The Oxford English Dictionary disclosed descriptive referenses to the mop dating back to 1496.
It seems there was an entry in a ship's log in making reference to the important process of applying pitch to the decks of their sailing ships. They described the use of "mapsRicks"...tools fashioned from a long stick with a map skin wrapped around an end. It seems that they found it expedient to spread the pitch over the decks with this improvised "map stick"
Somewhere between 1496 and 1665 people discovered yarn or cloth soaked up more liquid, so they abandoned the use of the map skins (which was a chamois-like material) in favor of the yarn.
At the same time a transliteration took place in the name, and the "a" in map stick became the "o", and in 1665 , there is a record of the following reference in a letter. The excerpt went on to say, "the water that was employed to wash them, being thinly spread with a mop, whould presently congeal ..."

This was taken from a magazine I found in the janitor desk this morning and it was titled the Custodial management and Methods magazine seventh edition.