There are many options for floor cleaners beyond using a standard mop and bucket. Cleaning floors can be hard work, as they are some of the most used areas of the home. Any way to speed up the process and make it easier is welcome. I usually opt for a mop and bucket when giving my home a full clean, but I have also invested in a Flash Speed Mop.
It is a lightweight, flat mop that uses disposable wet wipes instead of a bucket of floor cleaner. The idea is to speed up floor cleaning and reach hard-to-reach places. I decided to put my Flash Speed Mop to the test against the standard mop-and-bucket option to see which is best.
Standard Mop and Bucket
I used the Flash Multipurpose Cleaner Liquid Lemon in my bucket with warm water and used my mop to clean half my living room floor. Flash's instructions said to use two lids of the cleaner (60ml) in five litres of water, and it came in a one-litre bottle for £2.25 from Heron. I poured this into my mop bucket and was immediately hit by the strong lemon scent. It smelt fresh and clean, but it made me wonder if it would be best suited to areas such as kitchens and bathrooms rather than living rooms.
The cleaner bubbled up well when I put my mop into the bucket and was simple and easy to spread over my floors. I felt like the ratio of cleaner and water worked well, as it gave me plenty to work with. I cleaned the area I needed and had plenty left over to tackle other areas of my home. I left the laminate floor to dry, which took 40 minutes.
Flash Speed Mop
The Flash Speed Mop requires you to use the specific flat mop, rather than a standard one. You can buy a starter kit, which includes six floor wipes and the mop. This is stocked at a range of stores, including Tesco for £11.50. The mop is a lot more lightweight than my standard mop, and is able to rotate 360 degrees.
The wet floor wipes can be purchased separately in a tub, with a 24-pack costing £7 from Tesco. To use the Flash Speed Mop, you take one wipe out of the top and connect it to the mop. It sits over the flat part of the mop, and tucks into four corners on the rear. Again, it had a pleasant lemon smell just like the Flash Multipurpose Cleaner. The wipe dripped as I was putting it onto the mop, so make sure you aren't doing this over rugs or carpeted areas. Once it is attached, you use the mop just like a normal one.
The floor quickly became wet and I could see marks and stains lifting. It is easy to navigate around corners or along skirting boards thanks to the rotation part of the mop. My wipe managed to clean the other half of my living room and my bathroom before I felt like it had gone dry. It wasn't able to glide across the floor as easily, and when I turned it over I could see it was covered in dirt it had picked up, so I simply disposed of the wipe in the bin. The floor I had cleaned was dry within 15 minutes.
Verdict
The Flash Speed Mop is very easy to use and is ideal for cleaning smaller areas of the home. I think you would need to use a lot of wipes to do a whole home, so it is best for doing quick cleans as the wipes are more expensive than using the Multipurpose Cleaner. It does lift stains, provide a fresh scent, and dries much quicker than a mop and bucket. But, I find the traditional mop and bucket option is best for cleaning bigger areas even if it takes longer to dry. I found the Flash Speed Mop is still worth the investment, but is better suited for those quick cleans in between a deeper mop and bucket clean.
