Legendary Nineties girl group TLC may have famously shunned scrubs, but if you’ve ever been faced with cleaning filthy floors ingrained with mud, hair and dirt, a hardworking floor scrubber is all you’ll wish for.
Boisterous kids, excited pets and the daily act of going outside means dirt and bacteria get spread all over the house, from the traffic-bearing hallways to the stairs and tiled floors of the bathroom and kitchen. Allow this to build up over time and trying to shift it will likely involve getting on all floors with a bucket and brush, a thought that will only push the task further down on your chores list, exacerbating the problem.
The key is not to panic or stick your head in the sand and avoid the issue until it’s impossible. Instead, invest in a hardworking floor scrubber that will undertake the hard graft for you.
Designed to make quick work of cleaning up and perfect for households with pets and children, many floor scrubbers are motorised, rotating at a far quicker speed than any human hand can ever hope to manage.
They usually also come with extendable handles, allowing you to reach awkward areas like under heavy appliances or furniture without overextending yourself in the process.
Look for options with dual water tanks - one for clean, one for dirty - to ensure your scrubber is always using fresh liquid to clean your space and surfaces. And you can find models suitable for outdoor cleaning, whether that’s the patio or your driveway.
Whether you’re looking for a heavy-duty scrubber to clean moss and grime off your garden path or need something gentler to tackle tiles and wood floors, we’ve rounded up the best floor scrubbers to add to your cleaning arsenal below.
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Karcher Compact Floor Scrubber Dryer
For offices, mansions and landlords with grimy floors and carpets to revive, Karcher's 12kg machine is a beast.
It works on both hard floors like laminate flooring and rugs, washing and cleaning via a clean water and waste tank. After some rudimentary assembly, switch the vacuum on and it will pull forwards sucking up dirt - even tough, ingrained particles - easily. It can even scoop up tangled pet hair, leaving carpets looking and feeling brand new.
This impressive function comes at a cost, and we're not just talking about the price tag, which is considerable. Removing tough grime takes effort which manifests as noise in Karcher's industrial machine. This thing is far from quiet, so will wake sleeping children and pets - best to use it when they're out of the house to minimise alarm.
Buy now £1316.39, Amazon
OXO Good Grips Extending Tub and Tile Brush
For those with small places to clean - think a downstairs WC or a small bathroom - a correspondingly smaller scrubber will do the trick. OXO's Good Grip brush broom is just the thing boasting a telescopic handle that extends to 107cm, so you won't have to bend or crouch in awkward positions to get a decent clean.
The manual brush is your tool for cleaning expensive vinyl and delicate tile and has bristles on the head to help you clean tight turns and nooks.
Buy now £17.50, John Lewis
Dyson WashG1 wet floor cleaner
Best for: dealing with wet and dry mess
Designed to clean hard floors such as laminate, vinyl and sealed wood floors with nothing but tap water, the WashG1 will retire your mop and bucket for good.
Counter-revolving rollers glide across the room and under heavy furniture picking up dry and wet mess quickly and efficiently. Dry dirt is collected into a tray, while dirty water empties into a separate tank, so you’re only ever cleaning with fresh water - perfect if you’re trying to avoid harmful chemicals in a house with pets and kids.
The vacuum can clean right up to wall edges when used side-on, erasing everything from accidental food and drink spills to stubborn stains with three levels of water hydration. All that is left behind is a thin film, which dries quickly so that you’re not saturating floors in water for long periods.
Dyson’s vacuum even has a self-cleaning mode to keep the appliance in good working condition, ready for the next clean.
Buy now £599.99, Dyson
BISSELL SpinWave Hard Floor Cleaner and Polisher
If you’re looking for an upgrade to a plain old spray mop that promises to cut cleaning time by half, look to cleaning expert Bissell.
The brand has myriad options including this twin spin pad hard floor cleaner and polisher which will bring wood, laminate, tiled and marble flooring up to a brilliant shine.
This option comes with a cleaning formula included; pour into the water tank and dispense using the spray feature fitted at the handle for ease.
Buy now £125.00, Amazon
Ryobi RWTS18-0 Telescopic Brush with Rinse
Part of Ryobi’s ONE+ battery family, this electric brush does not come with a battery supplied, but if you’re an owner of any other tool in the collection, you’ll be able to use the same one across all the devices. This motorised brush comes with a telescopic handle that can reach 1.4m on full tilt. What’s more, it can be set to six different angles with soap and water funnelling directly to the brush head for easier cleaning.
This being a Ryobi design means it’s for exterior jobs: think cleaning patio furniture, mud-splattered driveways and garage doors.
Buy now £184.47, Amazon
Shark S6002UK Steam & Scrub Automatic Steam Mop
Best for: scrubbing power
A slightly more hi-tech steam cleaner than most, the Shark Steam & Scrub is gentle on floors while attacking difficult stains. Unlike most options on the market this steam mop scrubs and sanitises at the same time, removing the need for oodles of elbow grease. The two innovative power pads rotate 150 times per minute to scrub and lift stubborn dirt, while high-temperature steam works to kill up to 99.9 per cent of bacteria.
The Shark steam mop has two settings to make switching between an everyday clean and an intense, deep-clean easier than ever. The four included cleaning pads are machine washable and quick drying, so you can be sure you’ll always have a fresh one to hand before embarking on a Sunday reset.
Buy now £139.00, Amazon
Kärcher WB 7 Plus 3-in-1 Corded Electric Wash Brush
Your home’s curbside appeal will be off the charts once you’ve given the exterior a spruce with Kärcher’s corded wash brush. The gadget offers triple action against months of weathering and dirt, combining a foam jet, high-pressure flat spray nozzle and soft brush in one.
The catch? It’s designed to be used with Kärcher pressure washers from the K 2 to K 7 series.
Buy now £40.00, Amazon
JML Electric Cleaning Brush
Named the ‘Hurricane’, expectations are set high for JML’s electric cleaning brush. Designed for bathroom surfaces, the extendable and cordless tool comes with three attachments (dome brush, cone brush, and flat brush) to do your bidding. The head offers a 300RPM spin, which is decent but not as fast as competitors.
It’s the extension reach of this brush that stood out for us, stretching to the tune of our four feet. Depending on your bathroom size, it means you’ll barely have to move to reach every corner of the space.
Buy now £39.99, Amazon
HOTO Tools Electric Spin Scrubber
Stubborn kitchen stains and icky bathroom spills can be seen to quickly and efficiently with Hoto’s spin scrubber. The USB-C rechargeable machine comes with six interchanging heads to clean everything from tiles and glass to enamel and mirrors, spinning up to 300rpm to save you time and effort while ticking through your cleaning to-do list at superhero speed.
The fully waterproof body can be submerged in water without damage, meaning you can use it to clean inside showers and baths, as well as saucepans and even the car. An extension pole (which reached 47 inches total) allows you to reach awkward spots like the tops of cabinets, lofty air vents and under sofas and dressers without overreaching yourself.
A brilliant tool to blitz through everyday house cleaning.
Buy now £69.99, Amazon
Leebein Electric Spin Scrubber
Reach challenging corners of the home easier with this scrubber which comes with a height and angle-adjustable handle so you’re not twisting yourself into knots on your next cleaning blitz.
Designed for hard surfaces in the bathroom, this gadget is particularly adept at shifting mould and grime off floors and fittings - you’ll think your tub is fresh from the showroom by the time you’re finished.
The motor runs on a 2500mAh battery, giving you oodles of charge - up to 90min. Once depleted, a USB-C fast charger will get it back to full juice in four hours. An LED indicator will display just how much charge remains.
Aside from the impressive body, the machine comes with eight cleaning heads, arming you for practically any cleaning eventuality.
Buy now £49.99, Amazon
Scrub Master™ Electric Spin Scrubber
Expect up to 120 minutes of cleaning with this scrubber from a full charge, but with 450RPM we’re betting you won’t need anywhere near that time to get your house sparkling from top to bottom interruption-free.
Scrub Master’s cordless cleaning gadget is ideal for almost all areas of the house, whether it is laminate flooring, stained glass or caked-on oven grime you’ve got in your crosshairs.
There are two speeds and an adjustable and detachable telescopic handle to reach loftier areas.
Buy now £29.99, Amazon
