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For the three-letter acronym, see MOP. "Mop" is also the NATO reporting name for Soviet versions of the PBY Catalina flying boat. For additional meanings, see Mops (disambiguation).

A mop is a tool for cleaning floors.

A wet mop typically has a long handle and a head made of thick, soft strands of water-absorbing fabric. To clean a floor, the mop is soaked in a bucket of water or cleaning fluid and scrubbed against the surface. Some buckets include a wringer to strain excess water from the mop, so as not to saturate the floor. Mops are also often used to clean up liquid spills.

The African-American inventor Thomas H. Stewart received a patent for a mop in 1893.

A dust mop or dry mop is designed to pick up dust. They tend to have much wider heads and shorter strands than wet mops.

See also

• Broomstick
• Scooba

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History of Mop Design

Mops were first conceived when Olaf The Slightly Homosexual (789-856) dunked his broom in the local fjord, and proceeded to clean his hovel with the dampened implement. The word mop derives from the norwegian muup, which roughly translates as puff.

• Tool stubs
• Cleaning tools