Clean up your floors without getting down and dirty.
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Unless you’re the protagonist at the beginning of a fairy tale, there’s no reason to get on your hands and knees to get the spotless floors you want. Floor scrubbers make short work of cleaning up messes and grime without the back-breaking labor of a handheld brush. These devices use abrasive pads, bristle brushes, and electric motors to aid you in cleaning your floors.
A good floor scrubber both radically reduces the physical toll and strain of cleaning your floors while also achieving a deeper clean than mops or hand tools alone. These devices help lift out set-in grime, stains, and even mold across multiple types of surfaces—hardwood, laminate, tile, and more.
With so many cleaning devices from steam cleaners to mops, choosing the right floor scrubber might feel like a shot in the dark. We used our cleaning and home care expertise to round up some of the best floor scrubber options to tackle any room and surface type in your house.
Most floor scrubbers are compatible with nearly every hard surface. This includes hardwood, laminate, tile, stone, concrete, and brick. Some options with coarse bristles may have a warning that they could potentially scratch certain types of vinyl laminate or unfinished wood, but most should be safe across the board.
You might find that dry options are safer for your hardwood, especially if you have lots of space between floorboards—but any hardwood with a lacquer or other finishing treatment should be fine with any of these scrubbers.
Some options are also compatible with carpet. While floor scrubbers may be great for deep cleaning some carpets and rugs, this list will mostly focus on options more tailored to effectively cleaning hard surfaced flooring. To deep clean your carpet, check out our recommendations for the best carpet steam cleaners.
Floor scrubbers are part of a relatively open category that includes anything from vacuums to hand brushes. Essentially, if the device helps scrub your floors, it counts as a floor scrubber. As a result, there is an incredibly wide range of both electric and manual tools that technically count.
Electric floor scrubbers are either battery-powered or plug in to a wall outlet to power a spinning or suction mechanism that makes your cleaning routine faster and more thorough. This improves cleaning effectiveness, and when paired with water or a cleaning solution, breaks down any grime or scum in a much shorter period of time than a manual option.
Manual floor scrubbers are similar to more traditional cleaning products. They rely on your own arms to put the power behind them. That said, most manual floor scrubbers are far more affordable and compact compared to electric floor scrubbers, so if you’re short on space or don’t want to drop a few hundred bucks on a new product, opt for the manual options we recommend.
Many floor scrubbers come with added features that enhance their cleaning abilities, like added suction for picking up debris and leftover water, or steamers that loosen up stuck-on grime. Some have multiple scrubber heads to tackle different spaces, like tight corners or bathroom floors, and a few include buffing pads or polishing heads that make your floor sparkle after you’ve scrubbed the dirt and grime away.
We made our final decisions on this list based on significant research across multiple trusted online publications as well as our own stories on cleaning products. We used our knowledge of trustworthy cleaning brands to only recommend options that’ll last. We also relied on verified customer reviews to ensure that these choices were effective for cleaning in the hands of regular people. The options on this list also span between the many different types of floor scrubbers available as well as price points to fit any set of preferences or budgets.
One of the most powerful floor scrubbers for the price, this commercial-grade Orbiter from Oreck can scrub out even the toughest stains. Unlike many other options on our list, this floor scrubber is compatible with virtually any surface type—including carpet. In fact, by switching out its spinning head attachment, the floor scrubber also buffs, polishes, sands, waxes, and refinishes.
While it’s designed for commercial use, this floor scrubber is small enough to fit in a closet or laundry room which makes it a perfect choice for big homes or spaces with multiple floor types. At the same time, the added power of commercial application makes it one of the best choices for scrubbing out grout and removing set-in dirt and grime.
Forget the batteries and cords, this floor scrubber gets things done the old fashioned way. The manual scrub brush may require a bit more elbow grease, but it should more than make up for it with its affordable price tag and powerful, stiff bristles.
While basic, this scrubber does come with a few nifty features including a built-in squeegee on the top of the brush to wipe away any water or cleaning solution after you’ve scrubbed.
This also comes with an extendable handle and can be fully disassembled for storage or maintenance. The handle is also angled at 45 degrees so you don’t have to bend your back to get the head in the right position.
Take your cleaning to the next level with a floor scrubber that’s built with dual water tanks for separating clean and dirty water. The circular scrubbing brushes combine with the water and your cleaning solution of choice for near automatic lather and immediate results.
The floor scrubber is also far more time-efficient than many other options on this list. Instead of following your cleaning with mopping or waiting for long periods of time while your floors dry, the scrubber uses vacuum suction to dry off your floor mere moments after it is cleaned. The cleaner even comes with an attachable front squeegee to make sure no drops are left behind.
If you experience spills, pet accidents, or messy kids on a daily basis, this floor scrubber keeps every surface clean while cutting down on time and elbow grease.
Instead of just relying on cleaning detergents, the Shark floor scrubber comes with a powerful steamer. The two rotating pads in combination with the steady flow of hot steam help break up grime and wipe it away while simultaneously killing germs using the heat.
The benefit of using steam is the lack of chemical-based cleaners that might be unsafe for kids and pets. At the same time, this floor scrubber comes with an LED light and illuminates the dirt or dust around it on the floor—for better or worse.
This scrubber may be less effective on stains where you need to add an extra bit of elbow grease, but this is perhaps the easiest of all machines on our list.
This compact floor scrubber is perfect for someone that wants electric scrubbing power in a frame that fits comfortably in a storage closet. The two rollers are made of microfiber which is great for getting rid of light stains and polishing tile and hardwood back to its former glory.
In addition to the rollers, the floor scrubber comes with a water and detergent tank for effective cleaning in tandem with the cleaning action. The device also comes with a dirty water tank and a suction function to clear up leftover liquid as you move.
Each Kärcher product also comes with a three-year warranty so your product is protected from any potential problems.
Another commercial-grade choice, this floor scrubber, works on just about every material that floor has ever been made out of, including carpet. The dual scrubbing rotators have stiff bristles for breaking out heavy stains and set-in grime.
You can then attach the buffing or polishing pads to finish off your tile or hardwood so it shines smooth once finished. The commercial-strength design requires corded power, but the long plug means you have no need to buy an extension cord as well.
This option is a bit more expensive than most others on the list, so keep that in mind if you’re scrubbing on a budget.
With a spinning head and up to 90 minutes of runtime per charge, this battery-operated floor scrubber is built to break down the toughest grime.
The spin scrubber from Labigo comes with four different brush heads designed to tackle different areas from bathtubs to the corners of showers. Combined with the extendable and angled handle, the device reaches any crevice that needs cleaning. This maneuverability is also one of the key reasons many of the head attachments are smaller and shaped with fine points.
We recommend this scrubber to tackle all the messes in your bathroom whether they are on the tile, shower, bathtubs, or even in and around toilets. While it does come with a flat head attachment which can cover more ground, this option performs best in tight spaces compared to larger areas like your living room.
Tom Price is an Associate Editor of Reviews for Popular Mechanics, and also contributes to Runner's World, and Bicycling. He has previously covered product reviews, startup news, and even professional wrestling. In his free time, he enjoys watching pretentious TV, low-brow movies, and exercising for beauty, not health. If you are interested in exploring more of his work, check out his website.
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