Hard-floor washers: every model we've tested, ranked
Floor washers (wet-dry vacuums) vacuum and wash hard floors in one pass, then clean themselves at the dock — the closest thing to a Roomba for spills and stuck-on mess. The category is Tineco's to lose, but Narwal is close, and the new stretch-edge heads finally clean baseboards.
Rankings
Hard-floor washers FAQ
What does a wet-dry floor washer actually do?
It lays fresh water (and solution), scrubs with rotating rollers, vacuums the dirty water into a separate tank, and then washes its own rollers at the dock. One pass, no bucket.
Can I use a floor washer on carpet?
No — they're hard-floor tools. For carpet washing see our carpet cleaners ranking.
Do they clean edges and baseboards?
The new 'stretch' heads (Tineco S7 Stretch, Narwal S30) reach flush to edges; older round heads left a finger-width gap.
How much maintenance is involved?
The dock washes the roller, but you empty and rinse the dirty tank after each session and refill the clean tank. Machines with heated drying never develop the damp-roller smell.