General

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Denise in Ark — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:58:55 GMT

Actually, I vacuum hard floors with a mini cannister vac instead of sweeping before mopping and find it easier, just a YMMV thing. But it doesn't push hair and dust particles up into the air like a broom does, and it doesn't leave little escapee dust balls and dusty streaks in corners and against walls and furniture. It seems that the house is less dusty after switching from sweeping to vacuumming, but again, it might be just my perception. I only use dustmop and swiffer at home for quick sweeps down the middle in the track areas.

Again, my main focus for mopping is to get the floor C-L-E-A-N. If you spill a little water on a freshly mopped floor and wipe it up with a white cloth, that cloth should still be white afterward, or the floor isn't clean. Rinse water should come out clean. I used to write articles for an internet newsletter with 5,000 subscribers. When questions about streaking floors came up, I'd advise them to focus the weekly mopping routine on getting the floor a) cleaned of all dirt and b) rinsed of any detergent residue. Everyone that ever reported back later told me this resolved the problem. This level of clean mostly counts in homes where there are small children on the floor or if the family has allergies to dirt and dander. It's the difference between "looking" clean and actually "being" clean.

The bottom line is that if swipes and spritzes yield satsifactory results for your family, then that is really all that counts.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

dmc_2008 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:46:26 GMT

Pat, how do you clean up the pile of dirt swept up with a dust mop, do you get out the broom and dustpan? Also, how do you clean out the dust mop?

Really dumb questions I know.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Pat — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:11:06 GMT

dmc_2008:

Anyway, I found that sweeping and then dustmopping gets all the cat hair, sand and whatever up, then mopping with another clean wet dustmop.

Still so many steps compared to vacuming! ;-)

I have hardwood and linoleum floors, with tile in the bathroom, and I use only a dustmop to clean loose dirt. Then I use a damp mop on the hardwood, usually with vinegar. I sweep with the dustmop far more often than I mop, though, so it isn't a big deal. I'd ten times rather do that than vacuum.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

dmc_2008 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:46:55 GMT

Thank you Deniese,

What I did last week was swept with regular broom... then I picked up what I could with a dust mop.... then I took another dust mop type cloth and wet it with water and vinager from teh sink and mopped. I came up pretty good.

I just don't know what to do with a dust mop after I mop! I can't really take it and shake it outside cause I have neighbors that might not appreciate it. So... what to do with that thing??

Anyway, I found that sweeping and then dustmopping gets all the cat hair, sand and whatever up, then mopping with another clean wet dustmop.

Still so many steps compared to vacuming! ;-)

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Denise in Ark — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:28:52 GMT

Laminate, such a Pergo floor, is plastic. Think the same thing as a Formica countertop. How do you clean countertops? You wash them with detergent and water. What you have to be careful of is getting puddly water standing on the floor. Check at Home Depot or somewhere. The backing on some of those floors is a compressed paper, so standing water, left long enough, could seep through the seams and expand the backing, causing problems. However, this is not such a huge issue that you have to be paranoid about basic mopping. If you will scroll up in this thread, I shared the way I mop for all of my housecleaning clients. I have cleaned for a lot of families with very young children over the years, and they wanted those floors CLEAN. The only kind of floors that it might cause problems on would be unsealed wood floors. Laminates and poly-sealed woods will clean well with this method with no damage to the floor. Wax-sealed wood floors can be cleaned with this method as well, as long as your wax layer is built up and intact.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

MarthaMFI — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:47:08 GMT

isn't there a difference between real wood floors and laminates...most newer floors are more laminate then real wood.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

dmc_2008 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:49:00 GMT

Anybody have any ideas how to clean laminate here?

I just wet the dust mop and used it like a mop after I sweep.

Maybe I could spray some vinager and water on it first???

I haven't figured out how to keep it clean yet.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

gabbiecat — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:57:01 GMT

I think I would go out and buy lots of throw rugs for the high traffic areas.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Brandy — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:52:08 GMT

gabbiecat:
Oh no I would not recommend that for your floors

I was just comparing the floors of the past to what I have now. I wondered why mine were different than those I grew up with and went poking through some info to find out.

It led me to realise I don't have that build up of wax that is needed and I am not waxing often enough to get it. This is not a good flooring for us at all.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

gabbiecat — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:41:27 GMT

Oh no I would not recommend that for your floors, I was just answering the other ladys post. My grandmother may have used wax in fact I'm sure she did.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Brandy — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:06:24 GMT

gabbiecat:
My Grandmother used a brush, strong soap and water and a rag to dry up on her hardwoods for 70 years, they looked brand new when she died

I can't speak for your Grandmother but my Great Grandfather's floors had layers of wax to protect the wood. When we got his home, Mom was able to work off that and wax monthly to keep them looking nice.

That word nice is relative. They were shiny but full of character with age and wear showing. Nice floors here don't look worn like mine do. And mine aren't mine, they are really the landlord's who I do not believe understands this flooring.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

gabbiecat — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:50:31 GMT

You and I know that, but when you are cleaning a million dollar home my company is a little concerned about getting hardwoods wet especially the unsealed ones. My Grandmother used a brush, strong soap and water and a rag to dry up on her hardwoods for 70 years, they looked brand new when she died. The manufacturers tell customers not to use this and that, so you will buy thier products. For major spills we take a cloth and a little soap and water to get it up always dry the spot though. I work for a multi million dollar company we clean about 2000 homes every month and have maybe 2-3 compaints, which are solved right away by me or the other field manager. 2 out of the 2-3 compaints are usually the cronic complainers who are never satisfied and we file them under that. We hand out cards with a telephone number or website for survey and they score us based on several catagories, the company scores us. our score as a company is 95 percent satisfaction so that's pretty good, the Team Leaders who take a team and go into the homes get a monthly bonus based on that score and any complaints and inspections I do on them once a month. The bonus is from 300-500 a month so they strive for perfection.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Brandy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:10:01 GMT

Denise in Ark:
My best friend has a 125 year old house and the first thing that they did was get the floors refinished and sealed.

If this was a 100 year old house, I'd understand why the floors were not sealed. This is a four year old house though.

The only thing that comes to mind as a why is that this house is an Acadian replica that includes some elements of the old Louisiana houses like the large windows and floor plan set to allow that air flow when the windows are open. Maybe the original owner chose the flooring so that it would develop that old look to feel more like the real deal and less like a new house built to look like an Acadian. It falls short with many other things that date it as newer though,

Denise in Ark:
we are talking serious amounts of WORK with regular stripping/rewaxing in addition to daily care

Oh yes and I don't have the time or energy that this floor really requires.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Denise in Ark — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:42:28 GMT

gabbiecat:
I work for a cleaning service and we use vinegar and water, but never get them wet, just a little sprayed on a smop and thats it.

It's pretty embarrassing, though, to have a customer complain that, despite the big $$$ they are paying for housekeeping, their baby gets filthy when playing on the floor because it didn't come clean. That's when I learned about poly sealants that withstand a little dish soap in the water, and that "laminate" floors with no hardwood are really plastic in the first place, so as long as you don't get them puddly-wet where the water is likely to soak through the seams, they withstand a good cleaning very well.

Re: Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Denise in Ark — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:36:13 GMT

Ohh now I get it...we're talking about solid hardwood, not engineered floors, and they aren't sealed. Makes a huge difference.

I had one house where he'd had theLR and hall refinished - when they do that, the DO use poly. But the bedrooms still had just the original flooring and no sealer at all. You know, I didn't even think of them that way until reading your comment. I've been cleaning his house in Arkansas for about 15 years, and just mop the floors with the dish soap water. It's real humid there, too, but the floors are in fantastic shape exc for needing refinish. Much of your warping issue is probably about a lot of things...the quality of the wood, installation, dryness of the underside of the house, etc

My best friend has a 125 year old house and the first thing that they did was get the floors refinished and sealed. The only issue with those floors has ever been that they used a high gloss sealer and they have to get CLEAN *and* dried or they will streak and look awful.

It must be frustrating to know that you can put work into your floors and they are still not clean. I remember from childhood a house with wood/waxed floors...we are talking serious amounts of WORK with regular stripping/rewaxing in addition to daily care.