Best Power Scrubbers
We tried four models in the lab and at home to find out whether they’re the secret to a spotless house
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I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not much of a deep cleaner. I’m what my wife lovingly calls a “straightener,” which is code for someone who would make the bed every morning but use the same dirty duvet for six solid months and think nothing of it.
So suffice it to say, power scrubbers haven’t been a huge part of my life. But I kept an open mind for this project. In the past, I’ve been won over by a very select number of cleaning products. To earn my approval—not to mention that of CR’s lab testers—they must make cleaning easier and faster. And at least for me, they also need to be fun to use. My pressure washer and Dyson stick vacuum both fit that bill, and I was eager to find out whether one of these scrubbers would reach that admittedly high bar, too.
What Is a Power Scrubber?
The promise that comes with a power scrubber is that you can deep-clean everything from cooktops to shower stalls without a ton of elbow grease. These tools range in size, with small models for pots and pans that are 8 to 12 inches long, all the way up to 4-foot-long options for cleaning, say, the sides of a dry-docked boat, often with cleaning heads the size of a pie pan.
How CR Tested Power Scrubbers
At their core, most of these tools are pretty darn similar, at least when it comes to performing their core function.
“All of the power scrubbers can scrub well enough, but you see some of the bigger differences in design and attachments,” says Bernie Deitrick, the CR engineer who oversaw the power scrubber tests. “Options like an adjustable angle on the cleaning head, or the ability to pop off the handle to get into tight spots, can make a difference.”
Indeed, I found that to be the case. Each model applied an adequate level of pressure, but none was notably more powerful than any other.
For that reason, Deitrick prioritized an assessment of the accessories, because the inclusion of more attachments can significantly ramp up the number and nature of surfaces you can clean. Our cleaning test reflected the accessory offerings for each model.
For power, Deitrick turned each tool on high, and with a cleaning head attached (comparable to other models), he pressed the spinning tool down onto a counter to see whether it would bog down. Those with the most power continued to spin even under pressure.
Next, we sized up battery life by giving each power scrubber a full charge, turning it to high, and letting it run until the battery died. Even the model with the worst battery life ran for over an hour, though Deitrick notes the tools are likely to drain faster when under pressure from use. And last, we considered ease of use, looking for features like adjustable cleaning heads and a selection of speeds. We favored models that weighed the least, both with and without extension handles.
I also brought all four home to try out in my bathroom, where I used them on porcelain sinks, brass faucets, and a tile shower, as well as in my kitchen, where I tried them on my cooktop and oven, along with butcher block counters.
The verdict? These power scrubbers didn’t turn me into a cleaner, but if I were one, I’d consider them. While a power scrubber can’t deep-clean as effectively as a brush handled by someone with great upper-body strength working at full tilt, it will at least clean comparably to a brush being applied with moderate human effort—even as you exert very little.
With that in mind, a power scrubber could be really helpful for someone who has lots of areas to cover but doesn’t truly need to deep-clean. And it might make the chore a little more fun, too.
Best Power Scrubbers
The two top-scoring models from our lab tests were also my favorites from my home tests. Both are sufficiently powerful and have great battery life, but each offers something slightly different.
