Shark VacMop VM200UK

Introduction

I first saw a variation of the Shark VacMop when I reviewed the US-only Shark VacMop Pro back in 2021. An interesting idea, but weak vacuuming and a reliance on disposable pads put me off the machine. Now, Shark is back in the UK with the Shark VacMop VM200UK.

Sucking debris into a disposable plastic pad, which can’t be recycled, the VacMop adds some basic vacuuming into a manual mop that’s surprisingly good thanks to the use of Shark’s cleaning fluid. It’s a powerful and lightweight hard floor cleaning tool, provided you don’t mind using disposable pads.

Design and features

• Vacuum built in
• Uses disposable pads
• Sprays cleaning solution

As you might be able to tell from the name, the Shark VacMop VM200UK is part vacuum and part mop.

It’s a long, tall device, that just needs clipping together to get it ready for action. At just 1.5kg, it’s much lighter than most hard floor cleaners, and you can even store it by hanging it from the eyelet on the handle at the top.

Using the Shark VacMop VM200UK is easy. As it’s a spray mop, you need to use it with detergent, filling up the non-removable tank at the back.

This tank holds 350ml of liquid detergent, with Shark providing a full tank’s worth of cleaning solution in the box. A replacement costs £19.99 for a 2-litre bottle.

Rather than using a manual spray action, the Shark VacMop VM200UK is powered by a battery, which is recharged using the plug-in power adapter.

This battery then powers the motor that sprays detergent when you use the spray button on top. A nice spray jet comes out of the front, so it’s easy to target tough stains and add more cleaning solution when required.

Mopping is entirely manual, however; there are no spinning brush rolls or mop pads here, just a back and forwards action, as with a traditional mop. I can say that the combination of lightweight body and powered spray makes this mop very easy to push around.

There’s a secondary trigger on the Shark VacMop VM200UK, which engages the vacuum action. This isn’t a full on vacuum cleaner, but it can cope with smaller bits of debris that would otherwise get pushed around. Think of mud stains, for example, where there’s a combination of stain and solid particles.

To pick up solids, the Shark VacMop VM200UK has specially designed disposable mop pads, which combine the mopping cloth with a dirt chamber. Shark provides six pads in the box, and supplies 16 additional ones for £14.99, so that’s 94p a go.

Shark says that you shouldn’t store the unit with a wet mop pad attached, and you should replace a pad when it’s fully saturated with dirt or the chamber is full. I could tell when a mop pad was saturated, as it stops cleaning properly, and I’d estimate that each pad will last for a full clean of a typical home.

For hygienic reasons, pads are no-touch. Each pad is attached by simply laying them flat on the floor and clipping the vacuum cleaner head onto them.

When they’re saturated with dirt, the mop pads can be dropped straight into the bin by pressing the release button.

Using the mop pads and vacuum action, dirt is quickly and efficiently removed from your home and there’s no need to touch any dirty components. However, as each pad is made from plastic, there’s a fair bit of waste going straight into the bin. There’s no recycling program, and Shark says that each pad should be thrown away.

It does feel wasteful, whereas most traditional spray mops, such as the Bona Premium Spray Mop, have washable microfibre cloths. Admittedly, the Bona mop doesn’t have vacuum capability, which is the one component that makes the VM200UK stand out.

Performance

• Mops well
• Basic vacuuming
• Good battery life (if used economically)

First things, the Shark VacMop VM200UK might have some vacuuming power built in, but it’s not a replacement for a traditional cordless vacuum cleaner, nor a powered hard floor cleaner with a vacuum option. That’s because the vacuum power is relatively lightweight and because the disposable pads only have a small capacity. Battery life is also a limiting factor, with around 13 minutes of trigger time.

Rather than running the Shark VacMop VM200UK with the vacuum engaged permanently, the idea is to mop as normal, and then use the vacuum when there are bits of debris to pick up.

It makes sense to vacuum first and mop second, using the vacuum action to grab any little bits that the cordless cleaner didn’t get. In that way, a full charge will last for multiple mopping sessions.

To test how the Shark VacMop VM200UK performed, I set down my standard stains and allowed them to dry.

I started by trying to clean the easiest stains, beginning with coffee. A quick spray of the cleaning solution and a gentle couple of wipes lifted most of the stain, although close examination showed that I needed to go over the mess again.

It was very similar with the red wine stain. Spraying the cleaning solution, I found that it immediately started to seep into the red wine, taking the stain off the floor and leaving red liquid to wipe over.

I then moved on to the tough dried-on ketchup stain. This is hard for most hard floor cleaners to remove, although the steam-powered Shark SteamPickUp Hard Floor Cleaner SD200UK, did work quickly on this. With the VacMop, I found I needed to go backwards and forward a lot. I found that it was best to spray the stain, leave it for 20 seconds, and then wipe as much off as I could, and then repeat. At the end of my cleaning, the stain had gone, although there was quite a bit of foamy mess around that needed wiping up with the mop head.

I then moved on to the dried mud stain. This has the stain that has dried onto the floor, plus some bits of debris that are too big to be collected by a mop pad; here, the vacuum action was used to suck up the debris, with the cleaning solution and mop pad used to remove the rest of the mess. I was impressed with how quickly the stain came off.

I added a teaspoon of rice to the hard floor, and then used the vacuum action to pick it up. With the older Shark VacMop Pro, I had trouble collecting a mess like this, but the Shark VacMop VM200UK managed it all.

The rice and other debris were captured in the mop pad, ready to be thrown away in the bin.

At the end of the clean, the mopping pad was saturated with the dirt and near needing to be replaced; with a regular clean on regular floors, you’d get much further.

Battery life was more than enough to manage mopping around my home, particularly as I only needed to use the vacuum action occasionally. Use this mode sparingly, and the battery will go a long way.

Edge cleaning is good, as the mop cloth reaches right to the sides of the mop head, so it can get right up close to the kitchen plinth and skirting boards.

I measured sound at 71.5dB with the vacuum on, which is quieter than your average cordless cleaner.

Should you buy it?

FAQs