Automatic Floor Scrubbers Although basic floor scrubbers, such as cloth mops, made their appearance in the 1920s, automatic floor scrubbers were not invented until the middle of the 20th century. With a basic design that was somewhat like a push lawn mower, these early models of the automatic floor scrubber contained a well for water and soap, as well as jets that could squirt the cleaning mixture onto the floor. A set of rotary brushes worked the cleansers into the facing of the floor, effectively lifting dirt and scrubbing the floors clean. Since the modern floor scrubber tended to leave less water behind than cleaning floors by hand, the floor scrubber improved the process in several ways: first, it is not longer necessary to get down on hands and knees to scrub the floor, the job can be done in much less time, and the floor should dry quicker, meaning less waiting time to resume normal activities.