Buying Guide: How to Choose the Right Robot Mop for Your Needs?

Cleaning up after children and pets is a full-time job all year. It gets especially hard in winter when everyone has to stay inside - and when mud and other debris get tracked in the house, meaning you need more home cleaning devices than ever.

Things get even more difficult when there’s a big event, like Thanksgiving, to draw everyone together. There can be pet hair, scratches, and food residue, which can be time-consuming and tiring to clean up. Plus, you get less time with your family as your focus is distracted by mess.

What’s the easiest solution to this issue? A robot mop.

But how do you choose the right robot mop for your needs? And with the internet at your fingertips, how do you find the best company to buy your home cleaning device from?

Read on to explore the answers to these questions - including figuring out if you need a robot mop in the first place, and how to choose the best robot mop for your needs.

1. How Does a Robot Mop Work?

Robot mops take the effort out of your daily cleaning by mimicking the actions you take when mopping (which, according to experts at The Spruce, should be done at least once a week and needs two buckets and multiple supplies to be effective). They:

• Wet the cloth that is attached to the underside of the robot
• Place the cloth on the floor
• Move to the affected area
• Clean and remove the dirt

What’s more, robot mops like the Narwal Freo work with dual sweeping and mopping functions to produce a powerful clean. Plus, the Freo has the world’s first DirtSense™ technology powered by cutting-edge sensor arrays and algorithms to sense and re-mop any particularly dirty areas and stubborn stains until you’re satisfied.

What are the common mopping methods?

Common mopping methods used by home cleaning devices such as robot mops include:

• Rotational pressure: using varying pressure and rotating components that come into contact with the floor
• Vibrating mop: where the mop vibrates when in contact with the floor to enhance the cleaning efficiency
• Variable cloth attachment: you can choose the type of mop or cloth attached to the robot, to improve the versatility of the device

2. Why is a Robot Mop a More Effective Cleaning Solution?

So, why should you throw away your old mop and swap it for a robot cleaner?

Quality Mop Cloth

Robot mops like the Narwal Freo come with high-quality cloth attachments, particularly when compared to your local store-bought mop. This is important for two key reasons. First, higher-quality materials can hold additional water (and won’t dry out quickly). Second, the material will hold any dirt better, making sure that it isn’t spread around.

Automated Mopping Ability

A robot mop can strike a data-driven balance to make sure there is effective pressure without damaging your flooring. It also means it can effectively remove a range of stains as well as dust, footprints, and other common issues.

This is different to a robot vacuum if you were holding concerns, as a robot vacuum simply sucks up dirt rather than thoroughly cleaning the floor.

Compatible Cleaning Solution

Automation also helps your robot mop to recognise and dispense the appropriate amount of cleaning solution to give your floors a thorough cleaning without human error.

Edge and Corner Cleaning

While robot mops are often round in shape, their mops are positioned to increase their ability to clean the edges of your room - without you having to think about it or take extra time to clean into corners. Read more about this in our blog!

Intelligent Recognition

High-quality robot mops can use AI and other intelligent recognition sources to identify different types of dirt, helping them to decide if a section of floor needs more than one cleaning. With the Narwal Freo, this is confirmed with a final cleaning report that allows you to view a video of the cleaning to inspect whether it is up to your standards.

3. Which Floor Types Are Suitable for a Robot Mop?

A robot mop will thrive on hard floors but can operate on a variety of floor types, as we explore below! However, a robot vacuum is recommended if you’re concerned about cleaning a thick carpet.

Please note: robot mops with automatic recognition can automatically adjust when on different types of flooring, meaning that your home receives a highly effective clean even with a variety of floor types in one room.

4. Important Things to Consider Before Purchase

Noise Level

It’s important to remember that your robot mop will work as your home cleaning device day or night. At Narwal, we recommend considering how loud your robot might be. Just think - how do you stay focussed if you’re on an important Zoom call and hear a loud humming or buzzing in the background?

We also understand that many people who own robot mops purchase one to clean up after their pets. This means that any device needs to be quiet enough that it doesn’t scare your pets.

While the industry average is 65-80dB for a cleaning robot, we recommend devices that operate more quietly - such as at 48-59dB during the cleaning process.

Easy Maintenance

If your mop is one solid device, it’s going to be difficult to clean. This is important because it will collect large amounts of dirt over the days and weeks it is working. So, make sure you choose a device that has removable and washable components - and, even better, one that sets reminders in an accompanying app to tell you when you need to clean.

Want a quick hack for knowing if a robot mop is easy to clean? Read the reviews. You can’t beat real-life experience!

5. How to Choose a Robot Mop for Your Home

The best way to choose a robot mop for your home is to think about what’s most important to you.

Consider how much time you spend each week and month cleaning and mopping. Think about the type of dirt in your house - do you have a lot of pet fur or dander around, or can your home get dusty? Do you need to regularly wipe down your floors after your children have walked in from outdoors? Do you want to automatically have clean floors, without having to think about it?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then a robot mop could significantly change your life for the better. They save you time and energy by automatically completing this chore.

What’s more, they’re low maintenance: because they automatically wet and dry their cloth, you simply need to wash or replace the cloth and top up the robot mop cleaning solution when prompted by your app.

Plus, use their intelligent scheduling and remote control features to gain peace of mind - you don’t have to worry if your floors are dirty if an unexpected guest drops by.

6. Next Steps

Now you’ve read this blog, you’re ready to browse robot mops!

We’d love for you to check out the Narwal Freo. This exciting home cleaning device has everything you need to keep your home clean and tidy, even through winter. This includes combined sweeping and mopping functions and world-first AI DirtSense™ technology, helping it to go beyond pre-set movements to think dynamically about keeping your floors clean.

Plus, you receive cleaning reports from your Freo with the dedicated Narwal app - perfect for the ‘Monica from Friends’ of this world who want to keep up to date with their cleaning routine!

Join the Narwal Freo Facebook group to read our robot mop reviews and learn how it has improved the lives of those who use it. Ready to purchase? Add your Narwal Freo to your basket by clicking below!

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