Our new house has a lot of wooden floors whereas our old house was almost exclusively carpet. So I need suggestions for cleaning the floors. We have 2 cats that tend to track little litter about the house. I also have an indoor dog that goes out to pee and poop. When she comes in, she tracks in grass.
So I’m looking for any suggestions. From a plain mop, to a swiffer, to a robotic mop, I’ll consider anything that will work to keep the grit and sand off of the floor.
Please hit me with your suggestions and experiences. Thanks.
I don’t know how fine your wooden floors are but I would think a swiffer would be ok for day to day cleanings. And then weekly I would recommend something like Bruce Hardwood and Laminate to clean the floors with a proper dust mop. It comes in a handy spray and you just spray out about a 2-3 foot square and work it in.
Good luck with all of those animals.
Whatever you do it it has to be easier than when you had carpeting.
I love my Swiffer. I have bamboo floors and I can quickly hit the high spots of my whole down stairs in 20-30 minutes. Thorough cleaning takes an hour. Bamboo floors are easily cleaned with less liquid than other flooring, IMO. They have cleaning liquid for wood floors.
I have 2 dogs and 2 cats in the house. The ground outside is sandy. That sand get everywhere.
Adding, I love the Swiffer duster as well. My house is logs. As I go around the house I carry a duster with me. Log homes are dustier than other homes.
I’d get a Roomba. They constantly cruise the floors sucking up cat hair, sand, leaves, litter etc. Then once every week or so, you can mop the floors with Murphy’s Oil Soap.
I damp mop wood floors with a big flat mop like the Swiffer, except it uses washable cotton terry cloth covers. I use a mild wood cleaner and a bit of water. I also vacuum a lot, to keep up with constantly respawning dirt and hair/fur.
My favorite item by Swiffer itself is actually the duster.
I don’t have time to hunt for the original source (probably a cat/dog site) but several years ago I read that the material that swiffer uses as a pickup medium is ethylene glycol, or a chemical that is close. That is antifreeze. The information came from several cat and dog owners who lost or nearly lost indoor pets to, in their belief, swiffer use.
I had a dog that died of antifreeze poisoning. I wouldn’t risk this with my cats, or any creature that washes its paws with its tongue, or puts its fingers in its mouth, as a crawler or toddler might.
Urban legend? Dunno, maybe someone has up-to-date info on this; I would love to hear. For myself, I’m happy with my present adaptation to dust-blindness, vacuuming when the black cat hair is noticeable on the beige carpet.
My mother uses the Swiffer damp cloth pads for mopping the kitchen and hallways. But she doesn’t like the price, so she buys similar damp cloth pads from off-brands at dollar and other discount stores. Or she’ll wrap a paper towel around the Swiffer pad and mop with that. I bought a couple of microfiber covers that wrap around the Swiffer pad and can be used for dry mopping and once they’re dirty, they can be thrown in the laundry. (If you look on Amazon, you’ll find many reusable options for the Swiffer mop.)
Slightly more pricey but I got a Dyson V10 cordless for keeping place tidy.
Easy to grab out of the closet to get dust bunnies, leaves, grass, crumbs, etc. off the hard floors. Snap on another end and I can make the rounds getting dust off the white floor boards. Has another head included for carpets.
For stuff that doesn’t get sucked up I usually go around with a slightly damp $10 rope mop.
I use Swiffer dry and Swiffer wet mops. I also vacuum or sweep. I find that sweeping works the best for getting in corners, dry Swiffers are the best for going under things like beds, couches, etc. Wet Swiffers are ideal for tile and vinyl flooring. I also use them on the wood and laminate floors. When I’m doing a quick job, I use the vacuum on all of the floors because I have to vacuum the area and entry rugs anyway.
I have 2 large dogs that after I’ve vacuumed and dusted, love to arise from their slumber on the couch and do a nice big shake. I then watch the hair wafting through the atmosphere landing on my freshly cleaned surfaces.
IMO/E Swiffer wet & dry is possibly useful for quick spot cleaning, but not worth much for regular cleaning. Maybe good for getting under beds and couches. I suggest you get a vacuum cleaner you like (I’m an Oreck user) and just vacuum a lot.
What mops do you use? How do you dry the floors? Me, I get down on the floors w/ a bucket and a couple of rags - for both the wood and tile floors.
For us Swifters have worked best for dust, hair, some leaves but not as well for grit. It gets enough to keep a semblance of control but usually at least every week or two the standard vacuum cleaner gets pulled into play. Especially heavier grit like rock salt residue and larger things like that.
I just put a dedicated dish cloth on the Swiffer sweeper head, and wet it with either water or diluted Mr. Clean (otherwise known as Mr. Proper). Good size for getting the kitchen floor clean, which needs to be done more than once a week, despite not having children or pets or wearing shoes inside.
I tried Swiffers. I tried the reusable microfiber mops. Both are good for dirt, fur, and fine particles. Anything larger, including blades of grass, pine straw, kitty litter and bits of gravel, does not get picked up. You have to push that stuff into a dust pan. A Swiffer replaces a mop. It can’t replace a broom/vacuum.
Cat fur? Grab the Swiffer.
Cat food (dry type), grab a broom.
