I know that I might be the only person on the planet who gets excited about cleaning supplies. But in case there is one more person out there who likes to clean, I've got happy cleaning news for you. My friend and I have been experimenting with how to clean hard surface floors economically but still get a really clean floor. There are a lot of comercial products out there but they are expensive and sometimes the cleaners are too strong smelling. I've been using vinegar and water to mop my floors but I had been using either a sponge mop or down on my hands and knees with a rag until now.
Here's what I'm doing now. I grabbed my swiffer mop (from my wasteful years) and attached an old dish rag to it, using the little grabber thingys to hold it in place.
Here it is dry, but I usually use it wet. You can use a regular disinfectant cleaner if you have a really grubby floor to clean, but for most of my cleaning I use the sparkle cleaner. I either spray the floor with it and mop, or I make up a bucket of the concoction and dip my rag in it. The mop head is great for getting under furniture and up against baseboards without getting your walls wet.
I first started using vinegar to clean my floors when I got a new Pergo floor about 15 years ago. It was a new product on the market and the Pergo company was selling their special Pergo cleaner. Well, I read the back of the bottle and concluded it was nothing more than water, vinegar, and perfume. I put the bottle back and got out my gallon jug of white vinegar when I got home.
When I'm finished mopping, I simply wash my rag in the washing machine. No more stinky, mildewy mop in the corner of the laundry room.
the next bit of happy cleaning news is my new dusting rag. I live in a very dusty, rural house. I've been dusting with a damp cloth to collect all of the dust, but it never seemed to do a great job. Then, one day when I was standing in a LONG line in Walmart, I saw a package of two mini ShamWow rags. Having seen the comercials (with Vince) on T.V. I thought I would give them a try. P.S. I know that I fell for the perfect marketing scheme-"if you place it up front, they will buy it"
I washed both rags in the washing machine before using them. I took one of the cloths, sprayed it with my Sparkle cleaner and was quite amazed with the success I had. I dusted my whole house with one rag and it never left a dust trail behind. Happy, happy me!
Here's what I'm doing now. I grabbed my swiffer mop (from my wasteful years) and attached an old dish rag to it, using the little grabber thingys to hold it in place.
Here it is dry, but I usually use it wet. You can use a regular disinfectant cleaner if you have a really grubby floor to clean, but for most of my cleaning I use the sparkle cleaner. I either spray the floor with it and mop, or I make up a bucket of the concoction and dip my rag in it. The mop head is great for getting under furniture and up against baseboards without getting your walls wet. I first started using vinegar to clean my floors when I got a new Pergo floor about 15 years ago. It was a new product on the market and the Pergo company was selling their special Pergo cleaner. Well, I read the back of the bottle and concluded it was nothing more than water, vinegar, and perfume. I put the bottle back and got out my gallon jug of white vinegar when I got home.
When I'm finished mopping, I simply wash my rag in the washing machine. No more stinky, mildewy mop in the corner of the laundry room.
the next bit of happy cleaning news is my new dusting rag. I live in a very dusty, rural house. I've been dusting with a damp cloth to collect all of the dust, but it never seemed to do a great job. Then, one day when I was standing in a LONG line in Walmart, I saw a package of two mini ShamWow rags. Having seen the comercials (with Vince) on T.V. I thought I would give them a try. P.S. I know that I fell for the perfect marketing scheme-"if you place it up front, they will buy it"I washed both rags in the washing machine before using them. I took one of the cloths, sprayed it with my Sparkle cleaner and was quite amazed with the success I had. I dusted my whole house with one rag and it never left a dust trail behind. Happy, happy me!
Where I come from, that's a disease. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI was going to try your cleaner in the kitchen, but I believe my floors will now get the priority. I use my swiffer on the floors to get up the dust, but sometimes I look in the light and the floors don't look clean. So I'm going to give this a try - I bet I'm going to be very surprised at what a good job it does. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteBarbara
Love the vinegar and water trick! I'm using it with my flip it mop and it works great!
ReplyDeleteWow, and I thought I was the only one who used there Swiffer with a rag...hahahaha
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, love all your tips.
Jilly