MY MOPPING TECHNIQUE IS UNSTOPPABLE (not really)
July 6, 2011 2:45 PM Subscribe
Please help me get my floors as clean as possible.
After sweeping and mopping, my floors (80% stone tile, 20% laminated wood flooring) still don't look pristine. I have one medium sized dog (a blue heeler, which sheds) and two cats (one kinda hairy, one kinda furry). Sweeping presents a challenge because the hair/dust balls seem to fly up in the air when I sweep and I'm not sure that I'm getting all of the hair/dust in the dust pan when I'm done.
I start at one end of the house, sweep everything into a corner (once I get to a "bottleneck" in the floor plan), then use a dust pan to put that in the trash. I'll do this for the entire floor of the house (moving furniture from one room to another to make sure I get every square inch, and then I'll mop.
I use about 1.5-2 gallons of hot water when mopping. I've tried a range of products to put into the mop water, but none seem to do an outstanding job. I just now used plain water and honestly the results were about the same. I use a mop that has a handle that twists around the mop handle to wring out the water. I'll dunk, wring, mop, repeat. I've tried wringing into the bath tub so that the dirty water doesn't go back into the bucket, and this seems to help slightly.
Once I'm done, I'll slide around the house on an old bath towel to dry the floors, then I put the house back together (move furniture back to where it's supposed to go, etc). After this, I can still see wisps of dog hair, wet from mopping, around a few spots of the house. It seems to me that the laminated flooring has less of this problem than the stone tile sections.
I'm looking for critiques/suggestions on the tools/products I'm using, as well as any feedback on mopping technique.
I remember in elementary school the janitor would mop the halls with a wide shop broom, but he would first sprinkle some type of moist "sawdust-y" material on the floor, which he would then push up and down the halls, and that seemed to help accumulate the dust, rather than just push it from one spot to the next. What's that stuff called, and would that work for residential applications?
After sweeping and mopping, my floors (80% stone tile, 20% laminated wood flooring) still don't look pristine. I have one medium sized dog (a blue heeler, which sheds) and two cats (one kinda hairy, one kinda furry). Sweeping presents a challenge because the hair/dust balls seem to fly up in the air when I sweep and I'm not sure that I'm getting all of the hair/dust in the dust pan when I'm done.
I start at one end of the house, sweep everything into a corner (once I get to a "bottleneck" in the floor plan), then use a dust pan to put that in the trash. I'll do this for the entire floor of the house (moving furniture from one room to another to make sure I get every square inch, and then I'll mop.
I use about 1.5-2 gallons of hot water when mopping. I've tried a range of products to put into the mop water, but none seem to do an outstanding job. I just now used plain water and honestly the results were about the same. I use a mop that has a handle that twists around the mop handle to wring out the water. I'll dunk, wring, mop, repeat. I've tried wringing into the bath tub so that the dirty water doesn't go back into the bucket, and this seems to help slightly.
Once I'm done, I'll slide around the house on an old bath towel to dry the floors, then I put the house back together (move furniture back to where it's supposed to go, etc). After this, I can still see wisps of dog hair, wet from mopping, around a few spots of the house. It seems to me that the laminated flooring has less of this problem than the stone tile sections.
I'm looking for critiques/suggestions on the tools/products I'm using, as well as any feedback on mopping technique.
I remember in elementary school the janitor would mop the halls with a wide shop broom, but he would first sprinkle some type of moist "sawdust-y" material on the floor, which he would then push up and down the halls, and that seemed to help accumulate the dust, rather than just push it from one spot to the next. What's that stuff called, and would that work for residential applications?
Ever tried swiffers? Completely eliminates the need for the dust pan, and, just as the commercials say, they do actually attract the dirt and hair. My roommate has two cats and a dog, and I would hate my life without swiffers. She prefers to use a broom (why, I don't know), and it takes her at least two times longer than me to sweep the floors--and the floors look less shitty after I'm done with them.
As far as mopping goes, my dad always mopped our kitchen floor with ammonia, which made even our lame linoleum look spiffy. I don't know if you can use it on wood laminate, though.
posted by phunniemee at 2:51 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
As far as mopping goes, my dad always mopped our kitchen floor with ammonia, which made even our lame linoleum look spiffy. I don't know if you can use it on wood laminate, though.
posted by phunniemee at 2:51 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Try vacuuming instead of sweeping, and also try using a scrubbing pad on the end of your mop - but not on the wood laminate!!!
You don't really need anything except dishwashing liquid in water to get your floor clean.
posted by tel3path at 2:53 PM on July 6, 2011
You don't really need anything except dishwashing liquid in water to get your floor clean.
posted by tel3path at 2:53 PM on July 6, 2011
I'll watch this thread for the wet-mopping suggestions, but I swear by the dry swiffers for the sweeping part. I use it kind of like a push broom, and it picks up all manner of dust and shedded fur. What doesn't cling to the cloth can then be gathered with a dust pan or a dustbuster.
Or, alternatively, if you have a whole house fan you can save yourself a lot of work by running the fan while you open windows one room at a time, then gather up all the accumulated fur and dust at the base of the stairs. Now that's a true labor-saving device!
posted by DrGail at 2:54 PM on July 6, 2011
Or, alternatively, if you have a whole house fan you can save yourself a lot of work by running the fan while you open windows one room at a time, then gather up all the accumulated fur and dust at the base of the stairs. Now that's a true labor-saving device!
posted by DrGail at 2:54 PM on July 6, 2011
Once in a while, use some sort of acrylic polish. It adds a little bit of shine, which may be what you're missing.
posted by theora55 at 3:03 PM on July 6, 2011
posted by theora55 at 3:03 PM on July 6, 2011
Vacuum frequently, swiffer as often as necessary and only right after you've vacuumed and lastly, once in a while, scrub the floor with a bucket of water on your knees.
posted by Brian Puccio at 3:19 PM on July 6, 2011
posted by Brian Puccio at 3:19 PM on July 6, 2011
I use:
A good wringer bucket
An old fashioned HD cotton string mop
Hot water, a healthy dose of Fabuloso and some lemon scented ammonia
It does a great job on my tile, conctrete and hardwood surfaces, despite living in the desert with 3 dogs, a cat and my 105 year old grandma.
posted by buggzzee23 at 3:19 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
A good wringer bucket
An old fashioned HD cotton string mop
Hot water, a healthy dose of Fabuloso and some lemon scented ammonia
It does a great job on my tile, conctrete and hardwood surfaces, despite living in the desert with 3 dogs, a cat and my 105 year old grandma.
posted by buggzzee23 at 3:19 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you have pets then the Swiffer probably won't be enough on its own, but it does help get all the difficult little bits.
Also I would be careful of any products you use on the floor because the residue get on your pets' paws and then the pets lick their paws and ingest it.
posted by radioamy at 3:31 PM on July 6, 2011
Also I would be careful of any products you use on the floor because the residue get on your pets' paws and then the pets lick their paws and ingest it.
posted by radioamy at 3:31 PM on July 6, 2011
Yeah, with that much pet hair around, you need to vacuum - and frequently. Most of the time, you may not even need to mop afterward.
posted by Urban Hermit at 3:40 PM on July 6, 2011
posted by Urban Hermit at 3:40 PM on July 6, 2011
To do a good job with a mop, you need a mop that is big and heavy. And some kind of ringer/smasher. If the mop you are talking about is like the one I am thinking of, it will do OK, but you will probably have to work in smaller sections than you might think.
For the laminate, I would break down and hand wash it with ammonia or lysol. Or a laminate specific cleaner, if such a thing exists. Wash it, let it dry, then run over it again with the (clean) mop and clean water.
For the tile, more information is needed. If it is a rough surface, you are going to need a scrub brush. The Hi-lo is the gold standard in restaurants. Get the floor wet with soapy hot water, let it sit for a couple minutes, scrub like mad and be astonished at what gets loosened up. Sop up all the gunk with your mop, and then mop it again with clean water and a clean mop.
(If you want to try an intermediate solution, do the bathtub thing, but then rinse the mop out with clean water. Then dunk it back in the soapy water and continue with the next section.)
If it is quarry tile, understand that the "clean" mode for this tile is a dull finish. They make special quarry tile cleaners that do a really nice job.
If it is shinier, smoother tile, you probably don't need to scrub the surface, but hitting the grout with a brush might not be a bad idea.
For both floors, if you are looking for a showroom shine, use an old bath towel to buff it dry once all the cleaning is done.
And wash your mop heads in the washing machine.
posted by gjc at 4:25 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
For the laminate, I would break down and hand wash it with ammonia or lysol. Or a laminate specific cleaner, if such a thing exists. Wash it, let it dry, then run over it again with the (clean) mop and clean water.
For the tile, more information is needed. If it is a rough surface, you are going to need a scrub brush. The Hi-lo is the gold standard in restaurants. Get the floor wet with soapy hot water, let it sit for a couple minutes, scrub like mad and be astonished at what gets loosened up. Sop up all the gunk with your mop, and then mop it again with clean water and a clean mop.
(If you want to try an intermediate solution, do the bathtub thing, but then rinse the mop out with clean water. Then dunk it back in the soapy water and continue with the next section.)
If it is quarry tile, understand that the "clean" mode for this tile is a dull finish. They make special quarry tile cleaners that do a really nice job.
If it is shinier, smoother tile, you probably don't need to scrub the surface, but hitting the grout with a brush might not be a bad idea.
For both floors, if you are looking for a showroom shine, use an old bath towel to buff it dry once all the cleaning is done.
And wash your mop heads in the washing machine.
posted by gjc at 4:25 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
The swiffer vac is life altering! For mopping I use the Clorox brand microfiber mop that's available at Target but I'm sure there are similar/better mop products out there.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 4:29 PM on July 6, 2011
posted by PorcineWithMe at 4:29 PM on July 6, 2011
Ooh, my next question was going to be about cleaning linoleum floors!
Like gjc said, I haven't found anything that works better than scrubbing by hand (but I also have a very small kitchen). I use microfiber cloths and they seem to require much less elbow grease, and having a 2nd bucket of clean(er) water requires fewer passes. I think the two-bucket method improves any techinique, though.
I used to have fluffy animals, and while things like the Swiffer help win battles I don't think you can ever win the war.
Whenever I see a Maru video all I can think about is how unbelievably clean the floors are.
posted by Room 641-A at 4:55 PM on July 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
Like gjc said, I haven't found anything that works better than scrubbing by hand (but I also have a very small kitchen). I use microfiber cloths and they seem to require much less elbow grease, and having a 2nd bucket of clean(er) water requires fewer passes. I think the two-bucket method improves any techinique, though.
I used to have fluffy animals, and while things like the Swiffer help win battles I don't think you can ever win the war.
Whenever I see a Maru video all I can think about is how unbelievably clean the floors are.
posted by Room 641-A at 4:55 PM on July 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
This isn't perfect, but is part of the process of getting better results:
Get two buckets (I use small rectangular trash cans that my mop fits in). Put very hot water in both, and put your cleaning solution (if you're not using a direct-apply cleaner) in what shall become, for the moment, your Clean Bucket.
Wet the mop in the Clean Bucket and mop. Rinse and wring the mop in the other bucket - now the Dirty Bucket - then dip it in the Clean Bucket and mop some more.
Always rinse and wring into the Dirty Bucket. When the Dirty Bucket begins to get gross, pour its contents down the toilet (don't use the kitchen sink if you have a disposal), refill with very hot water and a shot of cleaning solution if applicable. This is now your Clean Bucket, and the formerly Clean Bucket is now your Dirty Bucket.
Continue in this manner. It really goes a long way towards 1) using hotter water to mop, 2) not mopping with scungey water.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:05 PM on July 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
Get two buckets (I use small rectangular trash cans that my mop fits in). Put very hot water in both, and put your cleaning solution (if you're not using a direct-apply cleaner) in what shall become, for the moment, your Clean Bucket.
Wet the mop in the Clean Bucket and mop. Rinse and wring the mop in the other bucket - now the Dirty Bucket - then dip it in the Clean Bucket and mop some more.
Always rinse and wring into the Dirty Bucket. When the Dirty Bucket begins to get gross, pour its contents down the toilet (don't use the kitchen sink if you have a disposal), refill with very hot water and a shot of cleaning solution if applicable. This is now your Clean Bucket, and the formerly Clean Bucket is now your Dirty Bucket.
Continue in this manner. It really goes a long way towards 1) using hotter water to mop, 2) not mopping with scungey water.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:05 PM on July 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
There are now booties/slippers made of microfiber for scrubbing the floor----they can save your knees and back from scrubbing the floor by hand, and putting your whole body weight into scrubbing gets the floor nice and clean. I got my slippers in a Korean market.
posted by effluvia at 5:11 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by effluvia at 5:11 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
I have a Swiffer Wetjet and the aforementioned Swiffer Sweeper and they're great. I use the dry sweeper cloths about twice a week and the wet cloths once a week (we track in a lot of leaves/outside debris). I use the Wetjet every...week and a half or so? I actually used this tutorial to make some replacement Wetjet pads so I only have to buy the solution. It really does help to keep our tile floors looking super clean with a minimum of work. I don't like the waste of the sweepers, but it's a timesaver for sure and I'm trying to think of some way to make reusable cloths for those too.
posted by kro at 6:08 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by kro at 6:08 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
My mopping life changed when I discovered the combination of
1. Vileda microfibre mop heads
2. Using ridiculously hot water in the bucket
3. following the detergent amount instructions to a tee
4. One of these babies for sweeping - i can literally do a 140 square metre space in 6 minutes with it, then I just vacuum the sweeper head. It picks up a mind blowing amount of dust.
Technique is also important - instead of pushing the mop head around, I make it zig zag across the floor so at the end of a long zig zag, it feels like i'm picking up whatever residual crap may be on the floor with a quick pick-up motion. I don't know if that makes sense, but practice makes perfect.
posted by shazzam! at 9:21 PM on July 6, 2011
1. Vileda microfibre mop heads
2. Using ridiculously hot water in the bucket
3. following the detergent amount instructions to a tee
4. One of these babies for sweeping - i can literally do a 140 square metre space in 6 minutes with it, then I just vacuum the sweeper head. It picks up a mind blowing amount of dust.
Technique is also important - instead of pushing the mop head around, I make it zig zag across the floor so at the end of a long zig zag, it feels like i'm picking up whatever residual crap may be on the floor with a quick pick-up motion. I don't know if that makes sense, but practice makes perfect.
posted by shazzam! at 9:21 PM on July 6, 2011
I am currently installing laminate floors and everything I read and hear says not to get them wet, so I'm surprised you are mopping them. I would suggest mainly vacuuming, with the occasional mop or hand-wipe on spots that are really sticky or noticeably dirty.
I have heard great things about the ability of rubber to pick up pet hair, so a rubber-headed broom might be a better option than the broom you are using right now.
posted by lollusc at 10:13 PM on July 6, 2011
I have heard great things about the ability of rubber to pick up pet hair, so a rubber-headed broom might be a better option than the broom you are using right now.
posted by lollusc at 10:13 PM on July 6, 2011
For wood/laminate floor -- Vacuum + hand wash with something like Bona or another "squirt and wipe" type cleaner that won't hurt the floor or your pets. Touch up with swiffer in between.
For the stone, my mom says that all mops do is distribute watery dirt all over the floor and I'm inclined to agree.
posted by *s at 11:24 AM on July 7, 2011
For the stone, my mom says that all mops do is distribute watery dirt all over the floor and I'm inclined to agree.
posted by *s at 11:24 AM on July 7, 2011
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posted by Violet Hour at 2:50 PM on July 6, 2011