As hated household chores go, mopping is probably despised more than even vacuuming (though let’s agree cleaning toilets tops the list). The dirty water, the back-aching labor, and the fact that most homes have far less moppable flooring than they do carpeting makes the job all too easy to neglect.
As with vacuuming, though, robotics has come to rescue. Robot mops don’t require cumbersome buckets or ringing out filthy mop heads. All you need to do is fill their tank with water, set them on the floor, press the start button, and get out of the way. Some will even vacuum or sweep the floor first, relieving you of that chore as well. They won’t eliminate the need to use an old-fashioned stick mop from time to time, but they can make the floor significantly easier to clean when you do.
Here are our current top picks for robot mops. This is an evolving category— manufacturers are still experimenting with what makes a good robot mop—so there can be a significant variance between products in terms of features and functions. Still, there are some basic things to look for and we’ve included them below our picks to help guide you if our top picks don’t meet your unique needs.
iRobot Braava Jet m6 — Best robot mop
Pros
- Three mopping modes
- Automatically recognizes and avoids carpet
- Can clean in sequence with select Roomba robot vacuums
Cons
- Too big for cleaning in tight spots in bathrooms and kitchens
- Expensive
The iRobot Braava Jet m6 is an excellent robot mop with plenty of smart features for automating a hated household chore. It’s ideal for homes with lots of hard floors.
iLife Shinebot W400 — Best robot mop, runner-up
Pros
- Scrubs dirt and stains off hard-surface flooring
- Separates clean and dirty water for better results
- Excellent navigation
Cons
- Large size prevents it from cleaning under cabinets and other tight spaces
- You’ll want to vacuum your floors before deploying this bot
- Doesn’t automatically return to its charging base when its battery runs low
Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra — Best robot vac/mop hybrid
Pros
- Vacuums and mops
- Self-empties dustbin and water tank
- Creates detailed maps in 2D and 3D
Cons
- Bulky base station
- Some mapping features are available only on newer iPhones
- Expensive
The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is an advanced, fully autonomous robot floor cleaner with sophisticated mapping capabilities. But its high price tag will present an obstacle for some shoppers.
What to look for in a robot mop
Dedicated floor mop or vacuum/mop hybrid: At their heart, all robot mops function similarly: You fill a tank with water, and the water is dispensed as the robot navigates across your floors, using an attached cloth/pad to scrub dirt off your floor.
The robots, however, generally come in two types. Models like the iRobot Braava Jet m6 and the iLife Shinebot W400 can’t vacuum your floors (though the former can do a dry sweep of debris) before mopping.
Vacuum/mop hybrids are essentially robot vacuums that come with an attachable water reservoir. When you want to mop, you fill this small-capacity tank with tap water, attach a microfiber cloth to it, and slot it onto the bottom of the vacuum.
There are no hard and fast rules regarding which type of robot mop is better, but we have observed some general trends. Hybrid types tend to be more likely to come with features like app control and smart home integration. And, of course, they give you the advantage of tackling two chores with one device. We’ve found, however, that their method of dragging a damp microfiber cloth across the floor isn’t the best for tough stains. Dedicated robot mops usually spray water directly on the floor to soften gunk and stains and apply some agitation via a scrubbing pad or brush. In our tests, these have brushes consistently been more effective on deeper dirt.
Navigation: Like their vacuuming counterparts, robot mops navigate around furniture, walls, and other obstacles using a collection of sensors. Some hybrid models also take advantage of mapping technology. Most of the ones we’ve tested, though, can’t tell what type of floor surface they’re on. That presents potential problems if the floor you want to mop adjoins a carpeted room, as kitchens and bathrooms often do. Fortunately, many robot mops come with some kind of virtual barrier you can position between hard flooring and carpeting to keep the robot out of trouble.
Battery Life: Battery life correlates to how much a robot mop can cover in a single charge. We’ve found one hour to be the sweet spot for most apartments and condominiums, but a minimum of 90 minutes is recommended for larger homes. It’s also important to remember that mopping will use more battery life than vacuuming, so if you go with a hybrid model, expect to get less than the manufacturer’s claimed run time when using the mopping function.
Author: Michael Ansaldo, Freelance contributor
Michael Ansaldo is veteran consumer and small-business technology journalist. He contributes regularly to TechHive and PCWorld.