Philips OneUp: mopping without a bucket
Philips wanted an electronic mop that cleans faster and more hygienically than a bucket and cloth, without the size of existing floor cleaners. PEZY helped translate the concept into a slim, manufacturable product architecture: tanks, pump, battery and pad in one agile device that continuously cleans with fresh water.
Introductie
A familiar task, redesigned.
Traditional mops reuse dirty water. Existing electric floor cleaners are often large and cumbersome. The OneUp had to keep the feel of using a mop, with the hygiene of a system that separates clean and dirty water.
Kernresultaten
Continuous fresh water
Clean water goes to the floor, dirty water goes to a separate tank. No bucket, no reuse of dirty water.
Light as a traditional mop
Multiple functions in a slim handle so the device still feels like a mop — not a machine.
Daily maintenance
Removable reservoirs and a replaceable, washable foam pad keep the system practical.
01 · De uitdaging
Everything in a slim mop, without compromise.
Fresh water to the floor, dirty water back — without a bucket. That shifts the pressure into the product itself.
Tanks, pump, battery, electronics and a replaceable pad had to fit into one compact form. And the device had to remain light and manoeuvrable, like a traditional mop.
How do we make the system compact and reliable, mindful of cost and usability?
02 · De rol van PEZY
Mechanical design of the parts that make or break the product.
Not an open consulting trajectory. A focused engineering role within Philips’s development team.
The collaboration was about how functions physically come together: head movement, watertight connections, and an architecture that can be prototyped and manufactured.
PEZY
Handle, water tanks, hinge and nozzle.
Philips
Product concept, brand experience and commercial frameworks.
03 · De aanpak en het inzicht
The product is won or lost in the architecture, not in a single feature.
Not more technology, but how tanks, hinge, head and pad obstruct — or reinforce — each other.
That is why the design was made tangible early. Choices were validated or reversed before they stalled in detailed engineering.
- 01Foam mock‑ups of the product line
- 02Functional models of hinge, waterway and head
- 03Iterate until form and system worked together
04 · De oplossing
A mop that moves like a mop, and cleans like a system.
The user holds a single device. No bucket beside them.
- Foam pad distributes clean water, picks up dirt and drains it away
- Pad is replaceable and washable
- Reservoirs are removable
05 · Verdieping
First the hinge and the waterway, then the rest.
The OneUp stands or falls by two movements: the head that follows the floor, and the water that must go two ways.
Early mock‑ups made that interaction visible before the housing and CMF were fixed. Function and architecture first — so a beautiful handle wouldn’t later have to be opened for a pump that didn’t fit.
06 · Het resultaat
A new way of mopping, ready for daily use.
Continuous fresh water, in a light and manoeuvrable design. Without a bucket.
- ResultThe floor is continuously cleaned. Dirty water is routed separately.
- No bucketOne device in the hand. Nothing beside it during use.
- Light and manoeuvrableIt moves like a traditional mop, not like a machine.
- Daily maintenanceRemovable reservoirs and a washable, replaceable pad.
“We had to put a system into a mop, not build a mop around a system.”
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