How to clean a hardwood floor?

[miki]

How do you keep a hardwood floor clean the right way so you don't mess up the wood? And what can you do to catch the dust (pet hair) bunnies?

It really bothers me in the morning to see the beautiful sun shining on the floor only to see the billions of little dog hairs my 2 dogs have shed everywhere. I use one of those dust brooms with the large rectangular yarn head to dust the floor every few days and mop with Murphy's Oil Soap. It just seems like a lot of trouble. Is there a better way?

[HGraceMom]

There have been lots of threads on this - but here's my "solution" - also have a big Chessie, so tons of hair...

Every 3 months or so, use Orange Glo "wax"
Every day (sometimes twice when the dog is shedding) sweep - better than a dust mop, IMO)
Every 2-3 days vacuum (more when shedding :(
Every 7-10 days mop with a solution of water & vinegar

I used swiffers for a while, but still had so much crud that a real broom gets better - the swiffer wet just doesn't do it for me... and murphy's oil is such a hassle, IMO.

HTH!

[sadie427]

Don't know what kind of vacuum you have, but we got a small "electric broom" bagless vacuum that has floor and carpet settings, ours is a Eureka. I use it once or twice a week, and sponge mop w/ Murphy's oil soap every two weeks or so.

[kijip]

To make Murphy Oil Soap less of a hassle- they sell a kind in a squirt bottle that requires no water. Just squirt and mop. We use it and love it!

[murpheyblue]

We have two dogs as well and use our Dyson vacuum about every other day to pick up all that hair. With all the hair they lose, I think both of them should be bald. I use a Swiffer Wet Jet for small spot slike tracked in dirt and the Murphey's Oil Soap in the squeeze bottle for mopping (which I don't do as often as I should).

[Momof3Labs]

Every day or two, I use a Swiffer-type sweeper but instead of using one of the disposable rags for it, I use microfiber cloths from Wal-Mart (pack of 6 in the auto section for about $4). Don't wet them; they work better dry. They catch ALL the dirt and hair and the bonus is that there is no chemical residue on your floors or in the air!

[pritchettzoo]

How do you wash those? I have some blue ones out of the pack that I've been using for dusting (white ones used for diapering), but I can't decide how to wash them. Do you just throw them in with towels? I thought about doing it with diapers, but then I didn't want to include floor grime with diapers (even though there's poop...hard to decide which is dirtier...sort of different kinds of dirty!).

I only slept about 3 hours past few nights so this is probably a question that would not normally be an issue. Sleep deprivation = indecision and stupidity! :P

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

[crl]

What sort of finish does your floor have? If it's polyurethane, just sweep or vacuum and use a damp mop as necessary. But you are not supposed to use cleaners like Murphy's Oil Soap or wax. It creates a film over the finish that makes it harder to keep clean and to refinish when the time comes. Or at least that's what I was told.

[Momof3Labs]

I just wash them with towels and they come out just fine! Usually with the dog's muddy feet towels, and some cleaning rags.

They are the BEST dustcloths!!