Is a robot mop any good?
For everyday cleaning, a robot mop will do a good job of keeping your floors clean. It can be a really useful household device if you’re busy and don’t have time to regularly get your mop and bucket out.
Similar to robot vacuum cleaners, which shouldn’t completely replace a regular vacuum cleaner, a robot mop is best for maintaining a clean floor or mopping up everyday dirt and spills. You’ll likely still need to give your floors a good clean from time to time, especially to get rid of any deep-set stains.
How to choose the best robot mop
Price
You'll struggle to find a robot mop under £100 so this is an investment. Decent robot mops start from around £150 and increase to £600+.
Hybrid
Lots of the robot mops on the market are also vacuum cleaners. This is really handy if you want a machine that will give your floors a good clean every day.
Power
Check the suction power to see how well the robot mop will suck up the dirt and dust - generally they range from around 1,600 to 3,000 Pa. The higher the pascal rating, the better the mop’s suction power.
Bin size
Look at the bin capacity to see how much dirt and dust the mop can hold as this will determine how often it needs emptying. Some hybrids are self-emptying so you won’t need to worry about checking the bin as often.
Battery life
Check how long the battery lasts for and how long it takes to charge - this will be important if you have a large space to clean. For uninterrupted cleaning, look out for mops that head straight back to the dock when they need to recharge.
Water tank
The size of your water tank will determine how much mopping can be done without your intervention. Also look out for different water flows which can cater to different flooring and cleaning methods.
Mopping efficiency
The most basic robot mops will wipe the floor with a cloth, which is fine for everyday spills and dirt but won’t give you a deep-clean. Other machines may scrub or offer a choice of settings for different levels of cleaning.
Extra features
Robot mops with sensors and lasers are really handy for mapping your home and setting no-go zones. Look out for a mop with object detection technology so that it avoids furniture and detects carpet.
Robot mops with app controls will make it easy to change settings and schedule cleaning. Some mops are also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant so you can set them to clean using voice control.
What's the best robot mop to buy?
We think the Roborock S7 Max is the best all-round robot mop. With an impressive suction power, it hoovers up dust and dirt and then scrubs the floor using a wiper that vibrates up to 3,000 times per minute.
The S7Max automatically lifts the mop head when it’s not on hard floors so it doesn’t leave carpets or rugs wet. You can set no-go zones and schedule cleaning, and it can all be easily controlled through voice control or an app on your phone.
How we chose our recommendations
When compiling our list of recommendations, our trusted and experienced journalists spend hours researching each product category, using a variety of sources to evaluate which products are the best.
Many of the recommendations for robot mops came from Mumsnet users themselves who’ve spent hours of their time putting the products through their paces in everyday situations at home.
We searched the Mumsnet forums for posts about which robot mops our users really rated and then researched expert review sites and retailers, such as Amazon and John Lewis & Partners, to help us whittle down our list of tried-and-tested products.
During our research, we vetted each robot mop, considering the quality, safety, value for money, extra features and functionality to ensure they performed well across the board.
About the author
Gemma Wilcock is a freelance writer and copywriter. She grew up in the North-East of England but has lived in and around London for almost 20 years now. At Mumsnet, she creates content providing useful parenting advice, information and top products to make life easier – as a mother of two children herself, Gemma knows how important it is to get the right advice.
Gemma secured her first journalism job on Bella magazine in 2005. She then moved on to work at Woman’s Own, commissioning, writing and interviewing people for the magazine’s real-life content, as well as compiling news-led features.
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