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Sayonara, Saxony. Ta-ta, Twist Pile. There is a domestic revolution underway (or underfoot) because carpets have gone out of fashion.
Recent research from Dyson found that three-quarters of UK homes now have all or some hard floors.
Scandinavian minimalist aesthetics have helped drive the trend, as have new, attractive vinyl, tile and wood offerings that are far more stylish than dated linoleum.
The falling cost of underfloor heating has meant that carpets are no longer sought after for their warmth or seen as a hygienic option. It is perhaps no wonder that the style-loving middle classes are ditching carpets in droves.
But caring for hard floors isn’t easy either, as anyone who has ever run a mop and bucket through the kitchen, leaving a trail of dirty water in their wake, will know. If you over-soak a wooden floor (the most popular choice among hard floors), you risk rot and discolouration.
At least that’s my excuse for the fact that the engineered wood flooring in my house, assaulted daily by a muddy Labrador, clumsy children and careless cooks, looks more dirty brown than honey oak, while the cream tiles in our kitchen aren’t faring much better.
This month, Dyson launched its first hard floor cleaner: a £599.99 electric mop
But now Dyson claims to have a solution, albeit at an exorbitant cost.
This month, the manufacturer launched its first hard floor cleaner: a £599.99 electric mop.
Yes, £599.99. However, as surprising as the WashG1’s price tag may seem, it’s not the only fancy new mop on the market. Do they work? Is it possible that they’re worth the price tag? To find out, I put the Dyson and five others through their paces on the hard floors in my home…
AN IMPECCABLE APARTMENT…AND A SECOND MORTGAGE
Dyson WashGI, £599.99, dyson.co.uk
The sleek, blue WashG1, which promises to be both a vacuum and a mop, has a small digital display on its handle that shows three levels of cleaning and two tanks for clean and dirty water.
After filling the mold (no detergent needed, although you can add some), it glides across my hardwood floor effortlessly and with minimal noise.
Instead of vacuum suction, two motorized rollers agitate dirt and separate dry debris from wet debris (Dyson says vacuuming during a wet clean can make a room smell bad, because it forces moist air back into the room).
The dirty water is then pumped into the second mop tank. And, oh my, is it dirty. Crumbs, dog hair and leftovers from my daughter Rosie’s cereal, meanwhile, all end up in a removable tray at the bottom of the machine.
Afterwards, there is barely a trace of water left on my almost spotless floor. The only mess left is the frozen berries I dropped on the tiles and left to defrost overnight to test the Dyson; unfortunately, it barely removed the stain.
The 35 minutes of battery power was more than enough to cover the ground floor, and a self-cleaning mechanism pumps water around the machine when it’s done, so maintenance is minimal.
Maybe I’m a fool to swoon over a machine with such a high price tag, but it’s a game changer.
5/5
The WashG1 has a small digital display on its handle, which shows three levels of cleaning.
ELEGANT, FAST AND HIGH TECHNOLOGY
Gtech Orca Cordless Hard Floor Cleaner, £349.99, gtech.co.uk
With smooth motion, a touch screen, and a voice assistant that tells you what mode it’s in (mop only, vacuum, etc.), this mop really gets my 11-year-old son Felix excited to use it.
There’s also an “electrolysis function” that apparently sanitises tap water, turning it into disinfectant, allowing for a deeper clean. I don’t notice any benefit from this, although the detergent added to the 0.8L clean water tank leaves the kitchen pleasantly scented and the machine is powerful enough to handle tile grouting.
Loose oats are picked up as easily as a ketchup stain (although, again, the berry stain won’t come out) and floors are left nearly dry. There’s a self-cleaning feature to clean out the pipes once it’s back on the charging base and the battery lasts for 40 minutes.
But if you turn sharply into a corner, it tends to shut off. Overall, it’s still impressive.
4/5
The Gtech Orca cordless hard floor cleaner has an “electrolysis feature” that apparently sanitizes tap water, turning it into a disinfectant.
A STURDY MACHINE THAT IS ALSO VERSATILE
Vax Glide 2 Wet & Dry Hard Floor Vacuum Cleaner, £249.99, vax.co.uk
The heaviest of these vacuums, at 5.4kg, and the most similar in stature to a conventional vacuum cleaner, the Vax Glide 2 Wet and Dry Hard Floor Vacuum has a removable battery which means it’s not tethered to a charging base, making it easier to keep up for trips to the bathroom.
It has a self-cleaning feature and it is recommended to use a Vax detergent. The LED lights help me clean under the sofa and there is a 1 litre clean water tank, but the machine does not wet the floor automatically – you have to pull a lever under the handle to release water on the forward motion and then pull it back to dry the floor.
This takes practice and the floor is slightly damp afterwards. It’s also noisy (our lab, Herbie, Scarpers) and the battery only lasts 20 minutes, but it cleans my kitchen in one go and picks up spilled tea and mud (but not that red berry stain).
4/5
The Vax Glide 2 Wet and Dry Hard Floor Vacuum has a removable battery, meaning it’s not tied to a charging base.
NOISY BUT ELEGANT IN SMALL SPACES
Karcher Cordless Floor Cleaner, £169, karcher-center-trafalgar.co.uk
“It’s the coolest, most modern thing,” says 13-year-old Rosie of the German manufacturer’s cordless, plug-and-charge floor vacuum cleaner.
It only has one button (to turn it on and off), making it ideal for children. It is lightweight (2.4kg) and takes up much less space than other electric models. The two machine-washable rollers suck up dirty water and debris into a noticeably smaller 140ml tank.
It navigates tight corners with ease and vibrates across the floor with a persistence that reminds me of a dentist’s polishing rod. But it leaves the floor wet, the berry stain untouched, and doesn’t remove dry residue—I have to vacuum first. Plus, it’s loud, “like a hovercraft,” Felix says.
Good option for smaller areas and more reasonably priced than others.
3/5
The Karcher cordless vacuum easily navigates tight corners and vibrates across the floor with a persistence that reminds me of a dentist’s polishing rod.
ECOLOGICAL OPTION FOR MINIMUM WASTE
Clean Living Multi-Mop Bio-Mop Cleaning System, £119.99, cleanlivingint.com
After all that high tech, it’s a relief to try this mop from eco-friendly company Clean Living. It’s simply an aluminum mop, four washable pads for different hard floors that attach with Velcro, and a self-contained, reusable aluminum spray bottle, which you fill with water and a sachet of floor cleaner containing healthy live bacteria to destroy dirt and grime.
The mop comes with a lifetime warranty and there’s a subscription service to refill cleaner sachets (empty ones can be sent for recycling).
Without a wringer, the wet mop makes a mess and is no match for my red fruit stain. But the hard edges are great for cleaning dust off my skirting boards and it effectively cleans my downstairs hallway using just spray.
It can also be used to clean windows and shower doors. It may be simpler, but in some ways it is the most modern of all.
3/5
The Clean Living Multi-Mop Biological Cleaning System comes with a lifetime warranty and there is a subscription service to refill cleaner sachets.
ON A TURN FOR SENSATION ON SOCIAL NETWORKS
Vileda Rinse Clean Spin Mop System, £39.99, amazon.co.uk
With two chambers that keep clean and dirty water separate, and a pedal-powered, spinning wringer that keeps it from getting too wet, this is a revolutionary bucket (search “spin mops” on TikTok and you’ll find 78 million views). To start, I pour tap water into the top chamber, then pull a lever to let clean water into a smaller chamber contained within the first. I then dip the mop into this chamber and place it on the wringer to wring out any excess water.
Once I’ve mopped the floor, I wring out the machine-washable mop again, sending the dirty water into another chamber at the bottom, and repeat.
The bucket is bulky and the mop could be bigger, but the floor is left shiny and only slightly damp.
The only stain is that damn red fruit stain (which comes off only after 30 frantic minutes using a brush and half a bottle of bleach). A brilliant and relatively inexpensive purchase.
5/5
With two chambers that keep clean and dirty water separate, and a pedal-operated rotating wringer that prevents excess moisture, the Vileda Rinse Clean Spin Mop System is a revolutionary bucket.
