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A wet and dry vacuum mop may sound too good to be true, but believe it or not, what once seemed like a product from the Jetsons is now readily available, with dozens of options on the market from brands like Bissell, Hoover, and Roborock. Tineco is a popular smart vacuum maker that also produces several iterations of competitive vacuum mops, including the Tineco Go H2O HammerHead Mess Detect Wet/Dry Mop and Vacuum.
As a first-time vacuum and mop user, I was pretty skeptical that these types of products really worked. Even after reading numerous reviews from our smart home and robot vacuum expert, Maria Diaz, I still couldn't get on board with these gadgets – especially when they range from several hundred dollars to well over $1,000.
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Plus, in a multi-cat household full of clumps of hair the size of miniature tumbleweeds that seem to spawn no matter how often I vacuum, I had little hope that any smart vacuum cleaner would make a dent in my home's dirt. But Tineco advertises the HammerHead as "perfect for pet homes" thanks to a zero-tangle brush that cuts and collects pet hair without wraps, an anti-odor solution, and a bacteria-resistant deep cleaning brush, so I thought what better way to put those claims to the test than with my indoor cat colony (we have five cats).
That's why when I had the chance to try out Tineco's HammerHead Mess Detect, I finally took the plunge.
On paper, this vacuum mop advertises a lot of good. It vacuums, mops, and self-cleans, and can run for about 30 minutes of uninterrupted cleaning. It's also cordless, features a 128-degree angled swivel for controlled steering and navigation, 2x more suction than previous models, and a 60% larger tank than other Tineco models, like the iFloor 3. This vacuum mop also has Lay Flat capabilities, which means it can easily squeeze under low-clearance furniture.
Tineco's "Mess Detect" technology allows the device to automatically adjust water pressure and suction for the most efficient clean, and an LED display indicates mess detection and cleaning progress. And you don't have to worry about sloshing dirty water around either, because the HammerHead only uses clean water, separating dirty water and debris to keep floors truly clean.
A close up of the controls on the mop. Kayla Solino/ZDNET
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