Tineco iFloor 5 Wet Vacuum Cleaner Review: Dyson WashG1 alternative

Price upon review

$299.99

Best prices today: Tineco iFloor 5

$239

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

Meet the Tineco iFloor 5: an easy-to-use cleaner with the same skillset. And with a regular available price of £239.99 / $239.99, it’s a much more budget-friendly purchase. You can see our other recommendations in our overview of the best wet and dry vacuum cleaners we’ve tested.

A cordless upright that both vacuums and mop, the Tineco iFloor 5 promises a perfect, sharp finish that clears both wet and dry messes and easily tackles sticky dirt on your sealed hard floors, whether hardwood, tile, marble or laminate.

But is it also the time saver it promises to be? We’ll find out.

Design and construction

• Wireless
• Includes 500 ml cleaning solution
• Good size of water tanks

In the box you will receive the black and white device, the plug-in handle, a 500 ml bottle of Tineco cleaning solution, the power adapter, the standing base, a tubular cleaning brush, a spare brush roll and a spare drying filter.

The device housing comes with a brush roll and cover already installed. The brushroll head is substantial: 27cm wide, 22cm deep and 6.5cm high (10.6 x 8.7 x 2.5 inches).

Above this, the main body of the floor cleaner houses a 0.7 liter dirt tank at the front and a 0.8 liter clean water tank at the rear; both tanks fit and click into place with a fold-down release button.

There is a round LED display at the top of the case. It features six light-up indicator icons that show whether the self-cleaning mode is enabled, the brush roll is tangled, the recovery tank is full, or the solution tank is empty. There’s also a three-bar battery and charging indicator, and maximum power mode. At a glance you can easily see what exactly is going on with the cleaner.

If the fact that there’s a specific indicator for brush roller tangling seems ominous, don’t worry: during testing we found that the hair ended up in the recovery tank and didn’t need to be cut from the roller .

The insert handle contains the on/off, self-cleaning and mode buttons.

The square standing base is approximately 31 cm x 31 cm (12 x 12 inches) and has two plug-in holders on either side. After you assemble the iFloor 5, it sits in the base for storage, charging and to run the self-cleaning cycle.

Overall it has a height of 112cm/44in, so this is really a device that needs a place in a utility room or a full-length cupboard.

Performance and features

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

Setting up the iFloor 5 is simple: unpack the unit and slide the handle into the base until it clicks into place. Fill the solution tank with cold water and a capful of cleaning solution. Then connect the iFloor 5 to charge and turn on the device. Unlike some floor cleaners, the power is not connected to the base; the socket is located just below the handle.

It’s all very simple. Once the device is charged, simply turn it on and tilt the handle back to start cleaning.

There are two cleaning modes: eco and maximum. The eco mode is for light wet and dry messes and everyday cleaning, and in that mode you should be able to clean for more than 30 minutes on a full charge.

The maximum mode is for stubborn stains. With a full battery you should be able to work in maximum mode for about 23 minutes. Fully charging the iFloor 5 from empty takes approximately four to five hours.

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

Also keep in mind that with the iFloor 5 you cannot turn off the mopping function and just vacuum; both functions run together.

We started with a general test on a sealed hardwood floor. One thing we were really impressed with was the forward momentum of the iFloor 5 – it almost rushes away from you, which makes using the floor cleaner easy as you don’t have to push forward.

Anyway, the iFloor 5 is a fairly lightweight machine, weighing in at 5.05kg. That weight, combined with the excellent momentum, makes using the floor cleaner a good choice for anyone who can’t carry 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 switch off when the lever is in the vertical position. However, you will have difficulty cleaning under low furniture: it may not be flat enough on the floor.

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

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

Tineco claims that the flat edge scraper in the roller head leaves a better finish than floor cleaners with a serrated scraper because it removes dirt and forces dirty water over the roller consistently and in a uniform manner. We found the finish to be excellent after using the iFloor 5.

There was also no difference in finish on the different floor surfaces. Our second and third tests were on laminate, tile and vinyl, and we liked the finish on all three.

Thanks to the double 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 ensures 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 all traces of scattered flour perfectly, without even having to go to the maximum setting, leaving sharp vacuum lines in the stacks.

One thing to note is that you can obviously only clean an area of ​​the floor that is wider than the roller brush head, so if you have a house with much narrower spaces you will have to clean these by hand.

This floor cleaner is excellent for damp dusting or regular cleaning. Occasionally you may feel like you need warm water and soap, but the iFloor 5 keeps the daily mess under control. But because it doesn’t use hot water or bleach, it can’t sterilize the floors.

The iFloor 5 is easy to empty and refill.

Once you have finished cleaning 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 washer is in mode. standard and connected to the charger.

The program simply feeds clean water and solution onto the roller head as it rotates, then sucks the waste water into the recovery tank.

We found that you really need to run this program every time you finish using the floor cleaner. Otherwise you could end up with an old roller. Tineco also supplies you with a tubular cleaning brush to clean the recovery tank, brush chamber and help remove dirt and mud from the roller.

Price and availability

The iFloor 5 is one of the most budget-friendly floor cleaners in the Tineco wet and dry vacuum range, with an introductory price of £299.99/$299.99. However, it’s currently available from Tineco UK and Tineco US for £239.99/$239.99, making it one of the best-priced wet vacuum cleaners we’ve tested. Amazon in the US matches this discount, but at the time of writing it’s still £299 on Amazon UK.

You can see more options in our overview of the best wet and dry vacuum cleaners we tested. The guide includes pros, cons and brief summaries of each product, as well as links to full reviews and the best available prices.

Should you buy the iFloor 5?

The iFloor 5 is easy to use and delivers great everyday cleaning results – as long as you have enough floor space to get the most out of it. We’d definitely say it’s a good buy.

Vacuuming and mopping your hard floors separately will definitely save you time. But it can’t sterilize floors and because it can’t go flat under furniture or clean in smaller spaces, it won’t be suitable for every home.