Sunday, August 5, 2012

Diana's Household Diaries " My Constant Struggle, Floor Cleaning "

I am going to have a difficult time with post. You see I have a love/hate relationship with my floors, or anyone's floors for that matter.

First of all I don't like cleaning floors. We have a lot of floors and it's a lot of work. We have two cats, two dogs and two teenagers. I will have my two grandchildren on Monday for an overnight as well. I also clean floors at another house that I clean once a week. So you see I clean a lot of floors.

Here's the other problem. I despise dusty or dirty floors. And for some reason that I don't quite understand, I see every animal hair, speck of dirt, or crumb that may have found it's way to the floor. If I feel dust or a speck of dirt or crumb on my feet, I practically flip out. I'm not a phycoligist but I have a pretty good guess that this may be a bit obsessive. The good news is that I can ignore it to the point that I only do the floors one maybe two times a week.

We have a lot of wood floors in our house. Old wood floors. We only have one room downstairs that is still carpeted. The entire upstairs is carpeted as well as the stairs themselves. So it's a lot of work.

When cleaning my floors I always start downstairs in the living and dining rooms. They tend to collect a lot of "Tumblefur" as we like to call it, from the animals. Now I do have one of these...

It does work well, is very large so it picks up a lot of dust and it can be fun chasing the dogs around with it but I rarely use it as I am an old fashioned kinda girl and I still prefer using these...


Call me crazy, go ahead, I'll wait....

I just find that I am getting more dirt with the old fashioned broom and dustpan. For mopping my wooden floors I use the Rubbermaid mop.
By far my favorite choice and have used it for years. The mop head is replaceable. I have two of them.


This mop does a wonderful job and has a scrubber top as well. As for wood floor cleaner I like to use water and this...


It does a fine job on wood.
Now when it comes to my kitchen floor, I switch to this...


I've used other products in the past, all of which work rather well but I do like a strong, good smelling man so I have to use my Mr. Clean.
It also works well for general cleaning and smells so "FRESH" ! I also use Mr. Clean spray cleaner on my counters and such.

Obviously on my carpets I use a vacuum cleaner. I also have a small carpet cleaner that does a pretty good job. 

Before our daughter had her second nasal polyp surgery a few months ago, we ripped all of the carpet out of her room that had been there for God knows how long. It was there before we moved in almost 14 years ago. It was pretty nasty. The hard wood flooring in her room doesn't look very good but we'll wait until she moves out to do something with that floor. The whole room will need to be redone by then anyway.

It takes a lot of time doing all of these floors. There is a lot of furniture that has to be swept and washed underneath. I do take breaks and I rarely do the upstairs and downstairs on the same day. It's just too much.

I'm so happy that I'm getting this post out of the way. Floor cleaning is a very boring subject and I don't think it's fun work at all.

But it is an important part of keeping a clean and healthy household. I usually do my floors mid week or whenever I can find the time through the week. And of coarse I always do floors on Thursday's when I clean house for another family.

I promise I will try to have a more interesting post next time. Maybe I can get some ideas?

  

14 comments:

Lois Evensen said...

Now that was a fun post! Yes, I know you are totally serious about all those floors and all that cleaning. What made it fun is that I SO identify with it. I don't enjoy cleaning, washing, and sweeping, but it sure makes me happy when I have done it!

Great post, my friend.

Huge hugs and happy Sunday,
Lois :))

Rob-bear said...

They say cleanliness is next to Godliness. In some contexts, however, cleanliness is next to impossible.

But you are trying. And finding the whole experience very trying.

Blessings and Bear hugs.

Rebecca said...

I get tired just thinking about all that cleaning :)

I don't find it boring though. I am open to learning about new (or old) products!

What WILL you think of next? How about a tour of your upstairs (or is it a secret)?

Sandi said...

OOPSA! I read both of the recent posts, and commented on both at the same time (see earlier post for comments!)

Hugs!

Jackie said...

Not boring at all, Di! I love reading your blog, and I especially love the ideas that you share with us regarding these products. I haven't tried the febreze Mr. Clean. I usually use Pine Sol, but because of your opinion on the strength and smell of this product, I'm buying it. :))
Hugs and love to you, my friend.
J.

Shelley said...

Love this post! Love my hardwood floors - and MUST and ONLY use Murphy Oil Soap! I do HATE to clean and haven't had much time to do so with the Geocaching and Black Rose's adventures (see my post. Keep them coming lady.

Dee said...

I love Mr clean...but don't tell my Frank LOL Murphy's is great for all kinds of stuff. I don't think you have ever had a boring blog Diana...I am not sure I could physically keep up with wood floors anymore..but I love them.

A Lady's Life said...

I hate floors too.
I can't keep up with them and I remember my Mother and how much fuss she made over them until my Dad got mad and told her if she didn't stop he would rip out all the floors so she wouldn't be so obsessed. lol
So then people were allowed to walk on them.
I am not my Mother but I do wish to throw every one out of the house so I can have an organized clean house which people wouldn't destroy every day.But then it wouldn;t be a home. So Wish full thinking. lol

Anonymous said...

YIKES Di, I have hardwood floors throughout my home and unless I feel something on them I do nothing more than sweep them up but when i do clean them shiny it is always on my knees. OUCH...I am getting too old for this! LOL!

About Last Weekend said...

Think that a floor that doesn't show the dirt - a wood that has varying grains in it - might be just the ticket. In London we had black and white tiles which drove me crazy cleaning wise...

Anonymous said...

Diana,
Hi! I've always wanted hardwood floors but always have had carpet and tile. You have some good tips.
Have a good rest of your week.

Barb said...

Hello Di, I'm glad I didn't miss this - reading about how you do the floors has inspired me to do mine- sometime soon. I promise!

Blu-I'd-Blonde said...

I don't find your blog boring at all. I love your pictures on the side too, love the cute little pug. In the past I used the same type of mop, and Mr. Clean is a great cleaner. But I recently bought one of the Swiffer mops which I learned using at my daughter's house how easy It makes keeping the wood floors dusted and clean. It's very lightweight and easily fits in corners and other nooks and crannies. Okay I guess if I'm going to keep on I should write on my own blog. Blessings as you primp and clean your house.

Tyler said...

Cleaning the floor can really be a struggle, especially if you don’t know what cleaning tools to use. Cleaning the carpet is even harder, so it would be best to know what kind of cleaners and equipment you have to use to get the best results. For me, I always steam the carpet to extract stains and clean it to the roots.


@Tyler Perkins