We tested seven highly rated mops for laminate floors to determine which one was the easiest to use, maneuvered around corners and baseboards, and cleaned the floor without leaving any streaks. We’ve selected O-Cedar ProMist Max as the best mop for laminate floors. It only takes one hand to glide it around the floor and has a unique mop head that can be flipped when the pad gets dirty. A very close second place is Turbo Mop, which has a revolving mop head and makes mopping effortless.
We tested seven highly rated mops for laminate floors to determine which one was the easiest to use, maneuvered around corners and baseboards, and cleaned the floor without leaving any streaks. We’ve selected O-Cedar ProMist Max as the best mop for laminate floors. It only takes one hand to glide it around the floor and has a unique mop head that can be flipped when the pad gets dirty. A very close second place is Turbo Mop, which has a revolving mop head and makes mopping effortless.
Laminate floors require a different cleaning process than hardwood, vinyl, or tile floors. Laminate flooring is made of wood composite layered with an image of a variety of wood grains and a transparent protective layer. Although laminate is water-resistant, most often it’s not waterproof, meaning that water can seep through and cause the laminate to buckle. The protective layer is very durable and is designed to be easily cleaned without floor cleaners or detergents.
Not all the mops we tested on hardwood floors are suitable for laminate. Laminate floors should only be cleaned with a microfiber mop head and a few spritzes of water. Microfiber absorbs dirt and dust and leaves floors virtually germ-free. There are many mops for laminate floors available, but when buying one, consider the following features.
Mop head size
You’ll want a mop head to be large enough to clean a laminate floor with just a few strokes. But the mop head shouldn’t be too large because it will hinder you in cleaning tight corners, right angles, and along baseboards. Several brands call their product “professional” because the mop head measures 18″ in length, which we found to be too long. Our top pick, O-Cedar ProMist MAX, is 15″ long, and was ideal for maneuverability.
Pole length
The length of the mop’s pole is dependent on your height. To reduce strain on your back from bending over as you mop, it’s recommended that the pole reaches just beneath your chin. Many mops we tested had poles that were 43″ (3’5″) long, which for our tester was too short and resulted in back and shoulder stress. Another top pick, Turbo Mop, has a pole that can be adjusted from 35″ to 60″ and can be used by most people of any height. Microfiber Wholesale is another mop with a pole that can be adjusted 45″ to 70″, the longest of the mops we tested.
Spray angle
Some mops for laminate floors have a built-in spray, water or cleaning solution cannister, and trigger mechanism in the mop’s handle. During testing we found a wide variance in the angle of the sprays. Often, the spray was angled too high so bottoms of kitchen cabinets got soaked. Swiffer mops are well-known, and the Swiffer WetJet we tested had a perfectly angled spray that hit only the floor.
Maneuverability
Since you want mopping to be a less-burdensome chore, choose a mop with a rotating and/or tilting head, which enables you to mop along baseboards at different angles without lifting and turning the mop. Both of our top choices were the easiest to maneuver, with the O-Cedar taking the lead with its mop head that can completely flip over with a flick of the wrist.
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O-Cedar ProMist MAX
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With excellent maneuverability in corners and along baseboards, the O-Cedar ProMist MAX has a unique feature that propelled it to the top of our list. The mop head has a U-shaped notch in the center that allows it to be flipped 180 degrees, so when one side of the microfiber pad gets dirty, you can flip the head — without touching it — to use the opposite side.
To attach the pad, you slide one half of the mop head into one side of the pad, and then slide the other half of the head into the pad, which is then attached with Velcro. This design form-fits the pad onto the head and keeps it securely attached. The pad is machine washable and didn’t shrink in the dryer.Read more…
The O-Cedar has a large 20-ounce bottle for water, and we mopped 400 square feet of laminate floor with less than half the bottle. The spray angle is wide, which allowed for more floor to be cleaned with a single spray. The mop goes completely flat, meaning you can mop under extra-low furniture. The O-Cedar was one of the easiest mops to use, taking almost no effort to clean our two test floors in minutes. You can purchase the mop by itself (a pad is included), but for just four dollars more, you’ll get two extra pads, which is a great value since they won’t need to be replaced often.
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Turbo Mop
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The Turbo Mop is another great mop for laminate floors and is our very close runner-up. We found it a little complicated to assemble, but clear instructions are included. The Turbo Mop is made of lightweight aluminum that, despite its lack of heft, is very well-made. The mop’s pole can be adjusted from 35″ to 60″, and the 18″ mop head rotates 360 degrees. Like the O-Cedar mop, it can be maneuvered to go flat, so you can mop anywhere.
The Turbo Mop weighs just slightly more than a pound, so mopping was effortless and did put strain on our hand (it’s light enough to use one-handed) or shoulder. The rotating head enabled us to mop tight corners, right angles, and along baseboards with ease. The Turbo Mop does not come with a spray mechanism, so you’ll need to use a spray water bottle or a spray floor cleaner. Also included in the kit are two microfiber pads and two scrub pads (recommended only for laminate floors).
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Microfiber Wholesale Mop Kit
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Microfiber Wholesale is made of a sturdier aluminum than the Turbo Mop, so it’s more than twice the weight. It also has a 360-degree rotating head, which gave the mop good maneuverability around corners and along baseboards. The mop’s pole extends from 45″ to a remarkable 70″, and as the brand’s website recommends, the pole should extend to the bottom of your chin to prevent stress on shoulders and arms while you’re mopping.
Ideally, the mop can be extended for cleaning hard to reach places, like walls or ceilings or under large pieces of furniture. We tested the mop’s pole at different lengths and found that, because of the mop’s weight, no matter the length, we definitely felt strain. The kit comes with two 18″ microfiber pads, two microfiber cloths, and an ingenious dust mop pad. The dust mop picked up everything in its path — dust, dirt, pet hair — and is the best feature of this brand.
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Swiffer WetJet
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Swiffer products were first introduced in 1997, and the Swiffer Wet Jet appeared in the U.S. five years later. The Swiffer mop is doubtlessly the most popular floor mop in the world. We’ve used the Swiffer Wet Jet hundreds of times, and so we know the pros and cons of the product pretty well. First, when you put it together — not as quick and easy as you think — it stays together, and is intended to be hung, hence the large hanging ring on the handle. Next, you’ll need the cleaning solution and single-use pads — you get a small bottle of the cleaner, four regular pads, and six heavy-duty pads in the box — which you’ll need to replace on a regular basis. The biggest issue is that the Swiffer Wet Jet runs on two AA batteries, so you should stock up on those.
Performance-wise, it’s a good mop. It weighs a little over three pounds, so it’s easy enough to push, and the swivel mop head turns in every direction, maneuvering corners and baseboards effortlessly. The Swiffer has a low angle spray that directly hits the floor, so you need to spray lightly, or the liquid will streak your floors. As long as you’re prepared that you’ll be spending a lot of money on the replaceable pads and the cleaning solution (in various fragrances), Swiffer gets the job done.
5
Panda Grip
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The Panda Grip mop is very similar to the O-Cedar mop, although it seems to be not as well made, leaning slightly into the cheap side. Made of lightweight aluminum and hard plastic, The 43″ aluminum pole itself is connected by two pieces that snap into place. When assembled, the locking devices didn’t seem secure and felt rather flimsy. The mop’s attached water bottle — made of a squeezable plastic — holds 12 ounces, which doesn’t seem much, but we were able to mop two floors with one filled bottle.
The Panda Grip has a 360-degree swivel head that maneuvers smoothly around the floor. Its spray is angled too high so the bottom of kitchen cabinets were sprayed as well as the floor. Nevertheless, the Panda Grip mop is a decent product, and a scraper for getting rid of pet hair from a mop pad is included. It’s only a dollar cheaper than our top choice, which is a better option.
6
Bona Hard Surface Spray Mop
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The Bona Hard Surface mop is like a hybrid between the O-Cedar mop and the Swiffer Wet Jet. It has a lightweight but solid 43″ aluminum pole, a wide hard-plastic mop head, and a 32-ounce of cleaning solution, which pops into the upper section of the mop head. Batteries are not needed because the Bona works the same as the O-Cedar with a squeeze trigger on the handle. The cannister does weigh the mop down somewhat so we needed two hands two twist the revolving head into corners and maneuvering around baseboards and cabinetry was difficult. Presumably as the solution is depleted, the mop would get easier to use.
After testing we discovered two flaws with the Bona. First, when removing the cannister, the liquid squirted out of the mop head, so you need to constantly press the trigger to prevent spillage. Second, as we disassembled the mop, we noticed that the plastic clip that connects the pole to the head had already shown signs of stress that will eventually lead to breakage. The Bona was the most expensive mop we tested, but it’s quality really wasn’t up to snuff.
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MEXERRIS
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The best thing we can say about the MEXERRIS mop is that its microfiber pad did a good job capturing dirt. It arrives in five separate pieces — four metal pieces with plastic screws and cuffs — and the mop head, mostly made of hard plastic with a thin strip of aluminum. The mop was a challenge to put together because of the poor instructions, but once together, the pole measured a decent 54″. The MEXERRIS also has a rotating head, but the plastic is very stiff and doesn’t swivel as smoothly as the other mops we tested.
The rotating socket frequently got stuck in one position, so we needed to twist the mop to straighten it out. Overall, mopping the floor became an effort, since the MEXERRIS doesn’t glide and needs to be aggressively pushed. The microfiber pads (you get four in the box) are attached by two ridged clamps on top of the mop head. The clamps held the pad in place, but removing it meant touching the dirty pad to unclamp it.
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Gene Gerrard, Writer
Gene has written about a wide variety of topics for too many years to count. He's been a professional chef, cooking-appliance demonstrator, playwright, director, editor of accountancy and bank-rating books, Houdini expert and dog lover (still is). When he's not writing for Your Best Digs, he's performing as a magician at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.