Cleaning the kitchen floor

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paramedicgirl:
I always offer this work for the souls in purgatory who are there because they were slothful in housework.
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So that’s what happens to people like me? (Besides, I am not slothful, it’s just that everything gets dirty so darn fast!)
 
La Chiara:
So that’s what happens to people like me? (Besides, I am not slothful, it’s just that everything gets dirty so darn fast!)
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Hmmm, I never thought of it as “slothful”. It’s just that after working (and commuting) all week, and trying to cram in all the food shopping, errands, yard work, laundry, cooking, and cleaning into Saturday (hopefully not too much into Sunday, because I need at least one day to collapse into bed – after Mass, that is), sometimes the floor gets short shrift, or as my Mother would say, “a lick and a promise”. 😃

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What happens to a kitchen floor that doesn’t get cleaned, anyway? I mean, say you clean all the obvious stuff like spilled food, scuffs, and dust, but you never mop it otherwise? I don’t ever recall it mattering when I grew up that no one cleaned the floor, like, ever. It wasn’t sticky, dirty-looking, or anything. The only thing I could say is that it didn’t gleam.

I strongly advise you all not to visit my house, btw. Clean the floor weekly? :bigyikes:, no, make that a :bigyikes::bigyikes:!!
 
I have a lot of tile floor. I’ll try to keep the floors clean by sweeping it once or twice a day with a “Vileda” broom. I like this broom a lot because it easily reaches in any corner or narrow space, and dust sticks to the broom. These brooms don’t cost a lot. I think I bought mine for $6.95. They are also very durable.

For a total mop job, I have been using a sponge mop with a squueze attachment. I dip that in a bucket of water to wich I have added a little Pine Sol. Whatever dirt is caked onto the floor usually comes off very easily; once in a while a little scrubbing is necessary. Using one of my legs and an old towel I wipe the floor dry.

I am always on the lookout on how to clean things faster. Well, a week ago, at our annual Fair, I saw a demonstration of a mop which comes with three removable cloth covers.

When used with a dry cover, it becomes a broom. Dirt sticks to the microfibers of the cloth cover. After each use, just shake out the mop. When used with a dampened cloth cover, it can be used for a different type of cleaning besides mopping the floor: dusting, for example - either floor or walls.

What I like about this newly purchased cleaning toy is that the cloths are reusable and no chemicals are involved. To clean them, either handwash or machinewash.

For quick clean up of throw rugs, I use what looks like a rubberized rake. Besides getting dirt off the rugs, it also great to remove animal hair from the rugs. I don’t have fabric couches, but the rake probably would also do a good job on such couches.

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Ok, confession time.
If my feet feel icky or if I see something, I sweep or vacuum.
What’s wet or doesn’t move, I spot clean.
If almost nothing moves, it’s time to mop. 😃
(Pre-spray the bad spots with floor cleaner and a mop works fine.)
Ok, I like to mop on Saturday, too… “whether it needs it or not”… HA!

Don’t get me wrong, I go barefoot, I love a clean floor.
Still, people walk on floors. You know where their shoes have been.
Scrub all you like, but the ten-second rule is a leap of faith in favor of your immune system.

BTW, I don’t care how awful it looks, unless someone has gotten sick all over the floor, the mop shouldn’t come out on a Sunday. If you’re proud or dirt phobic, get it out of your system on Saturday.
 
My kitchen floor is peel and stick vinyl tiles. I vacuum the floor 1-2 times a week and on hands and knees I wipe it down with Clorox Bleach wipes. It’s a small area and in between I spot clean whenever there are crumbs or spills. It’s the least time consuming cleaning chore in the house!
 
I use a broom to sweep as and when needed (normally every day)
And once a week it is vacuumed and mopped. I have a plain cloth mop and use a bucket of hot water with vinegar and a bit of dish soap. Once in a while DH (rare) will go down on his hands and knees and scrub the floors.
We have a ceramic floor.
I find now that DS is older I mop less. When he was an infant / toddler it was done almost everyday.
 
If God had wanted me to clean the kitchen floor on my hands and knees he would have given me two good knees.
 
We have a linoleum floor. Normally I just sweep every other day and use the Swiffer wet mop once a week and it looks fine to me. We don’t have kids or anything, and we usually eat in the living room anyway, so it doesn’t seem to get that dirty. Only in the winter by the door, with all the snow and mud, it seems to track in a little bit and then I usually use the wet mop more frequently or if need be haul out the sponge-y mop…I think I’ve only done that a couple times though, it always feels like I’m just pushing dirty water around or something.
 
I alternate scrubbing the kitchen floor on my hands and knees with mopping every week. I scrub to get teh buit on dirt and the dirt around the edges of floor boards and appliances. For daily cleaning I first use the floor attachement of my vaccuum for the hard floors and I use a swiffer wet mop, but I either scrub or mop at least once per week.

For bathroom floors I always scrub, at least once per week. I also wipe it down around the sink and potty with a spray cleaner and paper towels or baby wipes almost every day. I have kids.

We also have a mandatory shoe removal rule upon entering the house!
 
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puzzleannie:
If God had wanted me to clean the kitchen floor on my hands and knees he would have given me two good knees.
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:amen:
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Pug:
What happens to a kitchen floor that doesn’t get cleaned, anyway? I mean, say you clean all the obvious stuff like spilled food, scuffs, and dust, but you never mop it otherwise? I don’t ever recall it mattering when I grew up that no one cleaned the floor, like, ever. It wasn’t sticky, dirty-looking, or anything. The only thing I could say is that it didn’t gleam.
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I think it depends on what kind of floor you have. My former home had vinyl flooring, and I remember that getting pretty grimy if not cleaned regularly.

Now, I have tile floors (kitchen, bathroom, and entry hall), and all I have to do is vacuum up the loose bits and wet mop it with water, and it looks fine. It helps to seal it occasionally, too – on my list for this year. 🙂

Other factors: Do you have small children? Do you allow shoes to be worn in the house? No children or shoes in my house, so the floor doesn’t get too bad (except when one of the kitties has a hairball :eek: ).

**Crazy Internet Junkies Society
**Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
 
Hands and knees - elbow grease if necessary - the only way to REALLY clean a tile or lineolium floor.
 
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CarolAnnSFO:
Other factors: Do you have small children? Do you allow shoes to be worn in the house?
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Ah! No one ever has shoes on, but I had a contractor in here the other day to examine something and the next day I freaked out when I say my kitchen floor. It was **covered **in marks and scuffs! It took at least 30 mins to srub them out on hands and knees. I didn’t even make the connection. It is the shoes!!!
 
Thanks for all your ideas, everyone! I think this weekend I’ll experiment with a few things to decide on a method.

We have an off-whiteish, textured linoleum floor that I HATE. It was installed by previous owners of the house (we moved here in June), and is old and a little chipped and scratched. That, combined with the texture, means the floor never looks really clean.

Our first project will be replacing the floor, but it still could be a few months until we do that!

Thanks again! :blessyou:
 
My mom would make us clean the floor when we were bad…and we were somehow bad enough to clean the floor about once a month 😛

Myself, since my floor is old and worn and no amount of mopping will make it look good, I just spot clean and sweep when I feel something under my feet. About twice a year I mop it, usually around fall and spring cleaning. 👍
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BasBleu:
Lol! I have a cat who likes to do that same thing. A dog I can understand, a cat…we don’t eat meat, so I’m not sure what could be so appealing down there!
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I also have a cat who licks the floor…I’ve never figured it out :confused:
 
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paramedicgirl:
I always offer this work for the souls in purgatory who are there because they were slothful in housework.
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Ummmm — please add my name to your list, not that I am in Purgatory YET, but the sloth thing is what’ll get me there…

My solution to the whole kitchen floor thing: Buy those inexpensive area rugs to cover the floor (someone somewhere always has them on sale). Vacuum as needed. When they get dirty, toss them out.

Repeat.

'thann
 
I constantly clean my kitchen floor, probably 2 - 4 times a day, mostly by using damp paper towels like ice skates. My floor is nearly a year old, and I haven’t mopped it yet because the ice skating method works well for me. Plus it helps to have a floor that looks just like wood, but is actually vinyl. The brand is Amtico, and it hides dirt really well. That’s a plus in a family of nine.
 
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Cupofkindness:
I constantly clean my kitchen floor, probably 2 - 4 times a day, mostly by using damp paper towels like ice skates. My floor is nearly a year old, and I haven’t mopped it yet because the .
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when kids were little I joked I only mopped the floor when the baby got stuck to it. my favorite method was spray warm water with the sink attachment (usually while I was on the phone), and have the kids skate around with towels from the dirty clothes basket. They loved it, even the baby who got taken for rides on the towels. Then do the laundry and job is done–kinda.
 
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puzzleannie:
when kids were little I joked I only mopped the floor when the baby got stuck to it. my favorite method was spray warm water with the sink attachment (usually while I was on the phone), and have the kids skate around with towels from the dirty clothes basket. They loved it, even the baby who got taken for rides on the towels. Then do the laundry and job is done–kinda.
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Oh, I’m gonna try this. My kids would have a ball!!

Usually I sweep when needed. Sweep well and Swiffer mop once a week. Hands and knees scrub a couple of times a year or whenever the kids have committed an infraction serious enough to merit scrubbing the kitchen floor. Luckily our house is very old and the kitchen floor is this old brown linoleum that was pretty nicked up before we moved in. So clean or dirty you really can’t tell the difference. I don’t plan on replacing it until the kids grow up a little. (I won’t have the money for that project for years anyway! 😉 )
 
dulcissima, I loved your tips!! I usually sewwp every other day and mop every week, but I would be better off spot cleaning. I like to scrub on my hands and knees about every 6 months. We have a linolium floor with little dimples, and they only get clean with hand scrubbing. I’ve tried various floor cleaners, but I think plain dish liquid works the best.
 
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