What do you clean your floors with?

I have wood floors I used to use a steam cleaner, what a waste. Now it's back to a regular mop, but I don't know what cleaning solution to use, everything on the store shelves says "Keep out of reach of pets and children". Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

I have tile rather than wood now, but when I was growing up we had wood floors. It seems like my mother used a solution of warm water and white vinegar. If the floor were really dirty or had stuff stuck to them she would put a little laundry detergent in water, scrub the floors, then rinse really well with plain water or vinegar water.

Dish soap and hot water, rinse. It's simple and breaks down oils. For wood floors I use Murpy's Oil soap and rinse, then dry. If you use Murpy's, even without pets, you must rinse the soap residue otherwise the floors will look dull.

I always just put a bit of Pine-Sol in a bucket of hot water to clean the tiles and I just used it yesterday in our new place on the wood floors. I know there's been controversy about whether it's safe for pets, but we've always used it well diluted, and never had a problem.

I'm not sure it's the best product for wood floors, so I was thinking of using vinegar instead.

I use vim wood floors or the h2o mop. With the vim, I just put a couple of capfuls in a bucket and fill it up with hot water. I make sure the cats and puppy are in the bedroom until the floors are dry.

I have linoleum everywhere except in the diningroom and bedroom,where they are wood.I have a hoover floormate and make my own cleaning solution of white vinegar,water and dawn,which I use on the vinyl.I use the same solution on the wood except I add a couple of tablespoons of lemon oil to it.I use the same stuff to clean my bathroom and kitchen too.What's nice about the floormate is that it scrubs the floors and sucks all the dirty water up.It sure works for me!

As little time and as little as I have to!

swiffer .....Jake gets put in a room until the floors are all done.

I use white distilled vinegar on my floors. Its safe for the kitties and my floors look really good after.

Originally Posted by jamasmom

I have wood floors I used to use a steam cleaner, what a waste.

Click to expand...

Im curious why you dont like steam cleaning?

I use Mr. Clean and water.

Originally Posted by Pami

I use white distilled vinegar on my floors. Its safe for the kitties and my floors look really good after.



Im curious why you dont like steam cleaning?

Click to expand...

My steam cleaner only puts out a small/narrow bit of steam, so I'm constantly going over the same spot to get it clean, if think a regular mop would be easier and I wouldn't miss any spots.

I use Seventh Generation products to clean the two tiny tile floors I have. I have wall to wall carpeting except on the kitchen and bathroom. But I adore the 7th generation line as they are safe for the kitties!

I have prefinished wood floors. The manufacturer instructions said never put any water on it. I have some cleaner in a bottle which is by Bruce Company and I just squirt it on the floor, then mop with a cotton mop.

I have prefinished hardwood and do this as well - It's just in a spray you mist on the floor. I have a square mop head with a microfiber cloth that fits over it .

Originally Posted by jamasmom

My steam cleaner only puts out a small/narrow bit of steam, so I'm constantly going over the same spot to get it clean, if think a regular mop would be easier and I wouldn't miss any spots.

Click to expand...

Oh ok. I use a steam cleaner, too, but mine is more of a strong mist (I guess thats how you would describe it)
I spray vinegar on a section of floor just before I steam clean it. I like it because its dry immediately (and clean).

Originally Posted by Pami

I use white distilled vinegar on my floors. Its safe for the kitties and my floors look really good after.

Click to expand...

Vinegar around here too, I won't use chemicals around the cats - not to mention the savings of home made natural cleaners.

I spray vinegar/water then steam mop.

Dish detergent usually takes care of it for me. I don't have a carpet which solves about 99% of the trouble cleaning It also gets rid of anything greasy/oily which I discovered back when I used to paint with oil paints. It was a much cheaper alternative for cleaning oil paint off things as opposed to mineral spirits.

Funny I should find this thread tonight...I was going to post a question regarding steam mops!

DH just bought me a Dirt Devil one. I had a fun time cleaning the whole house with it tonight. I think it did quite well, and is so much easier on my back than the mop, and doesn't leave a cleaner residue. I used it on glazed tile and faux wood laminate. I used to use a Swiffer, with a once-per-week Pine-Sol-type cleaner and a traditional mop (on the tiled kitchen floor. The cats really make that floor the messiest in the house). However, the Swiffer sometimes left faint streaking on the laminate. The steam mop didn't. DH really wanted the steam mop in order to sanitize the floor for the cats (we have 10.) I really like it! (And some of the cats love to watch me sweep & mop--they were enthralled by the steam mop!)

What I DON'T like is the cost of the replacement pads for the steam mop. You only get 2 with the mop itself (they are washable). I really need to have a few more waiting in the wings, with the amount of cats and floor-cleaning I do each week. My question is: does anyone know how to sew your own pads for these? I thought I saw a reference to using microfiber cleaning cloths somewhere...but can't find it. Anyone???? Thanks.

I use Pledge tile cleaner. It comes in a squeeze bottle and you don't have to mix it with water, except to rinse off your mop occasionally while cleaning. I love the stuff. It makes my tile very shiny. The Swiffer stripped the wax off my tile and left it sticky, so I stopped using it.

I just started using Spic and Span because the label says it's safe around pets.

Kat lady