I Tested 11 Brooms to Find the Best Ones for Cleaning Up Kitchen Messes

After cooking all week, my kitchen floor accumulates a lot of crumbs and scraps. Here’s just a taste: a few granules of sugar, some desiccated potato peels (flung onto the ground as I overzealously skinned a spud), a single fusilli noodle, coffee grounds, and—the bane of my existence—sticky, diaphanous garlic skin. But with a handy-dandy broom, I can do a quick sweep of the kitchen floor, and the space becomes moderately more presentable. A broom also comes in clutch when I’ve spilled rice all over the floor and am too lazy to break out the vacuum. Yes, it’s true: I hate cleaning. But a good kitchen broom, one that’s swift and sure and true, makes it mostly painless. I tested 10 brooms to find the best ones to spiff up my kitchen—and do it fast.   

The Winners, at a Glance

This simple broom was adept at quickly gathering and sweeping coffee grounds and rice into its accompanying dustpan. The petite broom head was easy to tuck into corners and other hard-to-reach spots. 

A customizable broom—fancy! You can shorten or lengthen the broom handle, making this a great versatile pick. The dustpan also sports a tall handle, so I could gather up debris without bending over. 

I love this set: It swiftly gathered grounds and grains, and the bristles directed them neatly into the dustpan. While not kitchen-related, it was also great at sweeping cat hair off my couch. 

This cute purple mini dustpan and broom might look like a kid's toy, but it was an efficient little set. The tiny broom reached into nooks nicely and gathered up rice grains readily. 

The Tests

• Coffee Grounds Test: I scattered one tablespoon of ground coffee onto my hardwood floors and then used each broom to sweep it up. I counted how many strokes it took to gather all of the grounds, and noted how easy the broom was to hold and move. 
• Rice Test: I scattered a quarter cup of rice on my kitchen floor and swept it up, noting how many strokes it took. 
• Longterm Use Test (Winners Only): I used each of my favorite brooms in my daily sweeping routine to see how they performed in various cleaning situations. 

What We Learned 

Stiffer Bristles Were Better

Brooms with stiffer bristles, like the Casabella and Pine-Sol, caught rice and coffee grounds and swiftly shepherded them into the dustpans. Softer bristles, like on the O-Cedar, made more of a mess. Instead of sweeping efficiently and neatly, they compressed into the floor and flung stuff like a catapult—rice skittered away and coffee particles whizzed across the floor. I had to adjust my stance, sweep some more, and wrangle any stragglers. To avoid making cleaning a more onerous task than it already is, stick with a stiffer-bristled broom—it’ll get the job done faster. That said, a large, super stiff broom, like the Libman 211 Extra Large Precision Angle Broom, wasn’t as adept at getting into corners and struggled to sweep up anything light or flimsy (such as garlic skins). 

Dustpan Shape Was Important 

A dustpan is essential when it comes to sweeping; without one, you’re just moving stuff around (like you did when you were told to clean your room as a kid, amirite?). A good dustpan should have a thin lip that sits flush with the floor, and the interior should be concave without ridges or bumps to impede stuff from entering. It should also be easy to hold. 

Some dustpans I tested were truly horrible, like the O-Cedar’s. While it’s designed to be stepped on, you still need to grab the pan to throw away the junk collected. And this oddly shaped dustpan’s uncomfortably bent handle made it awkward. Plus, the dustpan didn’t attach easily to the broom after use. 

…And Broom Size and Shape Was, Too 

Why someone would sell a broom whose brush head was larger than the accompanying dustpan is beyond me. It just makes more mess, since with each sweep, the overhanging portion of the broom pushes stuff around the sides of the dustpan. This was the case with the O-Cedar broom, which I disliked more and more as I continued to test it. The dustpan’s opening is 12 inches wide, while the sharply angled broom head is 13.5 inches across, so every time I swept it sent debris around the sides. 

The heavy, angled broom head also ensured that the broom fell over any time I rested it against the wall for a breather. (I did a lot of sweeping, okay!) While this isn’t a big deal, it’s annoying that you can’t lean the broom off to the side when you take a break (and it also makes storage difficult).  

The Best Brooms Were Light and Nimble 

If you’re like me, after a few days of cooking there is an inordinately large amount of food bits all over the floor. And, for some reason, they always seem to accumulate in hard-to-reach corners. Go figure! So when it comes time to clean up the mess, a nimble broom that can tuck into nooks is a must. I found brooms with slightly smaller heads, like the Casabella, were the best at this task, as were handheld dustpans and brushes; their petite size let me easily sweep inside small spaces. Bigger, heavier brooms, like the Amazon Basics and Rubbermaid, were difficult to control and bashed into small spots.

That said, larger, heftier brooms do have their uses: The Amazon Basics broom, which is marketed as an outdoor broom, is truly great at sweeping away big messes across a large swath of ground. I could see it being useful to clean dust or leaves off a deck or a porch. But for a home kitchen, it’s overkill. 

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Broom 

A kitchen broom should be versatile, adept at sweeping small particles, like coffee grounds, and larger bits, like rice. The broom head shouldn’t be larger than the dustpan, if it comes with one. I also preferred smaller, firmer bristled brooms that easily reached into nooks and crannies. Finally, the broom handle should be on the long side to make it versatile for a variety of users. 

Our Favorite Brooms

What we liked: This nimble broom is a good length, and its dense, angled head swept up coffee quickly, without flinging grounds everywhere. The stiff bristles corralled rice efficiently, too. The dustpan features a sloped, rubbery edge that sits flush with the floor and prevents bits from being swept underneath or around it. It also easily clips flush to the broom, which is nifty for storage.

What we didn’t like: While the smaller broom head was a boon for getting into hard-to-reach corners, it did mean more sweeps for larger messes. 

Key Specs

• Style: Standard broom
• Accessories: Dustpan
• Broom handle length: 45.5 inches
• Broom head dimensions: 9.5 x 4.25 inches
• Dustpan dimensions: 12 x 11.5 inches

What we liked: This broom’s handle is adjustable, so you can customize its height to your liking. The broom swept up coffee grounds easily and efficiently. The rubber bristles on the dustpan help dislodge stuff from the broom, which, while not an issue with coffee grounds, was helpful after sweeping up pet hair and other sticky things. The handle on the dustpan is nice (I could sweep and gather without bending over), and the angled, rubber edge ensured that coffee grounds and rice didn’t get swept under the dustpan. It’s the kind of broom setup that janitors use, so it’s legit. 

What we didn’t like: The softer bristles did feel less effective than sturdier ones. Emptying the dustpan, which pivots on a hinge, is awkward, and the whole setup feels tippy when the broom is locked into the dustpan. It's rather pricey.

Key Specs

• Style: Broom with handled dustpan
• Accessories: Handled dustpan
• Broom handle length: 28.5 to 48 inches (compacted versus fully extended)
• Broom head dimensions: 9.25 in x 4.25 inches
• Dustpan dimensions: 12.75 x 9 x 28.5 inches

What we liked: I love a handheld dustpan and brush set. Not only does it let me clean up tiny spills in small spaces, but if I accidentally tip over a bag of coffee grounds on the countertop, I can swiftly tidy it up without breaking out the vacuum. The bristles on this set were firm, preventing flinging and instead corralling rice and coffee grounds swiftly into the dustpan. An aside: One of my cats has medium-length hair that is incredibly difficult to clean off my couch, but the brush from this set gets rid of it better than a lint roller. 

What we didn’t like: The dustpan’s edge was a little uneven (if not pressed firmly to the surface, there were gaps under it), which resulted in some grounds being pushed underneath or getting stuck on the lip.

Key Specs 

• Style: Handheld dustpan and brush
• Accessories: None
• Brush handle length: 3.75 inches
• Brush head dimensions: 5.75 x 2.5 inches
• Dustpan dimensions: 7 x 10 inches

What we liked: While the Pine-Sol broom was more efficient, this little purple and yellow broom did a good job overall. It swept up rice easily, and its ultra petite size meant it was great for cleaning up messes in cramped areas. 

What we didn’t like: It took a few more sweeps to wrangle stragglers. The ledge of the dustpan was a little too thick, which impeded grounds and made it more work to sweep them into the pan. It's also itty bitty, so it’s only good for tiny spills.

Key Specs

• Style: Handheld dustpan and brush
• Accessories: None
• Brush handle length: 3.75 inches
• Brush head dimensions: 6.25 x 1.75 inches
• Dustpan dimensions: 6 x 7.5 inches

The Competition

Also Good

• Libman Precision Angle Broom and Dust Pan: This broom’s bristles were a little too stiff, making it difficult to gather small particles like coffee grounds. The dustpan was smaller than the broom head, so it was a challenge to collect debris in one sweep. It did quickly clean up bigger messes, though, and the brush comb was a nice touch. 
• Amazon Basics Heavy-Duty Outdoor Broom: This is a heavy-duty broom with a large head that’s good for sweeping up big messes—think getting dust off a sidewalk or porch. But for indoor messes, it was overkill. The bristles on this broom are soft, too, and they flung coffee grounds with each sweep. 
• Libman 211 Extra Large Precision Angle Broom: Like the Amazon Basics broom, this is a big option that’s great for cleaning large areas. Its stiff bristles quickly corralled large debris, like rice, but struggled to pick up lighter bits, like coffee grounds. It doesn’t come with a dustpan.
• OXO Good Grips Dustpan and Brush Set: This small dustpan and brush set performed adequately, but it wasn’t as efficient as my winning picks. This was mainly because the bristles were soft, so they flung stuff rather than quickly sweeping bits into the bin. The ridge on the dustpan also impeded some of the coffee grounds from getting swept inside.

Not Recommended 

• OXO Good Grips Upright Sweep Set: While the handled dustpan was nice, the broom’s handle was too short; I’m a few inches over five feet tall and had to bend over to use it. The broom head is also very small, requiring more sweeping to rustle up the coffee grounds. 
• Rubbermaid Commercial Products Heavy-Duty Corn Broom: This broom doesn’t come with a dustpan, which isn’t a dealbreaker. However, its heft and floppy corn bristles were: It took 10 strokes to sweep up coffee grounds, the most of the bunch. 
• O-Cedar One Sweep Broom with Step-On Dustpan: While the idea of a step-on dustpan was good, in practice, it didn’t work well. Also, if you do want to hold it with your hands, the wonky shape makes it uncomfortable. The broom head is larger than the dustpan, so with every sweep, it swept stuff around the sides. The softer bristles flung coffee around, so I had to keep moving the dustpan and sweeping more. The broom is also heavy at the bristle end, making it feel clunky. 

FAQs

What style of broom is best? 

Whether you choose a standard broom or a handheld dustpan and brush set depends on your needs, but I honestly think that having one of each is worth it. The handheld brush and dustpan sets are great for cleaning small messes or tidying up hard-to-reach spots, while a standard broom is great for everyday sweeping. 

How often should I replace my kitchen broom?

It depends on how often you use the broom and how much wear it takes. When bristles start to wear down or become separated, then it’s probably a good time to replace it. 

Should you wash or clean a broom?

Some of the brooms I tested came with combs that you can use to clean the bristles, which is an easy way to keep them clean. You can wash your broom with a mixture of dish soap and hot water, but make sure you let it dry thoroughly or it could get gunked up.

Why We’re the Experts

• Grace Kelly is a senior editor at Serious Eats, where she tests all manner of kitchen gear and appliances. 
• For this review, Grace tested 11 kitchen brooms by sweeping up coffee grounds, rice, and other kitchen messes to find the most versatile ones. 
• She hates cleaning but admits that sweeping isn’t so bad.