cleaning floors ?

[Elizabeth86]

I am pretty old school with cleaning. I sweep with a regular ol broom and mop with a regular mop and a bucket of water and cleaner. So, I'm curious if you sweep or vacuum hard floors? Do you use a steam mop? Are those any good? I was thinking for the kitchen if I had a small cordless vaccum would I end up cleaning the floor more. Do those do good with food crumbs or not? I hate to sound so dumb, but...Just looking to be a bit better in the house cleaning department.

[ondreeuh]

I like a broom better than a vacuum for hard floors, unless there is pet hair.

 

I "mop" with a microfiber cloth that is pushed around by what looks like a squeegee at the end of a long handle. I've only seen them since living in Europe. I wet the microfiber in diluted cleaner, wring it out, drop the cloth on the floor and push it around.

 

Occasionally I use a steam mop (we have tile), but it leaves streaks after it picks up any dirt.

[eternalsummer]

I sweep with a regular broom but I mop with a swiffer with reusable wet pads.  I mop a lot.  Bigger or sticky messes are sponged up immediately so the swiffer pretty much covers it.

[Carrie12345]

I mostly sweep with a regular broom, and I have a small hand broom that I'm trying to train the younger kids to use when they spill crumbs. It's not going so great yet.  But I'll also swing the vacuum wand around a bit after I do the carpet, usually around the table and chair legs and the edges under the cabinets and appliances.

 

More than 12 years in this house, and I haven't found a great mopping system for my laminate wood.  Steam mops and Swiffers left streaks.  I can't use a soggy mop because our floors weren't laid well and we have gaps.  I usually wind up on hands and knees with Better Life's floor cleaner.  Which is why my floor isn't washed nearly as much as it should be.  I don't have all that much hard floor space though, so I suppose it could be worse!

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Here's what I do:

 

Most days:  sweep with rubber broom or vacuum.  

Steam mop:  ok for a "mid-deep" clean when I'm too lazy to do hands and knees scrubbing, every month or so.  You can only stem mop with water, so I think doing it too often would ruin hardwood.  

Hands and knees scrubbing for a deep clean.  This is way better than the steam mop, but obviously a lot more work.  Maybe once a season or so.  I use some kind of cleaner specific to help keep hardwood floors healthy, since I am occasionally stripping them with the steam mop.

 

I don't have a regular mop and wouldn't know how to use it.  

 

[Melissa in Australia]

I vacuum main living areas and bathrooms daily,bedrooms weekly, except therwinsroom it is daily. All floor areas not covered by rugs get mopped with an old Casio ed cotton string mop anda,op bucket with hot water ( no cleaner) once a week. Kitchen. Floor gets swept at least once a day extra on top of vacuuming. Floor around toilet gets cleaned multiple times a day.

[lexi]

I sweep the floors first. Then I usually do a quick vacuum.

For the tile I use a Norwex mop and I really like it. I do use a little bit of soap with it because I like the clean smell.

For my wood floors I use a dry mop (Norwex) as well. Occasionally I use some wood cleaner and mop the floors with that.

I don’t sell Norwex stuff or anything but I do like their mop. It’s quick and easy to use and I feel it does a good job. Using the mop with some Mrs. Meyer’s cleaner seems to work well. It doesn’t leave streaks.

[Pawz4me]

I used to vacuum hard flooring with a stick vacuum, but the older I get the more the noise of a vacuum bothers me. So now I sweep most of the time. I use an O'Cedar spin mop. It's the best mop I've ever used in terms of both cleaning and being easy to wring out. I can easily spin it so that it's plenty dry enough to use on the hardwood floor w/o a worry. I've had a couple of steam mops but didn't really like them. They seemed more trouble than they were worth and weren't durable at all. Plus I wouldn't use one on wood floors.

[JudoMom]

I mostly sweep with a regular broom, and I have a small hand broom that I'm trying to train the younger kids to use when they spill crumbs. It's not going so great yet. But I'll also swing the vacuum wand around a bit after I do the carpet, usually around the table and chair legs and the edges under the cabinets and appliances.

 

More than 12 years in this house, and I haven't found a great mopping system for my laminate wood. Steam mops and Swiffers left streaks. I can't use a soggy mop because our floors weren't laid well and we have gaps. I usually wind up on hands and knees with Better Life's floor cleaner. Which is why my floor isn't washed nearly as much as it should be. I don't have all that much hard floor space though, so I suppose it could be worse!

You need the OCedar spin mop Pawz linked above. Really, it's the best mop ever.

[Elizabeth86]

Hmm sounds like the steam mop isn't the best thing ever. I will skip that. Funny thing, I really don't mind mopping much, but I hate sweeping. I was hoping a cordless vac might speed things along and might be something the kids would be interested in using. Looks like I just keep on with what I'm already doing.

[Zinnia]

I vacuum hard floors. We have hardwoods (tile in kitchen/baths) with area rugs. I vacuum the whole house.

[skimomma]

I hate it but I have to vacuum.  We have old hardwood floors with gaps between each plank.  So using a broom means the smaller stuff just ends up in the cracks and the really fine stuff like dust bunnies and cat hair seem to escape the broom before the dustpan stage of the process.  So, I lug an old, heavy vacuum around every other day or so.  I really need a better system.

 

I only "spot mop" which really just means wandering around with a wet washcloth and wiping up anything obvious.  I have only done a full mop once in the 14 years we have lived here.  It was such an ordeal, I vowed to never do it again.  

[solascriptura]

We use a cordless stick vacuum for quick cleanups in the kitchen and dining spaces. It’s made such a difference that once mine dies, I’ll get another one. I mean think about it, if the crumbs don’t get picked up quickly they’ll get kicked around or stepped on and go all around the house.