Diana Moore
Is it just me, or is there a constant stream of home tech helpers entering the cleaning space, promising to make our lives easier than ever but are just a little too needy? I don’t even like cleaning. But perhaps that’s the point. Many of these new cleaning tools claim to do the work for you with a minimum of effort. Now that’s my kind of cleaning device. Even better if they do two jobs at once, like the Ryobi 18V HP wet & dry hard floor cleaner that I recently put to the test. My mission to conquer housework is to work smarter, not harder, but to be honest, I’m not sure this cleaner does that. It does two jobs – vacuum and mop your floor in one go, but it kind of leaves you with another job. Read on to get my verdict.
Ryobi 18V HP wet & dry hard floor cleaner review verdict
- Our rating: (7 out of 10)
- Why we rated it a (7/10): This machine vacuums OK and wet-wipes your floor well, so it’s good for a quick once over if things aren’t too dirty. If you have a big mess or spill, be prepared to deep clean the cleaner afterwards. I’d just as soon wipe it all up by hand.
Pros
- Battery powered by the RYOBI ONE+ universal system so compatible with other RYOBI tools
- Battery pack means you can go anywhere in the house without being tethered
- Self-cleaning function great to wash unit after messy cleanups
- Separate water tanks simply clip off to fill and dispose of dirty water
- 6 year tool replacement warranty with online registration
Cons
- Tiny debris picked up in the roller stops it from working
- Battery life doesn’t extend beyond one room (“up to 35 minutes” didn’t do it for me)
- Putting the machine away wet or dirty causes smells and harbors bacteria
- Cleaning pattern is not intuitive – you need to “vacuum backwards” since you’re mopping too. You get used to it.
What’s so special about Ryobi 18V HP wet & dry hard floor cleaner?
Full disclosure: I was skeptical about this type of machine from the start. I’m a reluctant housekeeper at best and generally a pretty lazy one. I have a small inner city cottage with limited storage space, so it would be hard to convince me that this machine deserved to take up space in the cupboard under the stairs.
There’s a real buzz in the household cleaning appliance space around these wet and dry vacuum cleaners though and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Do they really vacuum and mop your floor in one go?
Ryobi 18V HP wet & dry hard floor cleaner materials and size
- Battery operated unit works with the RYOBI ONE+ universal system
- Brushless vacuum with “plush” roller mops
- Separate clean and dirty water tanks 400ml capacity
- Weight: 5.2kg
- LED light in vacuum/cleaning head
- Self cleaning/storage tray
- 60-second self-cleaning cycle
- Battery + battery charger included in kit
How to use Ryobi 18V HP wet & dry hard floor cleaner
Charge the battery, then simply plug and play. Fill up the clean water reservoir and add cleaning solution.
Note: when filling the water reservoir, make sure you have the solution bottle open and handy so you can add to full water tank with one hand.
To start, tilt the handle down and press the power button. It won’t operate if you try to turn it on when upright. Press “solution pump” button to activate wash mode.
Unit has good maneuverability and drives itself with a nice kinetic motion. For best results, work backward to avoid walking on the wet floor. This motion is not intuitive but makes sense once you get the hang of it. Because it feels like you’re vacuuming, you’d usually walk forward as you clean.
When finished cleaning (or if the alarm sounds indicating it’s full), empty the dirty water container. I’d suggest you do this onto the garden, otherwise you have to pick the collected floor debris out of the sink.
Use the self-cleaning stand for a wash after each use (make sure you’ve left enough battery power to do this). For a thorough clean, hand wash all the pieces, air dry completely, then replace onto the unit. Leave rollers in the dock to dry upright.
Store the unit away in the cupboard. It’s pretty compact so doesn’t take up alot of room – about the same area taken up by a mop and bucket, that you didn’t have to hand wash before you put them away.
Results from our test
My floorboards at home are over 100 years old and have a water-based finish and big gaps that would catch the rollers. I decided to test the Ryobi 18V HP wet & dry hard floor cleaner at our weekender as it has a lovely open-plan kitchen/dining/living area (6650 x 5100mm – approximately 34m square) with a high gloss Estapol, polyurethane finish on timber floorboards. I didn’t think the floor wasn’t very dirty but machine performed well and filled the dirty water tank with dark brown water showing it was more soiled than I thought. It lifted light foot soil, dirt and leaves and mopped the floor at the same time, leaving it clean and smelling nice. There were a few streaks, but I was hyper aware when testing and normally this wouldn’t bother me at all.
Note: Twisting or angling the machine down too far to reach under furniture kinks the hose and the unit sounds an alarm and stops working. A good safety feature, but a bit limiting. I had chairs inverted onto the dining table and the backrests hung down making for a lower, but not unreasonable clearance, and it kept beeping and stopping.
Another beep-and-stop situation was when I attempted to suck up anything bigger than a corn kernel. It’s because of the rollers – they make a nice, smooth cleaning action but hinder the ability to suck debris like a hose vacuum would. The good news is you won’t accidently suck up Lego or the back of your earring.
A deeper clean or concentrated effort to tackle sticky corners or pick up food spills would be far more unpleasant to clean up with this machine, and I knew from Tahni’s experience with the Dyson Wash G1 not to bother using this kind of machine to clean actual mess. It does clean it up, but transfers the mess to the machine that you then have clean afterwards.
Does this type of machine clean the floor? Yes, it does. Does it simplify your life? Not really.
Overall, is Ryobi 18V HP wet & dry hard floor cleaner worth it?
The Ryobi 18V HP wet & dry hard floor cleaner is certainly not a “game changer” for me. You might think it’s worth it, but at $699, it’s not something I’d invest in to be honest. If I’d kept the unit, I know I’d think twice before I got it out each time and would instead just send around my robotic vacuum cleaner, which does the same job, then reach for my spin mop and bucket.
I’d recommend it for light, regular cleaning and to save on having two cleaning appliances – perhaps in apartments where cleaning duties tend to be lighter and there’s less storage space.
Where to buy Ryobi 18V HP wet & dry hard floor cleaner
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