As a general rule, you don’t want to let a bunch of water soak into wooden surfaces, be it your furniture, kitchen drawers, and especially not your nice hardwood floors. Wood is a porous material and tends to soak up the water quite readily, and expand when subjected to excessive moisture.
This will lead to cracks, swelling, and discoloration, quickly ruining your floor. Now, if you spill a glass of water on a hardwood floor and immediately pat it dry, it shouldn’t cause any major issues, but leaving puddles to sit there for hours will.
That’s why it’s not the best idea to splash a traditional or old wet mop all over the place and leave your now soaked floor to dry on its own. If you do this several times a week, you’ll start to see some problems within a few months.
So what’s the solution? Get yourself the best mop for engineered hardwood floors and solid ones. A mop designed specifically for cleaning hardwood floors will have some of the following features:
- Large and highly absorbent pads
- A highly maneuverable mop head
- Sturdy handle
- Several extra pads and different types of pads
With these key features in mind, we’ve research far and wide to bring you the very best mops for hardwood floors available on the market. From more expensive, and highly effective, to more minimalist and budget-friendly, yet still effective designs, there’s something on our list for everyone.
8 Best Mop for Hardwood Floors Reviews
After extensive research, we found the following eight mops to be leaps and bounds ahead of the competition in terms of overall quality, durability, design, and price.
#1 BISSELL Spinwave Hardwood Floors Mop- Our Top Pick
A simple and elegant solution, the Spinwave is a powered wet mop for hardwood floors that allows you to use a small amount of liquid.
It’s twin circular pads automatically rotate once you turn it on, and it’s heavy enough to apply just the right amount of downward pressure on the floor when mopping so that you don’t have to press down hard.
It saves you time and effort, and it’s quite versatile as well. It comes with two sets of pads – soft and scruffy. This allows you to go for a gentle wipe for everyday mopping, and switch to something scruffier and firmer for hard stains and sticky spills.
With a 28 ounce tank, you won’t have to refill until your done, and the swivel makes it versatile, but it could use a bit more power and more absorbent pads.
#2 BISSELL PowerFresh Steam Hardwood Mop
Another Bissel product on this list, the PowerFresh is probably the best hardwood floor steam mop in the $100 and below price range. The steam makes it a great anti-bacterial mop, and you can choose between three different steam settings.
It comes with several different pads, allowing you to tackle more persistent stains, and a carpet glider so that you can cover everything using this one tool. A neat feature is the fragrance discs, which leave the floors smelling fresh after you’ve gone over them.
The cord is 23 ft long, so you have a lot of maneuverability, and the cord wraps are a nice touch and make it easy to store.
#3 JINCLEAN Industrial Hardwood Dust Mop
If you’re looking for the best dust mop for hardwood floors, then this might be your perfect choice. The JINCLEAN 24” Mops has a minimalist design that will get the job done, and it’s easy to store away.
The handle is sturdy and can be adjusted to different lengths, and the head features an all-steel frame design. The mop pad has a tufted cotton side, resembling the fibers on a shag carpet, which sweeps away dust and dirt.
The middle features finer and denser material that soaks up water and provides easy cleaning. The cleaning pads are easy to put on and take off, while the handle can also be taken off the frame for easier storage.
#4 MOPNADO Microfiber Pad Spin Mop
This is a unique combo of smart design features – a fluffy, absorbent microfiber mop and a bucket that allows you to quickly wash it and spin it dry as you move through the house. Once disassembled and packed up, it really takes up a tiny bit of space, apart from the bucket.
The system works really well to wring out all the extra water in the spinning “tornado” motion, so you can have the mop nice and moist, without leaving puddles all over your floors. The bucket even features an extendable front handle that you can use to pull it along, apart from the main lifting handle, and the wheels work fine and don’t leave marks on the wood. It is one of the most popular dry mops for hardwood floors.
#5 Bona Premium Spray Hardwood Mop
A great two-in-one solution that allows you to carry a supply of water with you wherever you mop, the Bona Spray Mop is a big time saver. It’s the best mop for wood floors if you are looking for minimal spills and dripping and just want to do a nice gentle wash.
It features a large mop head and a microfiber pad that soaks up water and dirt nicely, and it comes with a 34oz bottle attachment already filled to the brim with the company’s proprietary cleaning solution. The head swivels and is low-profile, which makes it easy to get into all the nooks and crannies, despite its large size.
The corners are rubberized, so you don’t have to worry about damaging the mop or scratching up your furniture. The pads are machine washable and reusable, and the bottle can be refilled with any cleaner you prefer.
#6 Turbo Microfiber Top Rated Wood Floor Mop
A minimalist’s dream come true, the Turbo Microfiber Mop is extremely light and low profile, yet sturdy enough to take some light daily abuse, because of its aluminum shaft. The star of the show is the handle, which can go from a nice compact 35 inches to an impressive 60 inches in seconds.
That’s enough reach to allow even the taller folks out there to reach the floor without bending over much. The head swivels around a full 360 degrees and can be dropped down flat to get underneath furniture.
You get two absorbent microfiber pads in the package, which is a great deal. The pads could be a bit thicker, as you’ll find yourself having to go to the bucket a bit more frequently than with some other models on this list. The deep clean scrub pads are excellent at collecting bet hair, though.
#7 TETHYS Flat Floor Mop with Bucket
A nice little mop and bucket set, but with a twist. The TETHYS Flat Floor Mop is great for those perfectionists who want to clean their mop head completely before moving on to another area. That’s not something you can do with a simple rinse, so the bucket that comes with this mop has an added function.
You can flatten the mop and run it through the dry part of the bucket to dry it out and to scrape off any extra lint and dirt. It’s the best microfiber mop for hardwood floors because you can run it through a couple of times and work with only a damp pad, instead of splashing your floors with water.
It can be disassembled into four small parts, and it comes with two reusable microfiber pads, making it a tidy and versatile package.
#8 MAYSHINE Dry & Wet Hardwood Floor Mop
A straightforward design and its steel and aluminum construction are what make this mop a truly timeless tool that you’ll find yourself reaching for every single day. The head swivels a full 360 degrees, and the metal handle can be extended to a full 60 inches.
This makes the MAYSHINE incredibly versatile and easy to move around a packed room. It comes with a bunch of extra reusable cloths – five of them to be exact – and they are all reversible. You’ll get quite a few uses out of each cloth before you have to throw it into the washing machine, and there’s a lot of them to go around.
The design is elegant and highly functional, with the cloths quickly snapping onto the head. The cloths also wrap around the edges of the head, so you don’t have to worry about streaks and scratches.
How to Clean Your Hardwood Floor?
Assuming that you have the right tools for the job, the process of cleaning hardwood floors is fairly straightforward. Before you begin, make sure you have the following
- Vacuum cleaner or broom
- The best mop for wood floors
- Hardwood floor cleaner
- pH Neutral soap
- Floor restorer or polish
Now that you have the gear ready, you need to set up a cleaning schedule to make sure your floors stay nice and tidy every day:
Daily tasks – Vacuuming or sweeping main areas
Your main daily chore should be going over the main areas with a vacuum cleaner or broom to clean up all the dust, dirt, lint, and hair that accumulate throughout the day.
Not only does this leave your home looking tidy, but it also helps prevent tiny scratches caused by particles of sand or dirt being dragged along the floor. You don’t have to go over every nook and cranny, save that for when you have more time.
Weekly tasks – Wet moping 1-2 times a week
On the weekend, and perhaps once more during the week if you had lots of people over, you should mop the floors. Use the best mop for hardwood floors that you’ve chosen from our list, and go over the floor, one small section at a time.
At this stage, you’ll want to move some furniture around and clean the less accessible areas, to prevent dust and dirt from building up. Be sure to vacuum or sweep up the dirt before moping, and use the appropriate cleaning products.
Monthly and yearly tasks – Use floor restorer to bring the finish back to life
After a few months, you might notice some scuffs or stains that are too tough to handle by simply going over them with a mop. You’ll want to get down and really work on them using the rough side of a sponge and some baking soda.
If the finish has gone a bit dull, you’ll also want to apply a good floor restorer top give it back some of its luster. If there are any large cracks, you may even need to remove and replace an entire board every once in a while.
Things That Can Destroy Your Hardwood Floor
Don’t get us wrong, hardwood floors are not as dainty as some online article would have you believe, but it’s easier to notice cosmetic damage than on some other surfaces. While some things do cause serious issues like bloating and cracks, most will leave scratches, scuff marks, and dull the finish.
These floors can take a decent amount of abuse, but we’re going to assume that you didn’t buy them for purely utilitarian reasons and that you also want your home to look nice. If you want to keep your wooden floors in pristine condition, here are the main things you need to avoid.
Leaving spills just to sit there and using too much water when moping
As we’ve already said, leaving huge piles of liquid to soak up into your wood floors will cause a lot of damage with time. So, be careful to immediately clean up and tap dry any water or juice spills, and use only a damp mop when cleaning the floor.
Using random groceries to clean the floor “naturally”
This one might surprise you, as many people actually recommend it for hardwood floors, and just about any cleaning task around the house – vinegar. The main issue with vinegar is rooted in basic high-school level chemistry – it’s fairly acidic, so it will eat away at the finish applied to hardwood floors.
And since it’s the finish that helps protect these floors from physical damage and allows them to keep their lovely color and shine for a long time, you see how destroying it could be a bad idea.
Some people will have you dilute a cup of it in a gallon of water or some other arbitrary ratio, but it’s still not a good idea.
Furniture being moved around constantly
In some areas like the dining room you will have to move chairs around several times a day, every single day – there’s no way around it. However, what you can do to protect your floors is simply slap on some nice thick furniture pads. They will prevent any scratches and make moving around chairs and sofas a lot quieter as well.
Leaving dust and dirt to accumulate for days
Tiny particles of dirt that you keep stepping on will act like an abrasive, and scratch up your floor. This is why we recommend daily seeping or vacuuming alongside a more thorough weekly moping regimen.
Unkempt and young pets
Dogs with long nails will quickly scratch up hardwood floors, so try to keep their nails trimmed. You should also regularly groom your pets so that they don’t have hairs everywhere. With young pets that haven’t been trained properly yet, you’ll want to stay alert and clean up any accidents as soon as possible.
Allowing people to just walk in from the street with their dirty shoes
Anyone who enters your home should spend a few seconds to wipe their shoes on your doormat, and you should spend a bit extra and get a high-quality one. An alternative is to have a few extra pairs of comfy house slippers so that your guests can take off their shoes before moving on
FAQ- Frequently Asked Questions
To ensure that there is absolutely no confusion about choosing the best mop to clean hardwood floors and floor maintenance in general, we have compiled this list of frequently asked questions.
Conclusion
If you have beautiful hardwood floors and want to keep them in pristine conditions for decades to come, then you want to choose the best mop for wood floors. We’ve listed some of the top pics, ranging from motorized and steam cleaning options, to spray mops and great mop and bucket combos.
Pick one that fits your needs and preferred cleaning style, and mind all the little hardwood floor maintenance tips we’ve covered here. With a bit of care and the right mop, you’ll keep your floors clean and shiny with very little effort.
