Best Cleaning Mop Reviews 2021

For anything between $15 and $100 plus, you can land a great cleaning mop that delivers just about everything. The inexpensive ones are generally made of quality materials but hardly do more than deliver on the basics. Those higher up on the price range usually do more than just mop and may come with refillable reservoirs and the works such that you don’t even need a mop bucket to work.

If you look for a cheap cleaning mop, you’ll most certainly find them as they are littered almost everywhere on cyberspace but is that your best bet? You sure wouldn’t want something that frays barely two weeks after purchase or so. In the end, you’d be wiser and try to get a quality mop but not after spending almost twice what it would have taken you to get one good quality mop from the start.

There are a few features to look out for when deciding on a mop, and we have gone ahead to list them below. So grab a paper and a pen and start scribbling:

• The ends of the mop: looped or cut?
• Weight
• Materials
• Head bands
• Consider fantail mops
• Antimicrobial mops

Let’s get into the details already!

So what ends are best for a mop? Cut ends or looped ones? We will discuss both and give you their strong and weak point (s).

Looped ends: These are more expensive upfront but they last far longer than the cut ends. Because looped ends come with a bended tail, they usually boast a wider path when it comes to cleaning, which ultimately reduces the hard work you’d have otherwise put into mopping your floors.

Like we said, they last longer because they don’t fray over time. Also, they are machine-washable (gentle cycle please), so really their only con is that they cost more. But seeing as they last far longer, it might not be such a big deal anyway.

Cut ends: In comparison to their looped counterparts, these are quite inexpensive but they will not last too long due to their tendency to fray pretty easily. They work for day-to-day cleaning though but you’d have to rinse by hand since they aren’t machine-washable. Just be prepared to pick up loose strands and lint all over the place from time to time, though.

Next, let’s talk about the materials used to make the mop. There are three types: there’s cotton, rayon, and the option of a cotton/synthetic blend.

Cotton: This is one of the most inexpensive types you can find. It has great water retention and absorption capacity which will make your floor dry pretty rapidly as you mop. Although it can foster the growth of fungi like mildew because it takes some time to dry, it still has the advantage of showing only minimal shrinkage over time. Another small issue with cotton is its tendency to get linty.

Rayon: This is similar to cotton as it absorbs water superbly but its water retention capacity is quite low. On the plus side though, it dries faster than cotton, hardly supports the growth of mildew, and does not lint as much either. If you’re looking to apply finishes to your floors, a rayon mop is an excellent idea.

The cotton/synthetic blend: Mops of this kind are usually quite excellent choices as they offer performance as well as durability. Their water absorption and retention capacities are really great and they shrink only a little bit.

Finally, on this section, we will look at headbands.

Headbands can either be small or large. The smaller ones (1.25 inches) are usually for mops that come with thread-through or slide-in handles. The larger ones (5 inches) will usually come with handles that are clamp-style. They do not really affect the performance of a mop by much, but hey, it’s always good to know.

When we talk about mop weight, you should notice something. Mops usually come with different ways that their weights are represented on the label. For instance, you might see something like 16oz or #30. What do these things mean and what’s their significance?

Now, there’s what’s called the true weight and the numbered weight. A true weight is what you see represented as 16oz meaning that if you use a scale to weigh the mop, it will give exactly 16 ounces.

Numbered mops on the other hand, usually weigh considerably less than the weight represented on the label, such that where you have a value of #30 (this is how they are usually denoted), the mop might actually weigh as little as 15 ounces. Yep! Up to half the denoted weight!

Moving on, if you have large areas of floors to clean daily, then you might want to consider fantail mops. Usually, these mops are made of rayon or cotton. Because of the fan shape that their tails come in, they cover large areas at a time which reduces the labor you would have to put into cleaning.

Finally, if your mop comes with antimicrobial fibers, it will help to reduce the growth of bacteria that can cause the mop to stink and stand in unsanitary conditions.