There’s no denying this is a serious investment, but if it’s a powerful spray mop you’re after, it’s worth the hefty price tag. Unlike the other mops featured, it has the power of electricity behind it, thanks to not one, but two, rotating microfibre mop heads that seamlessly pick up dirt as they go – we were particularly impressed with its performance on vinyl and linoleum flooring.
It didn’t perform quite as faultlessly on hardened mud stains, but it did clean up lighter stains in as little as two sweeps. Plus, it’s cordless so you can enjoy that mopping power without any plug woes.
This slim, battery-powered spray mop nips easily into all those hard to reach places, from around the bin to down the side of the fridge. It took seconds to assemble, with the included recyclable pads proving easy to attach, but the average-length handle sadly isn’t telescopic.
Performance-wise, it impressed us the most when cleaning ceramic tiles, quickly lifting grime out of grouting without the need to scrub. It glided well across vinyl and laminate, leaving it shiny and streak-free in only a few sweeps, although a little bit of dirty residue escaped its grasp.
Given its bargain price, we were surprised by how smoothly this spray mop swivelled and glided across everything from wood laminate to tiles. It cleaned the latter best, removing every speck of dirt, and it left vinyl completely grease-free. It took a few sweeps to leave laminate clean and free of smears, but we were pleased with our gleaming finish.
It has a big spray bottle, meaning fewer refills when cleaning large areas, but it did leak a little and sometimes failed to spray. The handle is a good length, but it can’t be tweaked if you want it longer or shorter. Overall, however, it ticked all our key boxes for under £20.
This smartly designed mop’s telescopic handle ensures comfortable cleaning for people of all heights. Its sponge head scrubs and dries floors at the same time and there’s a wringing lever for removing excess water.
It gave us gleaming tiled, vinyl and laminate floors, and pet owners will be relieved to hear that it proved particularly effective at picking up hair. Our only complaint is that the head isn’t machine washable.
This sponge mop is sleek and innovative by design, with a handy “kickstand” mechanism that means it can be folded flat and propped up during use to ensure even and speedy drying. We enjoyed great results on wood laminate and vinyl flooring but the wringer didn't remove enough water.
Its performance on grouting was notably lacklustre but we liked the comfortable feel of the non-slip handle. It's just a shame it's not telescopic to suit all statures.
Mopping moisture-sensitive wooden floors can be stressful, but this string mop’s spin technology makes wringing out effortless – simply push the mop head into the supplied basket, press the handle and it will spin out excess water. The bucket comes with four wheels for splash-free movement between rooms, with finger indents in the handle for comfortable lifting.
But how well did it clean? In short, brilliantly. It made light work of everything from liquid spills to dried-on stains across all floor types, and it scored full marks for cleaning tiles without redepositing any dirt or murky water. Its swivel head meant no corner or fiddly crevice went uncleaned, making it worth the price tag.
This mop’s red fibres banish stubborn stains and dirt, while the white fibres absorb grease. The unique torsion wringer in the bucket (sold separately) grabs the strings like a hand and squeezes them to remove any excess water, speeding up the drying process.
On test, it performed well across all types of flooring and picked up lots of dust without clogging. It left even heavily soiled floors spotless and tackled tile grouting with ease. We just wish we could buy the mop and bucket as a set.
The strings on this mop head are designed in three different ways to tackle grease, dirt and stains, delivering a triple cleaning action. In particular, the pink micro bristle dirt pockets lifted and trapped grime effectively, minimising how much elbow grease we had to put in.
It left tiles, vinyl and laminate sparkling, making it a top pick if your home has a variety of flooring. It can’t pivot, meaning it couldn’t reach under furniture as well as other models on test, but its telescopic handle makes it well-suited for users of all stature. For a reliable everyday buy, it offers great value for money.
Mops have come a long way from your old-school stick and rag contraption. Let’s run through your options.
Flat mop: Flat mops come with a rectangular or circular head that’s, unsurprisingly, flat, and are great at getting into corners. Their reusable or disposable cloths are usually made of microfibre –a polyester and nylon mix that produces static to attract and hold onto grime. Flat mops aren’t the best at removing stubborn marks, but they’re usually easy to store.
Spray mop: Spray mops are just like flat mops, only they have a spray trigger on the handle, doing away with the need for a bucket. They’re worth considering if you’re short on cupboard space.
Sponge mop: These mops have a spongy head, making them highly absorbent. They also boast a wringing mechanism, which squeezes out as much liquid as possible so your floors dry quickly. The sponge can harbour bacteria and start to smell if not cared for properly, so be sure to clean and store it according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Traditional mop: Otherwise known as a string mop, these are great for heavy-duty cleaning as their cotton fibres are super durable. You’ll need to invest in a wringing bucket if it doesn’t come with one already.
Most hard floors can be mopped, but a few require special treatment. Water can damage waxed and unsealed wooden floors. Chemicals can damage stone tiles, so only use a microfibre mop and water on those.
Before you dive straight into a mopping session, take note of our top tips for sparkling results.
Replace your mop head every three months, or sooner if it’s stained or fraying. To help increase its lifespan, let it air dry fully after use and store it in a cool, dry place. Most brands sell replacement mop heads and some mops come with a spare.
Heidi Lauth Beasley is one of our resident homes writers, specialising in product reviews for everything from smoothie makers and coffee machines to barbecues and bedding. Originally from Dorset, Heidi’s simple pleasures include finding new and unique ways to rid her life of stray pet hairs and telling anyone who’ll listen that tea tree oil is a natural disinfectant. Heidi has an MA in Creative Writing for Brunel University and was previously a restaurant critic for The Infatuation London. Her specialist subjects included natural wine bars, handmade pasta spots and restaurant accessibility. She has also written for The Sunday Times Style and OpenTable. She is currently working on her debut novel. Heidi lives in Tottenham with an exceptionally sassy house rabbit called Gatsby. At the weekend, you’ll usually find her reading on her terrace or attempting to convert her friends to sparkling red wine.
Blossom is our Senior Homes Tester. Passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for our readers, she has tested everything from blenders to pizza ovens. Blossom enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols for hundreds of items. Innovative items like robot vacuum cleaners and wine coolers are among her favourite tests to date, and her most notable accomplishment is toasting 360 slices of bread in a determined bid to find the best toaster. In her free time, Blossom openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.
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