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Thread: mopping floors

  1. #1
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    mopping floors

    I hope this doesn't sound silly...but I am on the fence about how to clean floors.

    Years ago, I read Don Aslett's books on housecleaning. I remember one of them advising that you should clean your bathroom floor (assuming the room's small) but spraying cleaner on it (after dust mopping), and then wiping it with rags (I used to use cloth diapers). It worked fine, except you end up with a laundry bag full of filthy rags.

    My friend Kate has a Shark steam cleaner, but I just read they're not so great on vinyl flooring, but OK on tile. Kate swears by hers, and she also has a lot of hardwood floors. Currently, we don't have too much area in the way of vinyl flooring, but when we move, will have a kitchen with it and at least one tiled bath. No hardwood.

    So how do you clean your "wipeable" floors? I hate the idea of a mop and bucket. I know Swiffer makes all sorts of things. I feel silly b/c I'm just not domestic and I don't know how to do a lot of basic stuff.

    Thanks for listening.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Mop and bucket or swiffer. I have both.

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    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    I'm a hands-and-knees person. A) I'm not that great at cleaning as often as I should, so b) I actually am able to see more grime to get rid of if I'm down on the floor with the dirt. If we're talking bathroom, I sweep, and then fill a bucket with a cleaning agent (mostly vinegar and water, or Mrs. Meyers). Then I use a rag to clean, and another rag to dry/wipe up. I don't know how you end up with a whole bag of "filthy rags"--I use two per cleaning, and then I just put them right in the washer.

    When I had a furry pet, I had to resort to paper towels because dog hair clung so much better to those.
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    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    I'm a hands-and-knees person. A) I'm not that great at cleaning as often as I should, so b) I actually am able to see more grime to get rid of if I'm down on the floor with the dirt. If we're talking bathroom, I sweep, and then fill a bucket with a cleaning agent (mostly vinegar and water, or Mrs. Meyers). Then I use a rag to clean, and another rag to dry/wipe up. I don't know how you end up with a whole bag of "filthy rags"--I use two per cleaning, and then I just put them right in the washer.

    When I had a furry pet, I had to resort to paper towels because dog hair clung so much better to those.
    I was afraid to put the rags in with my clothes, because of the strong cleaning solution on them. I thought it might harm the clothes, so I kept the rags for, say, a month and did a separate load.

    Do you like Mrs. Meyers products? I love their hand soap and so does my sister.

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    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by frugalone View Post
    I was afraid to put the rags in with my clothes, because of the strong cleaning solution on them. I thought it might harm the clothes, so I kept the rags for, say, a month and did a separate load.

    Do you like Mrs. Meyers products? I love their hand soap and so does my sister.
    You have a good point with the rags--I usually sort truly icky stuff, too, but my cleaning solutions are pretty benign.

    I LOVE Mrs. Meyers. I use her All-Purpose Cleaner and it's great. I also use her hand soap.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  6. #6
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    On my hardwood floors I

    1) sweep
    2) spray a mix of water, white vinegar , a little,soap—let that sit dor a time
    3) wipe up liquid with “dog” towels, swishing the towel around with my legs

    4) sometimes I do use q wet mop for especially stubborn dirty spots
    I do not get on hands and kneews except maybe 2x yearly to,clean baseboards and under kitchen counters

    i love the simplicity of sweeping and cleaning this way and there is no way
    I would get a steam whatever cleaner, some large piece of ewuipment that has to be stored and plugged in and maintained.

    I wash all of these towels with dog bedding. i usually do 2-3loads of dog launder each week.

    I will be the first to,say that one should never eatboff my dloors, they are fairly gross even after cleaning. We have dogs, dog dirt, hair, dog urine, etc.

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    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Once a month I have cleaners come and scrub the floors on hands and knees and clean the bathrooms. Cheaper to pay them $60 then go to the chiropractor a bunch from throwing my back out. I also have robots.

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    I have an old sponge mop that I rubber band a microfiber cloth to- I wet the cloth with warm water and after I've vacuumed I use the cloth wrapped sponge mop to clean the vinyl and tile floors. I always hated sponge mops as I thought they never were clean, so when Swiffers came out I decided to just try the microfiber wrapped on the sponge- Voila! A washable mop with a handle. I use Mrs. Meyers laundry detergent for the wash and also to wash my hair..it works. I was my rags with the white laundry. Once a year or so I'll do a decent scrub on hands and knees. Like Iris Lilies house, no eating off the floor.

    I never thought of spraying the floor first. I might try that.

  9. #9
    Senior Member herbgeek's Avatar
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    For the bathroom its the hands, knees and rag method. For the kitchen and other floors, I bought the Libman mop and reusable pads. My cleaning solution is some white vinegar, water and a splash of dish detergent. If I'm feeling fancy I'll add a couple of drops of essential oil (lemon, eucalyptus, lavender). The Libman mop is like the Swiffer wet (ie you pull a trigger to spray your cleaning solution on the floor which you then mop up), only with reusable instead of disposable pads, and you are free to add whatever cleaning solution you want.

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    I spray the floors heavily with my bottle of: water/vinegar/baking soda. Then I thoroughly wet a bath towel, wring it about half way...toss it on the floor. Then I stand on it and slowly move around the entire floor. It works great. I can stop and rub a spot easily with leg strength.

    It saves my back and my leg strength if far better than my arm strength. Plus it is not comfortable to be on my knees any more since the knee replacement.

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