Hard Wood Floor Cleaning ·Mar 02, 2023

Best Mop to Clean Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors are a beautiful and timeless addition to your home. Unfortunately, though, they have a tendency to become dirty and grimy, especially if you have a high-traffic home filled with children and pets.

In order to keep your hardwood floors looking shiny and grand, proper maintenance is required. This includes using the correct tools. And while you may think that just any old mop will do, this isn’t the case.

You will need to get yourself the best mop to clean hardwood floors if you want them to last.

Luckily, we have the perfect mop for the job. Our Flat Mop Finish Applicator is amazing when it comes to cleaning hardwood floors and will leave your floors spotless and unscathed. And, in most cases, it will allow you to clean old hardwood floors without sanding them.

What this article covers:

Best Mop to Clean Hardwood Floors
Best Mop to Clean Hardwood Floors (Buyer’s Guide)

Best Mop To Clean Hardwood Floors

Overview

Our Flat Mop Finish Applicator is one of the best mops to use when it comes to cleaning hardwood floors that are really dirty. Not only is it affordable, but it is super easy to use. Its design helps you to get into those hard-to-reach places, which makes cleaning more efficient.

This lightweight mop can be transported from one end of the house to another with ease and slides into small spaces for efficient storage.

This mop is equipped with a Terry Cloth cover, which makes it smooth and soft, ensuring that you can clean your hardwood floors without leaving streaks or scratches on this precious addition to your home.

Our Flat Mop Finish Applicator is absorbent and will ensure that your hardwood floors aren’t exposed to large amounts of water. This is crucial when it comes to cleaning hardwood floors. You want as little water as possible to make contact with the floor so that no water damage is caused.

This mop ticks all the boxes when it comes to cleaning your hardwood floors, and it will easily rid your hardwood floors of any dirt or stains that are present.

Why It’s Great

The Flat Mop Finish Applicator is much easier to use than traditional string mops
It prevents large amounts of water from coming into contact with your hardwood floors
It is very easy to use and transport around
It can get into your hard-to-reach areas to ensure proper cleaning
The Terry cover is made out of soft and smooth material

Who It’s Right For

Anyone who owns a house with hardwood floors
It is particularly useful for those households who have children and pets running around
People who want to be efficient with their cleaning

Detailed Analysis

Design

The flat mop design of our mop lends itself exceptionally well to cleaning hardwood floors. Not only can the mop head fit perfectly into tight corners, but it can also bend and fit underneath furniture. This ensures that you never miss a spot when it comes to cleaning and maintaining your hardwood floors.

This design also allows to it be stored in tight spaces and not take up too much room in a cupboard.

It makes the mop easy to use and set up, which can save you hours of struggle in the long run.

Sanitary

Flat mops are one of the most sanitary mops around. Firstly, they dry quickly which prevents mold and bacteria build up. Mops like string mops take a really long time to dry and often stand damp for long durations. This gives bacteria plenty of time to build up, which is not sanitary for a family.

Additionally, the heads of flat mops can be taken off and washed in the washing machine. In the case of our mop, the Terry Cloth cover can be taken off and washed, or it can be easily replaced. This makes sure that your mop always stays clean and sanitary, and is much better to have in your house.

This also makes the cleaning process more effective, as you can ensure the mop is completely clean each use. Something that isn’t possible with the traditional string mop.

best mop to use to clean hardwood floors

Absorbency

The Terry Cloth Cover that is on our Flat Mop Finish Applicator is extremely absorbent, and it is claimed to be twice as absorbent as microfiber, which is often what is used on hardwood floors.

This extreme absorbency of our mop’s Terry Cloth cover ensures that there is very little water that is released onto your hardwood floors whilst cleaning. This is super important when cleaning hardwood floors because of how porous they are, especially if you are cleaning an old unfinished hardwood floor.

If your mop allows too much water onto the floor it can cause many problems, including permanent moisture damage.

The Terry Cloth cover prevents this and makes it safe to use water on your hardwood floors.

Keep in mind, though, even though our mop is designed not to allow a lot of water on your floors, it is still best to always wring the Terry Cloth cover out before use and ensure that it is never fully saturated with water.

Multifunctional

Our Flat Mop Finish Applicator has multifunctional uses. Firstly, it can be used for both wet and dry cleaning.

the best mop to clean hardwood floors

In terms of dry cleaning, the mop works similarly to a broom. In fact, it is often better than most brooms, as it won’t cause bristle scratches on the floors like a lot of brooms do.

The mop can be used to sweep your hardwood floors and gather any dust, pet hair, or debris that is on the floor.

For wet cleaning, it is used like a traditional mop and can remove all the grime and dirt off of your floors which isn’t possible with dry cleaning alone.

Secondly, if you purchase our Flat Mop Finish Applicator, you can use it to effectively clean your hardwood floors, as we have been touching on, but you can also use it to apply finishes and polish to them, too.

This makes our Flat Mop Finish Applicator really worth the money, as it can be used to clean and polish your wood floors, which makes it a lot easier than having to go and buy something else to do this.

Ease Of Use

Our Flat Mop Finish Applicator is exceedingly easy to use. Its straightforward design means that there is no setup required. It is easy to clean, dry and put away, and can be whipped out whenever a sudden accident happens.

Having our Flat Mop Finish Applicator in your house will make life a lot easier, and cleaning your hardwood floors will be a lot less effort.

Weight

Our Flat Mop Finish Applicator is very lightweight which means that it is easy to transport and move from room to room.

what is the best mop to clean hardwood floors

Price

This mop is not expensive at all. Coming in at $49.99. The price is definitely worth it for what you get, and you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg when you invest in one.

Best Mop To Clean Hardwood Floors (Buyer’s Guide)

Mop Type

When it comes to buying a mop for your hardwood floors you need to consider what type of mop you are buying.

There are 4 common types of mops that you get. These are flat mops, traditional string mops, steam mops, and sponge mops. So, which is best for your hardwood floors?

Steam Mops

Well, steam mops are definitely out of the question. This is because there is a lot of moisture that gets forced into the wood and between the floorboards when you use a steam mop. This could warp the floors and cause a lot of water damage to your floors.

Sponge Mops

This is similar to steam mops. Sponge mops tend to hold and release a lot of water onto your floors when you use them. You want to avoid this so that you don’t cause long-term damage to your floors. For this reason, we wouldn’t recommend sponge mops for your floors.

Traditional String Mops

Traditional string mops are also not the best choice when it comes to mops for hardwood floors. Again, these mops carry a lot of water in them. Even if you spend a decent amount of time wringing them out, they still release more than you will want.

Additionally, the string of these mops is oftentimes course and quite hard. This can end up causing scratches to your floors and could damage your floor’s finish. So, it is best to avoid these, too.

It is also very difficult to wash and dry string mops.

Flat Mops

This leaves us with a flat mop. flat mops are the most ideal mops to use on hardwood floors. Their shape allows them to fit into corners and hard-to-reach areas, making sure you don’t miss any dirt.

On top of this, they don’t carry much water, so they are not hazardous to your hardwood floors. They also won’t cause scratches on your floors or damage them in any way.

It is often very easy to dry and wash the heads of flat mops too, which is a huge help.

Material Of Mop Head

There are a few common materials that are used to make mop heads. We will discuss them below, and also mention which types are best suited to hardwood floors.

Microfiber

Microfiber is probably one of the most recommended types of materials for mops that are going to be used on hardwood floors.

Microfiber is a synthetic fiber that is extremely fine and super soft. It is durable so that it won’t break easily, and it is great for picking up small fibers and hair.

Because microfiber is so soft and fine, it won’t leave behind any scratch marks when you use it on your wood floors.

Microfiber is very absorbent, so it will ensure that your wood floors don’t get exposed to too much water, which is something that a lot of attention needs to be paid to.

hardwood floor mop reviews

This material is quick-drying and very effective on wood floors.

Terry Cloth

Terry cloth and microfiber have almost all of the same characteristics. The main thing that separates them is how they were made, and what they were made out of.

Terry cloth is made out of cotton (and sometimes infused with silk, polyester, or linen) on a loom that weaves loops together within the stitching. This makes it highly absorbent, even more so than microfiber. Terry cloth works great for absorbing spills, and not letting too much water gets released onto your wood floors.

Like microfiber, terry cloth is soft and actually becomes stronger when it's wet, making it very durable.

Terry cloth stands out for how absorbent, strong, and durable it is. This is why it would be our choice when it comes to mopping hardwood floors.

Cotton

Cotton is a natural material that is gentle and breathable. It is not as soft as microfiber or terry cloth but generally won’t damage your floors.

What could damage your floors though, is that cotton mops don’t generally pick up dust and debris very well. Microfiber and terry cloth tend to trap dirt and debris, while cotton mops tend to push them around the floor.

best mop for wood floors

This is something that could end up damaging your wood floors.

Even though cotton is quite absorbent, it holds a lot of water and takes a lot of effort to wring out. Additionally, because cotton is a natural material, it often doesn’t last as long as its synthetic counterparts.

Rayon

Rayon is a fabric made from regenerated cellulose, which makes it semi-synthetic.

Rayon is more resistant to bleach and mildew than cotton is. Because it is synthetic, it also tends to last longer than cotton mops.

Unfortunately, it is less absorbent than cotton, so it wouldn’t make the best fit for hardwood floors.

Sponge

Sponge mop heads, as you would expect, are made out of sponge. While sponge is very absorbent, it has the capability to hold a lot of water, too. This is not great for your hardwood floors and can end up causing a lot of damage in the long run.

best mop for hardwood floor cleaning

The sponge used in these mops is also usually quite coarse, as it is intended to scrub your floors clean. This can cause a lot of damage to your hardwood floors, whether they are sealed or not.

Additionally, sponge mops don’t pick up dirt and debris from the floor. Just like cotton mops, they push it around the floor which could lead to further damage.

Removable/Washable Head

This is important from both a sanitary and effectiveness point. You want to have a mop with a head that can be removed and preferably washed in the washing machine.

This ensures that your mop remains free from germs and bacteria build-up, but also that it stays clean enough to keep on cleaning your floors effectively.

Since dirt gets trapped in the fibers of the mop, it needs a good wash every few months to ensure that it is properly clean.

This is the downside with sponge mops and traditional string mops.

While sponge mop heads can be removed, they won’t do too well in the washing machine. This means that you will have to replace it entirely more regularly than you would with a flat mop. This is something that can become quite expensive.

Traditional string mops aren’t able to be machine washed or replaced. This means that after some time they start to become really old, dirty, and unsightly.

Flat mops generally have heads that can be removed and washed. This is ideal if you want to save money and keep your floors clean and germ-free.

Mop Handle Material

The material of the mop handle is something that is often overlooked, but also something that needs to be taken into consideration.

Here are the three most common types.

Plastic

This is often the most common material used for mop handles. It is affordable, light, and easy to use. Unfortunately, though, plastic handles aren’t always very hardy, they have a shorter product life than the other two options, and aren’t as durable, either.

Aluminum

Aluminum is the strongest of the three and has the longest product life. Even though it is a metal that is being used, it is still very lightweight.

Aluminum handles look modern, they are sturdy, and recyclable, too. The only downside is that they might bump up the price of your mop slightly.

Wood

Wood mop handles are sturdy and have a long product life if they are properly maintained. They can also be recycled, and have the look and feel of a traditional mop.

The biggest downside of wood handles is that they are porous. So if you do not store them properly, or leave them out in the rain, they could pick up some damage. Wood can also be quite heavy, which might make it difficult to maneuver.

Mop Weight

The weight of the mop is something that is quite often overlooked. Mop weight is important for several things.

Firstly, if someone elderly, or with not much strength is going to be carrying the mop around, then it needs to be lightweight and easy to maneuver.

Additionally, if you are going to be having to take the mop up and down stairs and all over a large house, you ideally wouldn’t want it to weigh too much, either.

Steam mops, for example, can get quite heavy and can be difficult to move around. Flat mops or sponge mops, on the other hand, are usually quite lightweight, and easy to get from one point to another.

Conclusion

As we are sure you can tell by now, our Flat Mop Finish Applicator is the best type of mop to clean hardwood floors that are not sealed, as well as the best way to clean finished hardwood floors.

It is safe, convenient, effective, and works for most stains. It really is one of the best tools to clean wood floors.

But, if you find that you are struggling to deep clean engineered hardwood floors, for example, then you might want to have a look at our Orbot Vibe floor machine. In our opinion, it is the best machine to clean hardwood floors.

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