What you put in the reservoir will help you choose the microfibre cleaning cloths you use: pink for cleaning and blue for polishing and waxing. A steam cleaner can do a good job, alongside offering the versatility for cleaning other areas, but it can leave streaks.

Hearst UK is the trading name of the National Magazine Company Ltd, 30 Panton Street, Leicester Square, London, SW1Y 4AJ. The basic principle is the same: a detergent tank drips onto the powerful rollers that clean, and dirt is sucked up into the small tank, removing mess from the floor.Simple controls on top let you select the mode (carpet or hard floor), and there’s a trigger to push out cleaning detergent when you want to use it, letting you control the amount of fluid: more for tough stains and less where the floor isn’t so dirty. Our high-absorption microfibre cleaning and polishing Pads are positively charged so they attract negatively charged dirt and grease. You can get a visual indicator of the level of dirt by looking at the coloured bar that runs around the LCD: the more red there is, the dirtier the floor. As such, if your house is predominantly hard floors, then a plug-in cleaner will probably suit you best.

With everything in place, and both power buttons turned on, the Powerglide spins both microfibre cloths at 250rpm in opposite directions. My Aircraft PowerGlider had snapped at the base of the handle and although I was out of the guarantee period, Sydney from the company reached out to offer a repair service free of charge. I've raved about it to friends since I bought it - really cleans my floors like nothing else and is so easy to use.

As good as many steam cleaners are for tackling your hard floors, they can all take a bit of manual work to scrub up. Due to its buffering motion as it cleans, it needs a fairly strong hand to control it, and you need to take care when cleaning around edges as it will bounce away from skirting boards. It would be neater and more convenient if the controls were simply passed through the extension pole.

Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. All of these models are built to take care of hard floors, with dedicated cleaning heads and detergent formulated to clean up dirt and leave a streak-free finish. There’s no cord to hold you back, so you can glide over all your hard floors with ease – it almost feels like it’s floating as you go from room to room. However, the PowerStick Jet’s cloths have to be soaked in water before use, making it less flexible than being able to spray cleaner where you want it. They're machine washable at 40C (without conditioner), meaning you don't need to wash them separately to general laundry.

The product itself is amazing and such a help cleaning areas large and small - does an excellent job!

Hard floors are where this cleaner excels, dealing with stubborn stains with ease, leaving a nice shiny floor at the end. Overall, the innovative design combines the cleanliness of using a mop with the convenience and technology of a steam cleaner. Sure, this model is quite expensive, but if you want the flexibility of a cordless device without having to sacrifice power, this is a great choice.The Powerglide even did well on harder stains, such as dried cat food stuck to the floor, which would normally require some elbow work when using a manual mop. Brilliant piece of kit, my tiles shine and it’s so easy to use and thanks to it being cordless it’s much easier to just whip out for a quick clean.