I wish I'd owned this discounted Beldray All-in-One Floor Cleaner 10 years ago – my floors would have thanked me

I've never tried an all-in-one vacuum mop before, so I tested the Beldray All-in-One Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner to see just what all the fuss was about. Positioned as a one-stop-solution for busy homes where dirt and spills on flooring are a regular occurrence, it's designed to do the job of two machines in one.

While my children are no longer young, they are still more than capable of dropping food and spilling liquids. Add into the mix a small dog, and my own somewhat clumsy nature, and it seems it would be the perfect fit.

The only downside as far as I could see prior to testing was that I'm short on storage space for it to live in, as I own a relatively small flat. Nonetheless, I put it to the test to see if it was something I'd find the space for if it was that good.

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Specifications

The Beldray All-In-One Floor Cleaner has the following spec:

• Colour: Black
• Type: Wet and Dry
• Cordless: Yes
• HEPA Filter: No
• Maximum Runtime: 25 mins
• Power: 180W
• Speed Settings: 1
• Capacity: 0.65 Litres
• Dimensions: 25.2 x 28 x 108.85 cm

First impressions

The Beldray All-in-One Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner arrived in a large brown box. It wasn't particularly heavy and I was able to carry it upstairs to my flat alone. Unboxing it revealed a similarly sized box inside, branded with the product images and text describing its key features.

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Opening it wasn't difficult, and it was well packaged inside to prevent damage during transit. Once unpacked, it was already pre-assembled other than the handle. The clean and dirty water containers were already in place, but as it didn't arrive fully charged, I had to assemble it and plug it in for the recommended 5.5 hours before I was able to use it.

Luckily I had assumed this might be the case, so had allocated time to do the initial set-up and test across two days. I'd also timed it to coincide with the need to clean my home, so was hoping I would be able to see exactly what it was capable of from the off.

The instruction manual was clear and easy-to-follow (and is also available online via the Beldray website if you ever lose it), so once the handle was inserted, I placed it on the base tray, plugged it in and left it to charge. A blue indicator on the front of the cleaner shows when it's charging, which makes it easier to know when it's ready for use.

During operation, these lines turn to green.

Using the Beldray All-in-One Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner

Before using the Beldray All-in-One Multi-Surface Floor Cleaner for the first time, you need to remove the clean water dispenser and fill it with water. The instructions advise that you can also add some mild detergent in for extra cleaning power. Unlike the Philips OneUP 5000 Series Electric Mop, which I had previously tested and comes with its own supply of cleaning solution, there is none provided with the Beldray cleaner, or details provided of any recommended ones.

I therefore decided to add a small amount of multi-purpose cleaner into the water so that I wasn't cleaning the floor purely with water.

To remove the water container, you have to press down on it and then pull it away from the main unit. It took a couple of attempts to get the right action, but once I'd mastered it, it was relatively easy. You then fill the container, pop it back on, and push into place.

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Trying out the cleaner on different surfaces

The Beldray cleaner is designed for use on hard floors such as LVT, engineered wood flooring, tiles and vinyl flooring, rather than carpeted areas. I have LVT in my kitchen, living room and tiny utility room, tiled floors in the main bathroom and en-suite and then engineered wood flooring on the staircase leading from the front door to my flat which gave me a good variety of surfaces on which to try the cleaner.

As the instructions state the cleaner is not designed to pick up larger debris, I did vacuum the floors a couple of days before as they were needed a thorough clean. However, there was still plenty of daily debris and dust, and as the floors hadn't been mopped for a week, I was anticipating that there would be a decent level of dirt that needed lifting.

1. Cleaning the tiled bathroom floors

First up was the tiled floors in the bathroom. These had some general dust and a few sticky spots from spilled toiletries. The Beldray All-In-One Multi-Purpose Floor Cleaner dealt with these smoothly and the floor was soon sparkling. And, unlike having to tiptoe over a wet floor after using a standard mop, the floor was almost dry by the time I'd finished.

2. Using the cleaner on LVT flooring

My open plan kitchen diner living room floor has to deal with everything in one go. Cooking, eating, relaxing, snacking, dog zoomies and even the odd football being bounced around when they boys think they can get away with it.

As it's the only living space we have, if there's spills and sticky spots in the kitchen, they need to be removed pretty quickly so that they don't track over to the seating areas. A floor cleaner such as this one kept close to hand could be a great solution to stop me having to tell the boys not to step in certain spots until I can get the mop out.

Much the same as using it on the tiled floors, the Beldray All-In-One Multi-Purpose Floor Cleaner glided over the floor quickly and easily. Spots on the kitchen floor lifted and underneath the dining table the crumbs and marks were gone.

The only downside? I love the fact my Shark Anti Hair Wrap & Flexology Cordless Vacuum Cleaner is flexible enough to lower and slide underneath the sofas easily. The Beldray All-In-One Multi-Purpose Floor Cleaner doesn't have the same feature and so if I wanted to give the whole floor a clean I'd have to move the furniture.

Not necessarily a deal-breaker as the cleaner feels more like a daily life product than one for a full spring-clean.

3. Tackling the engineered wood flooring

Although the Beldray All-In-One Multi-Purpose Floor Cleaner doesn't come with any attachments that would make it slightly easier to use on stairs, I wanted to try it on as many hard surfaces as possible. The entrance stairwell has engineered wood flooring so I worked my way up and down each step to see how the cleaner performed.

There's a small flat section at the top and bottom of the stairs that's mainly inlaid with a doormat, but the area as you come in through the front door gets particularly dirty. Once again, no complaints with how the cleaner lifted the existing dirt and debris. Full marks again in terms of performance, but again, further confirmation that in terms of design and getting the most out of it, this is a cleaner best used on large flat spaces.

Dismantling and cleaning the cleaner

When you've finished using the Beldray All-In-One Multi-Purpose Floor Cleaner, you need to then clean the brush that sits in the base and essentially does all the dirty work.

However, there's the added bonus of a self-clean function that removes some of the hassle with this. It's recommended you do this after every use so that the cleaner stays prepped for use.

After emptying the clean and dirty water tanks, you refill the clean one with clean water and place both back in situ. Make sure the cleaner is not plugged into mains power, is sitting on the base tray and then press the self-clean button at the top of the handle.

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Once the cleaning cycle has run for around two minutes, follow the instructions to remove the brush head and if it's clean, pop it on the handy slot that's part of the tray and leave it to dry. Then, put it back into position and you're good to go next time.

However, as it's also recommended you clean the foam filter inside the cleaner each time, you may decide to give the brush a final rinse in the sink as well – something that may be sensible if you've been cleaning particularly dirty floors.

Final verdict

Does the Beldray All-In-One Multi-Purpose Floor Cleaner do what it claims? Absolutely. It vacuums, mops and dries far quicker than using a separate vacuum and mop. The motorised turbo head also means it deals with stubborn spots, sticky marks or spills efficiently – saving repeated scrubbing with a mop. Floors are drier in rapid time making them safer to walk on, and avoiding that post-clean soggy foot feeling.

The downsides are limited, but in the interests of a fair review, I'm mentioning the following.

The 25-minute run time was fine for my small apartment, but I wonder if in larger homes it may not cover all of the hard flooring in one go? If you wanted it to hand for unexpected spills, you also may need to charge it on a very regular basis.

As there are no attachments, it's best used on expanses of flooring that have less clutter or items to move. And of course, there's the issue of storage. Unless you had a large cupboard for your cleaning kit or good utility room storage, it's another small appliance you need to store, as while it may replace a mop, I feel you'd still need a vacuum cleaner for larger volumes of dry dirt and debris.

That said, as I said in the headline, had I owned this product 10 years ago when I lived in a larger property and had two younger children and dogs running around, I'm fairly sure it would have been used on a daily basis.

It would have saved countless kitchen roll sheets clogging up my kitchen bins, the vacuum and mop both being dragged out, and bought me back some time to spend doing other things. Would I recommend it to friends with this kind of home and life? Yes. For me, with older children and a smaller property, not so much, but I've enjoyed testing it and imagining what could have been!