SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

My new place is hardwood floors after having carpet. Can I use the vacuum on the floor setting? I feel like sweeping would take forever.

Thanks

You can! Just a warning, our last (older) vacuum had a spot that scratched our hardwood, so you might want to check the bottom of the vacuum head before you use it this way!

Thanks!!! I will check my vacuum before trying this

Why...

I vacuum on the floor setting to get the dust and dog hair up and then I take a slightly damp rag, put on my knee pads and clean them on the hands and knees.

It makes for excellent exercise too!

About 3 times a year I use Glass Plus (with NO ammonia) and it really makes them shine. Ours our hand scraped hardwood, so I'm really careful with how I clean them and so far, 3 years later they still look beautiful

T/J:

I love your member name it's almost as good as UR an Idiot...

Regular cleaning of hardwood floors? Why?

My sentiments exactly

DS, they make ones tht strap to your feet so you can skate around your floors. Much easier than knee pads!

I vacuum mine all the time. Also bought a very wide dust mop so I can chase the bunnies under the couch that the vacuum does not reach.

I vacuum mine and it's fine. I only use water on my floors, and I dry them. It gives them a little buff. My floor installed swore that NO product is good enough for wood floors. lol

I have 1500 square feet of oak hardwood floors in my house, and have had at least 1 dog and 1 cat and kids since we built the house. I love them. I have a central vac with a floor attachment it gets that about every 3 days, and then I spot clean the spills, and dirty spots, and then when the kids need a good punishment I make them clean it on hands and knees. Just a little Mr Clean and hot water.

My central vac was out of commission for a while, and we used one of those cheapy stick vacs and it was great.

I tried my mom's shark that she has for her ceramic floors, and due to the finish on mine it made them smeary, but if you have a matte finish I hear they work great to clean them.

When I lived in the Philippines our yard boy cleaned them weekly (I think) with Johnson's floor wax. He would rub it on the floor then stand with one foot on half a coconut husk (husk, not shell) and the other foot on a soft towel.

Then he'd do an odd little shuffle circling dance, first buffing with the husk then polishing with the cloth. I would try so hard to imitate him but never could do it to his standards.

Not much help to you but thanks for bringing the memory back.

Vacuum yes, but water no.

In your arsenal should be:

- Swiffer floor duster mop.

- Bona Floor cleaning system -

Steer clear of water-based products or oil soap.

http://www.mybonahome.com/home.html?utm_source=bona.com&utm_medium=web&utm_content=MainNav_Consumer

Well, now I have no excuse to not clean...lol...had been procrastinating since I didn't know how to clean them...ha ha

Is a Swiffer sweeper the same thing as the floor duster mop?

Thanks all!

If you have pets, stay away from a swiffer with any cleaning chemicals. It can be poisonous to them. They do make ones with just a plain pad.

I'm a house cleaner by profession and I use a canister vacuum. I feel it does a much better job than even the best upright on the "bare floor" setting. I also have a dustmop with microfiber pads. I use a damp one to clean, and a dry one to sop any excess moisture and buff out any streaks.

Enjoy your lovely new floors!

cinnamon- That is what I had a cheap hoover stick vac, dump the canister frequentl,and I have a central vac with a floor attachment that is made for wood floors.

When I do do the mopping/washing, to get the grime up (you the kids punishment thing) they have one hand that dries, as the other mops, otherwise you end up with a dull floor, but if you dry it as you go, that sucker will really shine. But I wish wish wish I would have gotten the matte finish on the floor, that way it would be less trouble I think.

When I had wood floors, I used murphy's soap mixed with water. I would also put some essential oils for cleaning and aromatherapy!

I can put some orange and clove oil drops. Smells really great during the holidays.

But I had teenagers, so instant hard floor moppers there!

Cast another vote for Bona. I use it after vacuuming.

Neither get done nearly enough.

We have two Roomba vacuums. One downstairs which is carpeted and the other for upstairs which is hardwood floor or ceramic tile. They do a excellent job and do not mark the floors.

Timer is set for 3 am in the morning. Units go off automatically and they head home when they need to be recharged.

Each room gets cleaned daily without us having to ever use a broom. If needed, they do have a spot program to pick up any accidental mess's too.

Greatest thing since sliced bread!

Sorry, no offense guys but do NOT use Murphy's Oil Soap and keep water off your wood (except to quickly wipe up spills):

Oil soap is actually harmful to your wood floors. Many floor manufacturers explicitly state that oil soap should not be used to clean wood floors.

For example, the Bellawood Prefinished Hardwood Floors Certified 50 Year Warranty expressly states, "Do not wash or wet mop the floor with soap, water, oil-soap detergent or any other liquid cleaning material. This could cause swelling, warping, delamination, and joint-line separation, and void the warranty." When you apply oil soap, you are leaving a residue on your wood floors. This residue will turn into streak marks. You are putting vegetable oil soap on your wood floors and leaving it on. All of your wood surfaces will have an oil soap coating on them. This makes the finish on your floors look dull.

When you use Murphy's Oil Soap, you will quickly learn that the advertising claims are fictitious. Obviously, this is not an advisable cleaning method. This is not even cleaning. It is just coating your floors with an oily, sticky residue! If you decide to clean your floors with oil soap, you will notice that in as few as five years, your floors will need to be recoated. The oily residue left behind from oil soap will remain so much so that it may very likely gum up the screening disk when you recoat your floor in the future. Also, the new coating may have adhesion problems. Many homeowners have permanently ruined hardwood floors from using oil soap products.

[This message edited by TrulyReconciled at 1:47 PM, February 11th (Tuesday)]

Oil soap is actually harmful to your wood floors. Many floor manufacturers explicitly state that oil soap should not be used to clean wood floors.

I was told not to use Murphy's Oil soap on my wood floors by the contractor. I think he said it messed with the polyurethane. I think if you have really old/antique wood floors then you can use it.

I regularly use a vacuum on my wood floors and also sometimes use a swifter to get along the edges and under furniture. When I mop I use a cleaner from the grocery store for wood floors -- I think Pledge has one. Orange Glo really makes the floors shine but I only use that for company (lazy me ). Last year I got a Hoover Floor Cleaner and use it, but I probably should not. It dries quickly, but I think the brushes are too harsh for it. However I need to redo my floors anyway (10+ years of wear and tear + 2 dogs...) so at least I can clean my floors easily.

Bona, Bona, Bona ...

Murphy's Oil Soap is not good for antique floors either - it leaves a film. My house is 87 years old and has original heart pine floors. I use a canister vac with a floor brush attachment every day (pet hair), plus Swiffer dry and wet cloths. I've never had a problem with harmful residue from the wet cloths on the cats, and two of them are eighteen years old and very frail. I never wear shoes in the house, and try to get my workmen to wear disposable booties if I can (keep a supply on hand). Usually they volunteer to take their shoes off anyway, as they can see how gorgeous the floors are. In fact, the wood floors were the major selling point of the house!