Wood Floors - Hersey,MI

I use a swiffer on my floors, but i don't buy the pads. i have a dust cloth that I put on the swiffer, and use that then. So I know it's cleaning better than the broom does, and i am not spending the money on the pads at all. And the dust cloths are washable, so that's the best part.

We have a Haan floor sanitizer (FS-20) and really love it. I vacuum the floors first and then use the Haan and it really cleans the floors. Just using steam, it cleans up any dirt and spilled stuff really well. The pads that stick on the bottom are machine washable.
www.haanusa.com

S.,

Here is a link to a great mop. It can be used damp or dry and works just like a swiffer. The catch? You can put the microfiber pads into your washing machine and clean them for the next use. The handle is really sturdy and the size of the head is much bigger than a traditional swiffer.

http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_mop.asp

Also, here's an interesting link to cleaning hard wood floors. It might, or might not, be helpful to you.
http://www.cinhome.com/murphys.html

Have a great day!

C..

FELT: She gets the felt from Home Depot or Menards next to the "saucers" for under furniture on carpet (probably can get it at any big box like Sears or Kmart too).

SWIFFER: My daughter swiffers her floors dry. She uses fleece "sheets". You know how fleece attracts hair and dust etc). Then occasionally does a once over with a little Basic H2 on a towel - either on hands and knees or lets the kids do it ... makes a game out of it and they love it -- plus Basic H2 (Shaklee) is non-toxic so great for kids to use and great for cleaning whole house in general to keep toxins out the house and air.

BRAVO for reducing impact on landfills and BRAVO for not using chemicals and (yes, Swiffer sheets have chemicals). But I do love the swiffer concept and use fleece instead. Just buy your favorite fleece "scraps" from the fabric store or throw-aways from people sewing with fleece. Cut into sheet size and tuck into the swiffer "broom". When get dirty, just shake out loose dirt and toss into the washer when you've saved a few until want to wash them. Just like with the swiffer sheets, there will be some loose dirt left on the floor...pick up the pile and your floors are clean without chemical residue.

Isn't baking soda and white vinegar superb!! I use the natural (no toxins) laundry but prefer my old baking soda and vinegar as the fabric softener.

Hope this helps! Wahooo to you for keeping chemicals out of your home and your community. :-)

Bissell brand vacuums have a Swiffer-type vacuum/mop. You can put your own soap into it and the pad is washable instead of disposable. The best part is you flip it to the other side and it also vacuums hard floors instead of sweeping them. Works great!

http://www.bissell.com/ProductDetail.aspx?id=3903

As for the felt on the furniture, use the stiff felt (not sure what it is called) because if you use regular felt, it will rip or wear out over time. You can get it at craft or fabric stores.

.

We have hardwoods and a microfiber mop. It a flat mop with a microfiber pad that is washable. I have two pads and just alternate them. I dampen the pad with a mild soapy solution (I usually use dishsoap) when I need to really CLEAN the floor.

In the "olden days" we just used a regular mop (not the wet-sponge kind - the dry fluffy kind). You can spray it with Endust so the dust will cling to it (maybe there's a wholistic alternative). I think you can remove the over-cloth to wash it in the washing machine.

Not sure about what to put on the furniture legs - good question. We did nothing and just accepted a somewhat scratched floor under the table.

My whole house is hard wood floors and we have a really hairy fluffy dog, so its double the issues. As for the furniture, we went to Walmart and bought those little plastic round things that you nail in to the bottom of your furnitures legs because the regular feet on the furniture was showing some wear on the floor.

As for the swiffer, I've used it on all our floors, but it doesn't work AS EFFECTIVELY on the real hardwood but works GREAT on the pergo flooring in some of the rooms. Real hard wood, even sealed, allows too much moisture to get trapped and you end up getting some separating in the boards. I have yet to find anything I've liked very much for actually WASHING the real hard wood floors (but mine aren't sealed properly just yet, maybe once sealed well, I'll have better luck).

As for sweeping, a broom will just push the dirt around (or into any little opening in the wood you might have). I have the Dirt Devil vaccuum (its red and looks kinda like a broom) and it SUCKS UP the dirt, so its easier to pick up. The only problem with it is you have to keep it plugged in all the time and it doesn't hold its charge very long. What I end up doing is plugging it in like a vaccuum and using it while unplugging and replugging it in as I go.

Iin addition to the suggestions you have received; we bought am industrial type mom; it has about a 2 foot long head so dusts a lot of surface quickly.
I too, have struggled with how to really "clean" my hardwood floors as they were here when we bought the house and I haven't a clue as to what kind they are or anything. So typically, I either use this industrial mop, my Swiffer and then damp clean with a rag small spots that get dirty.
Not thrilled with my system, but don't want to ruin my floors!

You can use a swiffer with rags instead of their disposable cloths. Toss the rags in the wash.

K. Z.

I personally don't know anything about hardwood floors, but I would think that the company that manufactures the floor would give you the best advice (call them if you need more clarification).

Hi S. - My mom used to have 'swiffer' like mop that she used to clean her wood floors. It was cloth and washable. It worked really well. I believe that she had a spray that she used to clean them - she sprayed it on the mop then wiped the floor with it.

J.

I would highly recommend a steam mop - they have reusable cloths that you just throw in the washer between uses AND they only use water which is awesome for a crawler (no bad chemicals but the steam kills the germs).

Hi S. - I love my hardwood floors. They are so much easier to maintain than carpet.

I really like BonaX hardwood floor cleaner. I used it for 10 years on my floors and it did a great job maintaining them. It only took 3 months of a cleaning lady using vinegar/water to cloud the finish. They looked dirty and streaky all the time after that. Thankfully we were having additional hardwood installed and had them refinished - and we have a new cleaning lady.

Also, I have #1 red oak floors in my house with water-based urethane finish. I just sweep with my regular nylon bristle broom and use the vacuum hose to get along the baseboards. After sweeping, I mop with BonaX and a microfiber mopping pad. I think Swiffer is giving out a sales pitch.

Can you use the Shark Steamer on sealed hardwood?? That's pretty cool. I thought it was just for laminates, etc.

I have pergo floors and the swifter works better than any broom. Instead of buying the cloths that go on the swifter, I use paper towel and it is just as effective. I still use a broom to get the things that don't adhere to the swifter.Also, I use a product Basic H2 (organic soap) and use a little of that to clean my floors. It is gentle and no fragrance and does not harm hardwood floors. In fact my sister-in-law has used it on her hardwood floors for years.

With regards to furniture I don't think the furniture will harm the floors. Are you referring to dining room chairs, living room furniture? I would say yes the felt would work well so that the floor doesn't get scratched.

Hope this helps

I use the Shark Steam Mop also on my Wood Floors. You use WATER only! It uses the hot steam to sanitize. And, it really doesn't get my floors that wet - just a little from the steam, but not soaking wet like a mop would. I got mine at Costco.

We have hardwood in part of our house, and we have a microfiber mop from METHOD that we picked up at Target. Method also makes floor cleaner specifically for wood to go with the microfiber mop. It works well for us, and Method doesn't use any harsh chemicals.