Chester's Clean House: Wood Floors

Showing posts with label Wood Floors. Show all posts

Make Homemade Reusable Swiffer Cloths

Jenny submitted this great tip on how to make your own washable Swiffer cloths:

We have hardwood floors throughout most of our house, and I give them a weekly dusting/cleaning with a dry Swiffer. Instead of using disposable Swifter cloths, I use old pieces of fleece. When I'm done with a room or two, I shake the cloth outside, and toss it in the wash.

There are lots of things called fleece these days; what I'm talking about is fairly thick, is sometimes called Polartec, and is 100% polyester. My pieces are probably about the weight of Polartec 200. Fleece attracts dust like a magnet, and doesn't let go.

I came to this idea because I was wearing fleece pants around the house and noticed that they got dusty and picked up flecks of "stuff"at an annoying rate. Rather than get angry, I realized the house cleaning potential, and promptly went out to Goodwill and found an old large fleece garment and cut it up. Voila!

If you have any tips, please send them using the link in the left sidebar.

Use Area Rugs To Cut Down On Mopping

Floors in high traffic areas can quickly become dirty. Leaving the dirt for extended periods of time only leads to a bigger headache when you have to mop. One of the best ways to keep your tile, wood, or laminate floors cleaner is to use area rugs in the key high traffic areas.

Where the dirty dog lies

My dog, or small horse as some call her, always likes to lay in the same spot. Tracking in all of the dirt she collects outside into a small concentrated area. By the end of the week it is really dirty there, maybe even disgusting. We were mopping the area every other day to keep it clean, so to cut down on the mopping we placed an area rug to keep the dirt off of our laminate floors. We also put down some runners in our entryway which has also cut down the amount of dirt that collects throughout the downstairs floors. We vacuum the area rugs at least once a week to extend their life.

Keep Your Area Rugs In Place

Some of the runners were moving all about so to keep the rugs in place I glued a rubber jar lid opener to each corner. You can find the rubber jar openers cheaply at the dollar store. I got a bunch of the them at a local community business fair for free. Just use some super glue or double sided tape to fasten the lid openers to the underside of the rug.

Related Links:

Floor Cleaning Week Recap

We covered numerous floor cleaning tips this week and in the past. Here is a list of links if you missed any:

If you have a great tip that we haven't covered pass it along!

Keep Your Floors Cleaner With These Mopping Tips

One of the most tedious cleaning jobs I have to do around the house is mopping. Between the dog, cat and kids it seems like an endless job. I have found several things out over the years that have helped keep my work to a minimum.

When mopping with any cleaner, be sure to use the minimum amount of cleaner for the job. If you use too much cleaner, especially dish soap, a sticky film can be left that attracts dirt faster. If you notice this film on your flooring, try mopping with just water. This will help dilute the cleaner left on the floor and will pickup any excess dirt.

Dry mopping with either a Swiffer mop or a Microfiber cloth mop daily, or as often as needed, can really cut down on the number of times you have to get the mop and bucket out. I have noticed on my floors that the Swiffer Wet Jet leaves a sticky film on my floors that just makes it get dirty faster. With the microfiber cloth you can try our homemade floor cleaner. If this leaves a sticky film try using less dish soap in the recipe. This can occur if you use concentrated dish soap.

Following these tips and removing your shoes when you come in the house can really cut down on the dirt left on your flooring. If you would like specific tips for particular floor type you can find many using the categories on the left. If you can't find any tips for your flooring, send us an email using the link on the left and we'll be sure to add some.

The Real Importance of Vacuuming

You should vacuum your carpets at least once a week, even if they don't look dirty. Carpets work as a filter for the dust in your home. Dust and allergens are trapped by the fibers and it helps keep your air cleaner. Vacuuming your carpets often gives them the best chance of removing the most dust possible. Sweep or vacuum your wood floors weekly as well. The dirt that gets tracked into your home works like sandpaper on the surface of the flooring, quickly dulling its shine and damaging the floors.

Remove Fine Scratches From Wood Floors

Sanding gently with fine steel wool and paste wax will remove most fine scratches on wood floors. Be very careful not to work too hard and go with the grain of the wood. If in doubt, work with a local installer if the scratches are too deep or have damaged the wood.

Protect Wood Floors From Chairs

To protect your wood floors from your chairs glue felt to the bottom of the legs. For rocking chairs, glue a strip of felt to the bottom of the arcs or use a few layers of masking tape.

Removing Chewing Gum

I really don't know how or when it happened, but I found chewing gum ground into my living room floor. This is especially strange because my wife and I do not chew gum. All I can guess is that I tracked it in from somewhere on my shoes. The best way to remove gum is to harden it by holding an ice cube on it and use a butter knife or other dull instrument to remove it. The longer you freeze it, the better your chances of getting the whole thing the first time. There are commercial freezing sprays that work very well at hardening gum, but I don't plan on having this happen often enough for me to run out and buy some.

Homemade Floor Cleaner

Making your own homemade floor cleaner can save you hundreds of dollars per year. It is so easy to do I have been making my own for years. After some experimentation I have been getting better results than the store bought brands. I use the following recipes for cleaning my floors.

Homemade Floor Cleaner Recipe

1/4 cup Dish soap
4 cups White Vinegar
2 cup Lemon juice
2 cups Water

This recipe works best on Pergo laminate floors, finished wood, vinyl, or linoleum. Just place the mixture into a spray bottle and spray onto the floor and use a high quality microfiber mop to mop it up. If you get a sticky residue, try using less dish soap or you can rinse with plan water to reduce the residue.

Natural Floor Cleaner Recipe
Sometimes I need to do a quick once over before company comes over. In these instances I like to use a natural floor cleaner that doesn't require any extra steps except to let the floors dry. In those cases I use a mixture of 2 cups vinegar and 4 cups water in a spray bottle. I like to use the Swiffer Wet Jet mop because it soaks up more of the moisture. This recipe also doesn't leave streaks and is better for the environment than the Swiffer's cleaner.

Tips on Using These Homemade Floor cleaners
As you can tell I like to use a spray bottle and a microfiber mop to clean my floors. This method lets you clean your floors in record time, but doesn't work well when your floors are too dirty. I try to do a quick mop every other day or else I will be stuck getting out the mop and bucket which greatly increases the amount of time it takes to mop the floor.

I spray small 3' by 3' sections of floor, then wipe with the microfiber mop. When the cloth starts to leave streaks I either flip over the cloth or start using a new one. I usually use two microfiber cloths to mop my kitchen and foyer. If you really want to get things done in a hurry, put a microfiber cloth under each foot. Spray the cleaner then do a little dance with your feet to mop it up. My wife laughs at me when I do the "Cleaning Shuffle", but mopping the kitchen in less than two minutes is worth it.

Related Posts: