At a glance

Expert assessment

Per

• Improved edge cleaning
• Self-cleaning mode
• Flat waste roller scraper for a cleaner, drier finish

Disadvantages

• Proprietary cleaning solution
• You cannot vacuum or mop under low furniture
• Dry vacuuming does not work alone

Our verdict

If you’re looking for a way to vacuum and mop in one go, this is an easy-to-use solution that delivers great results at a reasonable price. Keep in mind that you’ll get the most use out of it if you have large areas of hard, sealed floors: the iFloor 5 can’t get into corners, under furniture, or into small spaces like a handheld mop can.

One of the selling points of Dyson’s new WashG1 is its ability to vacuum and mop at the same time. That means you can effectively halve your cleaning time if you have a lot of sealed hard floors. And it’s an excellent cleaner. But at £599.99 in the UK and $699.99 in the US, it’s far from the cheapest option.

That’s where the Tineco iFloor 5 comes in: an easy-to-use cleaner with the same capabilities. And with a regular price of £239.99/$239.99, it’s a much more budget-friendly buy. For our other recommendations, see our roundup of the best wet and dry vacuums we’ve tested.

The Tineco iFloor 5 is a cordless vacuum cleaner and mop that promises a perfect finish with sharp edges that clean both wet and dry dirt and effortlessly remove sticky residue on your sealed hard floors, be it hardwood, tile, marble or laminate.

But is it really the time saver it promises? We find out.

Design and build

• Wireless
• 500ml cleaning solution included
• Good size water tanks

The delivery includes the black and white device, the insert handle, a 500 ml bottle of Tineco cleaning solution, the power adapter, the stand, a tubular cleaning brush, a spare brush roll and a spare dry filter.

The device body comes with the brush roller and cover already mounted. The brush roller head is impressive at 27 cm wide, 22 cm deep and 6.5 cm high (10.6 x 8.7 x 2.5 inches).

In addition, the main body of the floor cleaner features a 0.7-litre dirty water tank at the front and a 0.8-litre fresh water tank at the rear; both tanks can be inserted and locked into place using a pull-down release button.

There is a circular LED display on the top of the housing. It has six illuminated indicator symbols that show whether the self-cleaning mode is on, the brush roller is tangled, the dirty water tank is full or the clean water tank is empty. There is also a battery and charge indicator with three bars and the maximum power mode. This makes it easy to see exactly what is going on with the cleaner at a glance.

If the fact that there is a special indicator for tangled brush rolls seems suspicious to you, don’t worry: during testing, we found that hair got into the dirty water tank and didn’t need to be trimmed from the roll.

The power, self-cleaning and mode buttons are located in the insertable handle.

The square base measures approximately 12″ x 12″ (31cm x 31cm) and has two slot-in mounts on either side. Once you’ve assembled the iFloor 5, it stands on the base for storage, charging, and running the self-cleaning cycle.

Overall, it has a height of 112 cm, so it is clearly an appliance that requires space in a utility room or large closet.

Performance and features

• Strong forward momentum
• Good suction power
• Excellent results in the flour test

Setting up the iFloor 5 is easy: unpack the unit and insert the handle into the base until it clicks into place. Fill the clean water tank with cold water and a capful of cleaning solution. Then plug the iFloor 5 in to charge it and turn the unit on. Unlike other floor cleaners, the power is not plugged into the base – the socket is located directly under the handle.

It’s very simple: once the device is charged, simply switch it on, tilt the handle back and you can start cleaning.

There are two cleaning modes: Eco and Maximum. Eco mode is for light wet and dry soiling and everyday cleaning and you should get over 30 minutes of cleaning time in this mode with a full battery.

Max mode is for tough stains. In Max mode, you should get around 23 minutes on a full battery. Fully charging the iFloor 5 from an empty battery should take around four to five hours.

We should mention that the cleaning solution is proprietary. Tineco states that you cannot use any other cleaning fluid in the machine. You can buy the solution from Tineco UK (£24.99 for 1L) and from Tineco US ($39.99 for 33.8 fl oz).

Please also note that with the iFloor 5 you cannot switch off the mopping function and only vacuum; both functions run in parallel.

We started with a general test on a sealed hardwood floor. We were particularly impressed with the forward momentum of the iFloor 5 – it almost races past you, making the floor cleaner easier to use as you don’t have to push forward.

In any case, the iFloor 5 is a fairly lightweight device, weighing 5.05 kg/11 pounds. This weight, combined with the excellent dynamics, makes the floor cleaner a good choice for anyone who cannot bear a lot of weight on their forearm and wrist, which can be a problem with some cordless floor cleaners.

It is also easy to maneuver and does not turn off when the handle is in a vertical position. However, you will have problems cleaning under low furniture: it cannot lie flat enough on the floor.

We covered a large floor area in our first session: about 62 m2 in total, and we only used one bar of power without having to empty or refill the water tanks. We found the suction power excellent and the scent of the cleaning solution subtle.

Some dried-on residue required switching to maximum mode, but changing the speed is easy since the mode button is within easy reach of your thumb while cleaning.

Tineco claims that its flat scraper in the roller head produces a better result than floor cleaners with a serrated scraper because it removes dirt and pushes dirty water evenly and consistently across the roller. We found that the result after using the iFloor 5 was excellent.

There was also no difference in the surface finish on different floor coverings. Our second and third tests were conducted on laminate, tile and vinyl and we found the surface finish to be good on all three surfaces.

Thanks to the dual tank system, the floor cleaner always cleans with fresh water and solution, the dirty water tank is completely sealed so there is no risk of leakage and the improved edge cleaning enables precision along skirting boards up to 4 mm.

Our final test was the flour test on a hardwood floor. We found that the iFloor 5 picked up every trace of scattered flour perfectly without us even having to resort to the maximum setting, which created sharp suction lines in the piles.

It’s worth mentioning that you can of course only clean an area of ​​the floor that is wider than the roller’s brush head, so if your home has a lot of narrower areas, you’ll have to clean them by hand.

This floor cleaner is great for wet dusting or regular cleaning. You may need hot water and soap every now and then, but the iFloor 5 will keep everyday dirt under control. However, since it doesn’t use hot water or bleach, it can’t sterilize floors.

The iFloor 5 is easy to empty and refill.

When you’re done mopping the floor, you need to clean the iFloor 5. Luckily, it has a hands-free self-cleaning program that you start by pressing the self-cleaning button on the handle while the cleaner is in the stand and connected to the charger.

The program simply supplies fresh water and cleaning solution to the rotating roller head and then sucks the waste water into the dirty water tank.

We found that you really need to run this program every time you use the floor cleaner, otherwise the roller could become unusable. Tineco also supplies you with a tubular cleaning brush that you can use to clean the dirty water tank and brush chamber and remove dirt and mud from the roller.

Price and availability

The iFloor 5 is one of the most affordable floor cleaners in Tineco’s wet and dry vacuum cleaner range. Its introductory price is £299.99/$299.99, but it’s currently available from Tineco UK and Tineco US for £239.99/$239.99, making it one of the best value wet vacuums we’ve tested. Amazon in the US is offering this discount, but at the time of writing it’s still £299 on Amazon UK.

For more options, check out our roundup of the best wet and dry vacuums we’ve tested. The guide includes pros and cons, as well as quick summaries of each product and links to full reviews and the best prices available.

Should you buy the iFloor 5?

The iFloor 5 is easy to use and delivers excellent cleaning results on a day-to-day basis – provided you have enough space to make the most of it. We would definitely say it’s a good buy.

If you normally vacuum and mop your hard floors separately, this will certainly save you time. But it can’t sterilize floors and because it doesn’t get shallow under furniture or clean smaller areas, it’s not suitable for every home.