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These tried and tested GHI picks make for quick and easy cleaning Cleaning Bucket
We all want bright, shiny floors that practically wink as you pass by. That’s why it’s important to find the right mop for your home — one that will give you that clean, smear-free look with the least amount of elbow-grease, and as little excess water as possible.
To find the best flat mops for your floors, we put them to the test in the GHI lab. These cleaning staples are great at getting into corners and their detachable cloth heads make quick work of picking up dust and grime.
While not all flat mops will give you the same sparkling results, the Good Housekeeping Institute’s top tried and tested picks are proven to deliver. These are our highest scorers at a glance, but keep scrolling for our full reviews and everything you need to know about this reliable cleaning tool.
In short, yes. Although the level of performance entirely depends on the model and the cleaning job at hand.
Flat mops aren’t necessarily the best option for removing stubborn marks but, like spray mops, they’re great for day-to-day cleaning. To guarantee the best results for your space and lifestyle, these are the things you should consider before buying.
Almost all the flat mops we tested come with detachable, reusable mop head cloths that can be machine washed. This helps reduce your cleaning waste and keeps your mop head free of bacteria and dust. Just be sure to check the suggested wash cycle temperature to avoid shrinking or damaging the mop head.
These adjustable handles give you extra reach for cleaning corners, covering large spaces and sprucing up ceramic tiles in your shower. They can then be collapsed down for easy storage once you’re done mopping.
Not all flat mops come with buckets, but of those we tested that do, spin buckets proved to be a great perk. They use a spin system to wring out the mop with minimal effort. We were particularly impressed by the spin bucket that came with our winning flat mop, the Spontex Full Action System Spin Mop and Bucket.
If you’re looking for a mop that can cover your kitchen and your upstairs bathroom, take note of its weight and size to make sure it won’t be too much of a hassle getting it up the stairs. If portability is at the top of your agenda, it’s worth considering a mop like this tried and tested Vileda Spin and Clean, which has a handle that can be broken down into smaller parts for easy lifting.
To test the cleaning prowess of these flat mops, our GHI experts first had to do the unthinkable – create a mess. Our testers dirtied vinyl, linoleum and tiles with mud, tea and cooking oil, before leaving the stains to set. They then recorded how many sweeps it took each mop to achieve a clean floor and how long it took for the floors to dry afterwards.
They also took note of how convenient each mop was to store, whether it could reach tight, small spaces and how comfortable it was to use. If the manufacturer said that the mop heads could be machine-washed, we gave them a wash at the suggested temperature to check how they fared.
These are the mops that left our floors squeaky clean.
It only took us two swipes of this winning circular flat mop to clean up every drop of dirt and oil, without any assistance from chemical detergents. It achieved almost full marks when cleaning ceramic and vinyl flooring, and it impressed when mopping up laminate too. Another excellent selling point of the Spontex Full Action is its spin bucket, which you simply press the mop onto to quickly whip away any excess water.
Our only small gripe with this mop is that the splash cover on the bucket can be quite fiddly to remove, but that’s entirely forgivable given its stellar performance. We also liked that the microfibre mop head is machine washable and you can purchase spares, so you’re always spill-ready.
Looking for a mop that can easily cover your hallway, kitchen and utility room? This E-Cloth number has a wide head that makes quick work of cleaning entire rooms. We were particularly impressed with its ability to leave vinyl bright and smear-free, even when using water alone. In fact, no matter the floor type, you don’t need to use any solutions with this mop – just water – so it’s ideal for those of us looking to avoid harsh chemicals.
We’re also pleased to report that the detachable cleaning cloth looked great after we popped it in the washing machine – no shrinkage here. Our only small complaint is that the telescopic handle felt a little loose while we were mopping, but it’s still nice to have the option of extendable reach.
Although this mop wasn’t quite as effective as its big brother above, it still demonstrated excellent cleaning power and it has the added benefit of being more compact. An ideal option for smaller homes or renters, it fared fantastically on vinyl and its smaller head allowed us to get into all those awkward, hard-to-reach spaces.
Be warned that it did struggle to completely remove dirt from grouting and, much like its larger sibling, the telescopic handle felt a little loose at times. Still, if it’s a compact water-only option you’re after, this mop has convenience covered.
This flat mop’s innovative accompanying bucket wrings out enough water to make it suitable for use on wooden flooring. It left our tiles almost spotless and lifted all dried mud from laminate, both with minimal effort. On vinyl, it cut through most grease but struggled with some stubborn stains.
Its pivoted head proved easy to control and made tackling awkward areas easier. The microfibre cloth can be removed and washed without getting your hands dirty, earning it further ease of use points, but note that the non-adjustable handle is on the long side.
This mop was comfortable to use and effective at reaching tight and awkward corners. The mop head edges flip up, so you can clean skirting boards, while the flat design fits neatly under appliances.
The wringing system let it down somewhat – we found that it didn’t remove as much water as we’d like, and the floor took almost half an hour to dry as a result. If you’re tackling muddy paw prints, you may want to look for an alternative, as the mop became saturated with dirt quickly. For more lightly soiled surfaces though, it’s ideal.
If you’re after a fuss-free, wallet-friendly mop that will do a decent job, consider this flat Flash. It doesn't feel the sturdiest, and you can’t adjust its handle, but its head pivots into tight spaces and its recyclable, scrub-tipped cloths proved straightforward to fit and remove. They were also fantastic at grabbing and trapping dirt, which made for a satisfyingly speedy cleaning session.
It fared well on tiles, but the grouting called for a bit of extra scrubbing and collected some excess soap. It didn’t glide quite as easily on vinyl as it did on laminate, but it cleaned both very effectively.
This flat mop's circular-shaped scrubber head cleverly folds up so it can easily sweep along skirting boards and into tricky corners. Plus, the centrifugal spinner in the accompanying bucket means there’s no need to bend down when you want to get rid of excess water, making it perfect for mopping delicate floors that you don’t want to saturate.
Unfortunately, it did struggle to clean heavily soiled floors and the head clogged up quite quickly, which means it needed regular rinsing. Luckily, the head is machine washable, so it's very easy to clean.
Our testers loved the Spontex Full Action Mop for its simple spin bucket that easily wrings away excess water and leaves the mop head ready for more effortless cleaning.
If you’re tight on space though, the E-Cloth Mini Deep Clean Mop is a good choice. It only needs dampening with water and should easily slip into your cupboard. That said, its full-sized sibling, the E-Cloth Deep Clean Mop, tackled dirt more effectively and doesn't cost much more, so one to consider if you have a little more space.
We take cleaning seriously at the GHI – after all, we've been doing it for over 100 years. In our West London lab, we have a whole room dedicated to testing floor cleaners, so that we can assess mops like these on a range of hard flooring.
Our homes testing manager, Blossom Boothroyd, heads up our tests, ensuring each mop is held to the same rigorous protocols as the last. Once we've collated our results, homes writer, Megan Geall, analyses and interprets them to deliver detailed reviews that help you choose the best flat mop for your home.
Heidi Lauth Beasley is one of former 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.
Megan is the Good Housekeeping Institute’s homes writer. She loves diving into the latest product releases to find the very best buys on the market. When she’s not writing about the newest gadgets and gizmos for your home and garden, you’ll find her cooking, running and exploring London’s foodie hotspots – or trying to make friends with every dog she passes. Megan has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously written for Stylist, Glamour, TimeOut, SquareMeal, and YOU magazine. You can find Megan on Instagram @meganlouisegeall and on X @megan_geall
Blossom is passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for GH readers. As head of the homes testing team, she has led reviews across multiple categories, from pizza ovens, and smart plugs to portable fans and hobs. She enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols to ensure we’re testing them against their claims. Her aim is to find the top-performing products on the market, to help take the hard work out of housework. Blossom’s most notable accomplishment in the lab has been toasting 528 slices of bread in her quest to find the best toasters money can buy. In her free time, she openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.
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