Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop review: we tried the cleaning gadget for clean floors
HOUSEWORK is not one of my favourite activities; it’s a thankless task that needs doing again as soon as it’s finished, especially with two dogs and a cat shedding hair and leaving muddy paw prints everywhere.
Cleaning the kitchen floor is among my least favourite chores, so when I was asked to review the Karcher EWM2 I jumped at the chance; could it be the answer to my muddy mutts and make washing the floor less of a chore?
Pros:
- Cordless
- Quick
- Removable rollers
- Storage stand
- Simple to use
Cons:
- Doesn’t stand on its own
- Not so good at removing dried-on food splashes
Rating: 4/5
- Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop EWM2,
£174.99£139.99 from Kärcher – buy here
Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop review: quick summary
There’s something soul-destroying about cleaning a floor to a high shine, only to have two dogs skid across it from the garden in the middle of an excellent game of tag. Then, having deposited mud everywhere, racing out again to collect more of the glorious stuff on their paws.
Pet parents everywhere know what I’m talking about!
With the arrival of the Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop I was like a kid at Christmas. I couldn’t wait to try out my new toy.
Unboxing was simple, there weren’t loads of pieces to assemble and no power tools were needed. All I had to do was unpack the appliance and slot the handle into place in the body of the mop.
The absolute best thing about this mop is it’s cordless. Just push the charging cable into the back and plug it in. On a full charge, you’ll have enough power for 20 minutes of floor cleaning, which is one big floor, or in my case, one smallish kitchen floor, one medium bathroom floor and charge left over.
Filling with water and detergent is a doddle and it’s hard to believe that so little of both are needed. The dirty water reservoirs are easy to clean and the rollers are removable for washing between uses.
In short, this electric mop is a dream that makes cleaning the floor almost fun.
- Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop EWM2,
£174.99£139.99 from Kärcher – buy here
Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop: full review
I reviewed the Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop EWM2, which, at the time of writing, is on offer with 20% off on the Kärcher website for £139.99.
There’s also an EWM 2 Premium Electric Wipe Mop available for £169.99. As far as I can see, the more expensive version comes with a larger bottle of detergent and extra rollers, but other than that the spec is the same.
Unboxing and setup
The Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop was almost fully assembled when it arrived and all I had to do was attach the handle, ensuring I didn’t catch the electric cable. No technical or DIY skills were necessary.
There’s a docking station in which to stand the mop while it’s charging; it doesn’t stand up on its own. The three charging lights illuminate in turn from bottom to top when the appliance is a third, two-thirds and fully charged. If it’s totally flat, then all three lights flash simultaneously when you plug it in.
I left it a couple of hours to charge before using it for the first time, but since then I just top it up after use, ready for next time.
- Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop EWM2,
£174.99£139.99 from Kärcher – buy here
Design and features
The clean water reservoir is located on the back of the mop handle. It can be a bit stiff to remove, but there are grooves at each side to help with grip. The reservoir itself is deceptive: it doesn’t look like it will hold enough water to clean an entire floor, but it does, and then some.
To fill, simply pull out the fastener at the top and swivel it to the side, before adding cold or lukewarm water from the tap.
Fit the reservoir back into the mop handle and you’re ready to go.
Two removable rollers under the mop do the actual cleaning. They slot onto their holders and click into place with no effort, and they come off again just as easily when you’ve finished, then it’s simply a case of rinsing them clean in hot water before leaving them to air dry.
There is space on the docking station for the rollers, but I find they take ages to dry when placed there, so I leave them to dry on my kitchen windowsill, it’s quicker.
Note: you can clean the rollers in the washing machine, but detergent could damage the microfibres, so should not be used.
The bottom front of the mop clicks off and the dirty water tank sits behind it. There are two sections and each opens separately. When you’re finished mopping, just lift out the tank, empty the contents down the sink and rinse with clean water. Et voila!
All removable parts of the Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop are super easy to clean and take no time at all to pop back into place.
- Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop EWM2,
£174.99£139.99 from Kärcher – buy here
Operating and cleaning performance
There’s only one button on the Kärcher EWM2; press it once to start and again to stop.
The first time I switched it on I was surprised to find the mop pulling away from me; the rollers just start rolling, no help required other than steering in the direction you want to go. It takes no effort whatsoever and it simply glides over the floor, unlike my previous floor cleaner, which took a lot of elbow grease.
It’s also extremely quick and the entire floor was clean in a couple of minutes, and because it’s cordless, there’s no cable to get in the way either; result!
My only gripe is that the whirring noise it emits when cleaning is a bit piercing, but I did get used to it and the dogs didn’t seem to mind it at all.
Drying didn’t take too long either, though I found it did take longer than the two minutes Kärcher claims on its website. The outside temperature might have something to do with that though, I’m sure floors dry quicker in summer than in winter.
The first time I used it I added cold water to the tank, however since then I’ve used warm water and I find this better for removing dried-on dirt. There’s also a tiny bottle of hard floor detergent that comes with the EWM, but I couldn’t see anything in the instructions about how much product to add to the water tank, so I just took a guess, but it worked out fine.
Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop review: the verdict
For someone who doesn’t like housework, I now look forward to washing the floor. Yes, it’s still a chore, but now it’s a chore that takes no time at all and very little effort so it hardly makes a dent in my day.
I could never now go back to a boring manual mop or even the steam version I used before, and I definitely wouldn’t want to go back to using a plug-in model, the cable was forever getting in the way.
I like that it takes no time to charge and that all of the pieces are easily removable for cleaning and that they’re easily cleaned.
If anything could be improved I’d say it would be to adapt the design so the mop could stand on its own and didn’t need a docking station. Because it doesn’t have that capability, I found that if I stopped for any reason mid-clean and needed to use my hands for something else, I had to balance the mop either against me or against the kitchen cabinets, which wasn’t very practical.
Still, that’s a small price to pay for something that has increased my tolerance for cleaning the floor and decreased the amount of time I need to spend doing so. The Kärcher EWM2 also leaves my floor looking really clean (until my dogs get their paws on it again, that is!).
- Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop EWM2,
£174.99£139.99 from Kärcher – buy here
Where to buy Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop in the UK
The Kärcher EWM2 is available from the Kärcher website. However we also found it currently on sale at:
How much does the Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop cost?
At the time of writing, you can buy the Kärcher Electric Wiping Mop for £139.99 on the Kärcher website, which is 20% less than the usual selling price of £174.99, so saving you £35. There’s also free delivery on orders over £50.
Elsewhere, the mop varies in price, though not by very much. It’s on sale at Currys for £139, which is the cheapest we found it available. It is most expensive at Very, where it costs £174.
Of course, it’s always worth doing your research before buying as retailers often have special offers available on products they sell, especially around Black Friday and Christmas.
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