Since I always get such great answers from everyone when I ask my mundane questions, I wanted to throw out one that I have been wondering about for a while now. What do you clean your floors with? We used to have vinyl flooring in our house, but a couple of years ago, we ripped all of that out and installed ceramic tile ourselves. I blogged about that process, extensively, while it was ongoing. It was a bear, but I do love the end result. I love having ceramic tile floors. Mine are darker than the vinyl was (which was off-white, horrid choice for flooring to me), and so they don’t show dirt as much. Which, in my mind, translates to not having to clean them as often! Of course, that’s just silly. They get as dirty or dirtier than they did before. Since we got Beau last fall, they are definitely a lot dirtier than they were before! 🙂
About 6 months ago, I decided to buy a Swiffer and try out the disposable wet mopping pads. Overall, I like them, and like the ease of using them to mop my floors (we have tile in the bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room and breakfast room). But, there are a few things that do bother me. One, using these disposable pads sure adds a lot of waste to our already overflowing landfills. Two, price of buying the refills. And three, although they are easy to use, I really don’t think they are getting my floors all that clean. Don’t get me wrong, I think they do a decent job, but maybe not quite as clean as I’d like them to be.
So, I’m looking for suggestions, and I’d also like to know what you use to clean/mop your floors. What products and equipment do you use? Do you do a minimal cleaning regularly and then a more thorough cleaning at later intervals? What products have you tried and not liked, versus what do you like? I’m especially anxious to hear from those of you who do have ceramic tile floors, but any and all flooring options would be great for me to read about. One day soon, we hope to rip up the carpeting in our den and put in laminate, so I’m also curious as to what you use to clean that type of flooring. I guess this can qualify as today’s Question of the Day! Leave me a comment and let me know what you use to clean your flooring 🙂
{{P.S This is a dual-reference blog entry – I’m also using this as my photo for the day over at my Project365 blog. 🙄 }}
[…] I have been using a regular Swiffer sweeper with these disposable wet mopping pads for a few months now. I’m not sure they are getting my floors as clean as I want. So, I posted a “Question of the Day” about how you clean your floors, over on my regular blog. Click here.  Hop on over and give me your feedback, if you have time! […]
Well I can be of no help to you, I’ve used the Swiffer things too and seem to have some of the same issues with them and I’m thinking they might not be all that good for the finish on the tile either. I hope you get some other ideas!
I have ceramic tile in my kitchen and bathrooms – love it! I’ve never used a Swiffer. I just get out a bucket, fill it half way with hot water, add some cleaner (right now I’m using Simple Green), then get out my trusty sponge mop. I have one where you pull up on part of the handle and it squeezes the water out of the mop head. Then I just go to town. I don’t rinse, unless the water has gotten excessively dirty. Oh, the mop has a scrubbing strip on one side for the tough spots. Every few months I’ll get down on hands and knees with a scrub brush, but I haven’t done that for a while. I’m too old to get down like that – I’ll never get up again!
I have a hardwood foyer and I use Mop and Glo for wood floors with a damp mop. Works great.
Ugh, cleaning floors is one of my least favorite chores. I have carpet (wish I could rip it all out) in the common areas and bedrooms, hardwood in the kitchen (love it) and tile in the entry way. I use the wet swiffers on the tile and the laminate in the bathroom, but have the same concerns that you do. So, I’ve ended up just using a damp rag of my own instead of buying the refills. I think it cleans better, though not as good as getting down on hands and knees and using the old elbow grease, which is what I do for thorough cleanings a lot less often!
Speaking of which, my floors are in desperate need of attention right now. We have a young woman house sitting for us when we’re gone next week, and suddenly my house looks very much in need of a good cleaning!
I use the Swiffer Wet Jet and LOVE it!
Swiffer all the way. Dry first then wet. No way I’m getting down on hands and knees for all of that. 🙂
We have hardwood floors so can’t use Swiffer…we use Murphy’s Oil Soap. But, I used to use Swiffer and loved them.
I use an old fashioned mop and bucket with lysol disinfectant cleaner in the water for my tile (I have a lot of it too)–and sometimes–if I’m feeling especially green–I just put vinegar in the water. I did not like the swiffer wet jet at all on my tile–it definitely did not clean to my liking. I tested it by wiping over the floor afterward with a rag–not clean, especially the grout lines. I do use the dry swiffer on my hardwood for “in-between” cleanings. I love that thing for hardwood –or laminate. It works wonderfully. I use Bruce hardwood cleaner and a terrycloth type dry mop for my regular hardwood cleaning.
I’m with JennaG. I use the ole mop and bucket with Mr. Clean. However, when I had hardwood in my last house, I used Bruce hardwood cleaner with a terry cloth dry mop. The people that we bought our wood from told us that the swifter wasn’t good for the finish. 🙂
Mop and bucket with Mr. Clean here too. The kind of mop where you’re hands don’t touch the water, you just twist the handle. And it’s got to be Mr. Clean.
I’m with JennaG and Mandalyn. We all got our hardwood and tile from the same people: my parents 🙂 I use mop and bucket with Lysol for my tile floors. And the Bruce hardwood cleaner with a terry cloth dry mop. But I do use the dry Swiffer for a quick once-over.
I have ceramic tile and laminate flooring. I also have two small boys, so my floors are cleaned all the time. I have a Swiffer wet jet, but for the amount of cleaning I do, the cost was high. I refuse to use anything super chemical on my floors because the boys are on them all the time.
My sister in law sent me a book called Better Home Basics with non-toxic recipes for cleansers. I now use white vinegar, hot water, borax and several drops of either lavender or tea tree oil. My floors are always super clean and it smells nice. I bought a mop that you can add microfiber cloths or terry cloth on. I toss the cloths in the laundry and it works out well for me. I have a ton of cloths because I use them everyday. I would definitely recommend this solution for anyone with children.
I currently use the Swiffer Wet Jet on our tile and after about a jillion squirts of cleaner, I pretend it’s clean! Our new house has hardwood so I just bought one of the microfiber mops that can be used wet or dry and then thrown in the washer – we’ll see!
I hate to be the one to break this to you all, but the Swiffer Wet Jet is known to have strong chemicals in it that have actually killed dogs. Any small, young creature (a.k.a. children) crawling on the floor, putting their hands in their mouths, etc., are susceptible to it. I got rid of my Swiffer a couple of years ago (when my friend’s dog got sick, and the vet said that was the cause).
To clean my floor, I always spot clean when I notice a problem, and then just get down on my hands and knees with a little dishsoap and water and a cloth once a week. Works great, and I know its clean, ’cause I’m looking at it up close!
Hey dear…I tagged you over at my blog! 🙂
Oh, you probably don’t want to hear my strong opinion on this but I’m going to put it out there! I’m very old fashioned when it comes to these things…
IMO, Swiffer is bilking Americans as well as potentially harming them. They’re expensive, & like you said they’re wasteful, and I’m sorry, but there is nothing that will convince me that using anything but plain old water (& soap) on a floor is going to get it truly CLEAN. Rubbing up the visible stains, and using a pad that “cleans” the entire floor without being changed or rinsed is not good enough for me. When I mop, I’m constantly mopping an area, then going back to dip the mop in the water for a fresh load of soapy water.
Secondly, yikes about the chemicals that they put on your floors, that don’t even get rinsed off! If you walk barefoot, you’re soaking them up. If you have a baby, especially one who’s crawling all over the place, that’s just downright scary! Same thing with a dog or cat. When G was a baby, we stayed at P’s parents’ house for a few weeks during and after a major hurricane. They have hardwood floors throughout, and they used Swiffer wetjet to clean them. I was horrified! They thought I was crazy, but I went through and mopped & rinsed the entire floor area before I’d let him crawl on it. Interestingly, the floor was FILTHY! They’d JUST used the Swiffer, but I was watching the mop turn black with all the dirt that was still there. So I felt even more sure that they don’t truly deep-clean floors…anyway….long-winded but there are my crazy thoughts. 😀
Okay, we have ceramic tile for our kitchen/main walkthrough/entryway. It gets a daily sweeping and a weekly mopping, which works well for us. We mop with hot water and floor cleaner- it’s like Lysol floor cleaner but it’s the generic brand. The mopping is done with a sponge mop because I’ve found that that’s what scrubs the best. Then rinsed with a regular mop. Easy peasy and very clean, very safe. No waste, and hardly any cost.
I just asked about wood floors on SBA. I was given a few product names and also water & vinegar. Right now I only vacuum and dry mop to pick up the dust bunnies. We don’t have a lot of spills since we’re all adults. So we’ve spot cleaned up to this point.
As far as my tiles go, I do use Swiffer and love it. I do agree with you on the landfills though! I sometimes feel I need to change the pad for a sticky floor (hairspray).
When I had laminate wood flooring, I used this product http://www.greatcleaners.com/hardwoodfloorkit.html It’s the same basic concept as a swiffer, but it has a reusable head that you just throw in the washer and use again. I need to find again, since I’ve moved 2 times since then. I’ve used swiffer and I really prefer the Orange glo system to it. Don’t buy it from that website though, I got it for around $18 at my grocery store : ). Right now I use a broom and a regular sponge mop. My kitchen, dining area and bathrooms are tile (which I agree, are wonderful and well worth the effort it was to grout them, my brother in law installed them) and my just regular sponge mop works well. I worry about the landfill issue with swiffer took, which is why I was looking for alternatives. Good luck!
I too use the swiffer for quick clean ups and do the mop & bucket for overall cleaning (I need to locate that one in about 3 minutes!)… ugh…
Same as the gang for hardwood…
I’m a regular bucket and mop (although I have a CRAPPY traditional “rag” mop and would like to get a new one) kind of girl, although I’ll use a rag and water on spot cleaning since our apartment is mostly carpeted and small anyways… we have a little kitchen with laminate floors and a bathroom with the same thing… other than that, it’s all carpet except our tile entry way which I can NEVER get clean. I’ll have to try some of the ideas in the comments here.
I use simple green diluted for the floor. Weird, I know. I’m economical – I just use whatever we have, and usually we have simple green. I would love to try some “green”/earth-friendly solutions, though.
We did the laminate floors a few years ago and I’ve been using the Pergo laminate cleaner, with a soft mop (a removable one that fits on a rectangular mop and I rinse it in the sink. (not making sense here am i?) Anyways I’ve been thinking the solution is probably just vinegar and water basically and may just try making my own next time. I bought the swiffer pads once but agree – they don’t seem to clean the floors as thoroughly.
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