Best Hard Floor Cleaners (Vacuum Mop Combos) - 2025

How We Tested and Chose These Hard Floor Cleaners

At Vacuum Wars, we want you to be confident in our recommendations so we purchase and test all the products we review. This way we can provide information that is not only accurate and comprehensive, but is also based on our years of hands-on experience in exploring these products.

Here’s an in-depth look at how we chose the best hard floor cleaners for early 2024.

Evaluating Basic Functionality

We start by examining the basic functionality of each cleaner. This includes testing how easy it is to fill the clean water tank with water and the included solution.

We note whether the water is dispensed manually or automatically, with more expensive models typically offering automatic dispensing. Each cleaner is then tested for its ability to pick up debris and hair, mop up stuck-on stains, and handle large wet spills.

Additionally, we evaluate the effectiveness of their self-cleaning modes, which are designed to maintain the machine after use. For heavy use, particularly with large wet messes, we recommend manual cleaning after each use.

Assessing Features and Specifications

We closely examine the features and specifications of each hard floor cleaner. Key considerations include whether the model is cordless or corded. Corded models like the Tineco S5 Steam and Bissell HydroSteam can use steam for cleaning, which offers an advantage in power but requires being plugged in.

Extra points were awarded for models with an auto mode, which uses sensors to adjust suction power and brush speed based on floor dirtiness.

LED and LCD screens that display real-time battery life and other information were also highly valued.

We considered the combined capacity of clean and dirty water tanks, with larger capacities scoring higher, and the weight of each model, with lighter models scoring better.

Features like self-propulsion, edge cleaning capabilities (especially those with no space on one side of the head, such as the Tineco S7 Pro), and self-drying modes significantly influenced the final scores.

Bench Tests

Our bench tests cover various aspects of performance, including sealed and unsealed suction measurements, which are combined to provide an overall suction score.

Noise levels are measured from a fixed distance at maximum power. Basic pickup tests assess each model's ability to handle fine debris, large debris, and wet messes on hard floors. While some manufacturers claim their cleaners can be used on carpets, our tests typically show that these machines do not perform well on carpets, as they lack the necessary agitation and tend to leave carpets wet.

Performance Tests

Performance tests are critical in determining the top models. One such test is the glow-in-the-dark wet test, a timed test using the same amount of wet material to evaluate how well the machines process water and clean their brushes. The Tineco S5 series performed exceptionally well in this test, with an average time of 95 seconds compared to 166 seconds for other models.

Another crucial test is the dried pickup torture test, where we use dried coffee and grape juice stains to see how many passes it takes to clean the stain using primed rollers on max power.

Steam models like the Tineco S5 Steam and Bissell HydroSteam stood out in this test, demonstrating the effectiveness of hot steam in loosening difficult stains. The steam models not only cleaned faster but also potentially sanitized the floors, though this aspect is harder to quantify.

Scoring and Criteria

To ensure fairness, we do not factor in battery life or other battery-related features, allowing corded and cordless models to compete equally. Prices are excluded from the overall scores but are considered in our personal picks. Our scoring focuses purely on performance, ease of use, and the presence of advanced features.

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