Hardwood floor cleaning?

[scotts]

So I am half-way done installing our new hardwood floors. Now that I am trying to keep the one room clean I realized, I need the right equipment to keep it clean. For those of you that have hardwood floors, what do y'all use for keeping the everyday dirt and dog hairs off the floor?
Scott

 

[carshark]

Originally Posted by Scotts
So I am half way done installing our new hardwood floors. Now that I am trying to keep the one room clean I realized, I need the right equipment to keep it clean. For those of you that have hardwood floors, what do y'all use for keeping the everyday dirt and dog hairs off the floor?
Scott

actually when i had hardwoods i just used MR. Clean wood surface cleaner, advise the children if you have any, not to run through the room with socks on...lol that will be a bump on the head!!!

 

[lovethesea]

swifer for everday.....even the light vaccums, to mop.....I use the old fashioned vinegar and water with a "dry" mop. After dipping the mop in the solution, I get it as dry as possible before mopping. I have had hardwoods in this house for 12 years and they still look new.

 

[ant]

Well, you need to buy an Ultra 6,000S buffer, some scrub brushes, lots of wax and elbow greece; buy some bigger dogs and put some ragged clothes on your kids so they can drag them around to clean the floor; oh, and the swiffer. That should do it!!

Just kidding! :joy: Hi Scott!

I actually have no idea but just dropping in to say hello. I bought some new fish by the way. Three to be exact. I'm sure I have more than my tank needs but I couldn't stand having two fish that I rarely saw so I decided to buy two that I could see. I got an anthia and a firefish. Both are doing great. Water is still testing well.
Have fun with the new floor. Ant.

 

[crazyzeus1]

We have stained concrete floors...but a TON of dog hair & mess...so I thought I'd give my two cents!
We have a Dyson vacuum (the purple one for pet hair) and it's AMAZING what it sucks off the hard floors. It has a "bare floors" setting, but it also sucks the most amazing amount of stuff out of our carpets. And trust me, we're neat freaks, so I can't imagine where all the dirt & hair comes from (OK, other than the dogs).
I have a micro-fiber mop that we just use with water to clean the floors. It was from WalMart & has a rectangle head "plate" instead of a mop head. The head is about the size of a box of Kleenex. It has washable microfiber pads that you just slip over the foam-covered "plate" & you can either wash them out as you use them, or buy a few (they were only $2 for each pad) to use as you go. I use them damp with no chemicals & our floors are super clean. Then I just throw them in the wash & they're good as new.
Our maid used to use a mopping solution on the floors but my socks were always getting black on the bottom just walking around the house. I'm pretty sure there was a "residue" on the floor from the chemicals, because since I've switched to microfiber mop & water, there's no more black on my socks!
Just my two cents...

 

[scotts]

Car, my kids are just about ol enough to learn the joys of the run and slide.
LTS, What type of swifer, the wet or the dry? Then once again what type of mop? If you don't mine me asking. I know I am sounding like an idiot, but I sure do want to do this right.
Ant, You ain't kidding about the elbow grease. But it is kind of gross thinking that the stuff that I am sweeping off the floor now would have gotten into the carpet and just sat there and smelled. I hear you about having the fish that you do not see. Have you posted pictures of your tank now so that I can see it?
Crazy, I have to check out the dyson, I know you cannot use a regualr vacuum on hardwood floors. But if you can wash the pads on that mop that might be interesting. Gotta check it out.
Thanks all
Scott

 

[carshark]

Originally Posted by Scotts
Car, my kids are just about ol enough to learn the joys of the run and slide.
LTS, What type of swifer, the wet or the dry? Then once again what type of mop? If you don't mine me asking. I know I am sounding like an idiot, but I sure do want to do this right.
Ant, You ain't kidding about the elbow grease. But it is kind of gross thinking that the stuff that I am sweeping off the floor now would have gotten into the carpet and just sat there and smelled. I hear you about having the fish that you do not see. Have you posted pictures of your tank now so that I can see it?
Crazy, I have to check out the dyson, I know you cannot use a regualr vacuum on hardwood floors. But if you can wash the pads on that mop that might be interesting. Gotta check it out.
Thanks all
Scott

ahh life was so much easier then.....how cool is that they get to grow up with saltwater tanks.. i had snakes and frogs, and massive oscars.. still not as cool as saltwater...

 

[lovethesea]

just the dry swifer. (I found that Wal Mart has a generic version of the sheets much cheaper, my box is yellow, sometimes its green)
Even those micro fiber dry mop heads are good. Anything that will attract the dust bunnies and hair. We just got rid of our carpet in the family room and had the hardwoods refinished. What a relief. I also use a light vacuum (orecks cordless version) on the floors also for the bigger stuff. The 1 cup vinegar in bucket or sink of water is done every few weeks or so. Depending on whats going on.

 

[carshark]

hahhaah this thread is just downright funny.. maybe its my own silly humor but this is been put through a lot of thought process, im still laughing at how many responses there are. this is great

 

[scotts]

LTS, thanks so much. I was worried about the swifer grabbing a little rock and scratching, although I kind of know how to hide the scratches. (Shhh don't tell my wife) We have 2 dogs, puppies really, that like to grab whatever they can in the yard and chew it up in the house. Although they seem to be out of their rock phase right now.
Car, I can see where some people would think this is a stupid thread, but trust me you drop 5 grand on a floor and all the time I have put into it and you would start a thread like this also. OK the humor in my comment is not coming across and this sounds harsh, but I do now want to ruin this floor and if there is a way to ruin it I will.

 

[ant]

Scott-the floor looks great!! Good job.

I know you are so relieved now that it's done. Will the tank go back in there? I posted some pictures on another thread but I don't remember what it was called so I'll post some here. BTW-I liked my swiffer when I had tile floors throughout. The dry one.
Ant.

 

[scotts]

Ant, WHAT COOL PICTURES! your tank is looking good. Oh how I wish the floor was done. That is the first room, now I go into the dining room where the tank currently is. We are thinking of moving that tank into the room pictured. But it would be near a window so need to do some checking first because of the sunlight. ALthough we are going to tink the windows and the back of the tank which is painted black will be toward the window. Good news about the swiffer. We used to have one but the kids loved it to death. A common occurence in our house so looks like I will need to get another one since you and LTS both recommend them.
Scott

 

[ant]

Thanks for the comps on my tank.

I bought some more LR since our last chat as well. I like them a lot. Added so much more to the tank. I also added a power head. That's great too. But, I'm getting this dark looking stuff on the LR. It's spreading like coraline but it's not purple it's a combo of red and brown. Any ideas?
I thought you were all done...sorry. :thinking: Well, that room looks great. I understand your dilema with the tank by a window. Everything I've read says not to. But, If you have to put it there until your next room is done I have an idea. Buy some of those coaster circle things that you put under heavy furniture so you can move them easily. It will be very easy to move the tank with those on the hard wood floor without scratching because the underside is carpet or felt. I hope I explained it correctly.

We have used them and found that they really worked. At any rate good luck!
Ant. :joy:

 

[scotts]

Ant, I know there is a red algae that can grow in tanks. You might have a touch of that, although it is usually in low flow places and if you just added a powerhead that makes me kind on wonder. But then with our tanks things pop up 6 months later that you never knew you had.
I plan on putting the tank on a piece of 3/4 inch playwood. Not to move ti around because it is heavy enough empty, but just to spread the weight out over the floor. Engineer geek here. I know the pads you are talking about because I have them under all of the rest of the furniture.
Scott

 

[fishmamma]

I love my corldess shark electric sweeper........grabs all the kid crumbs and dog hair in a hurry. I also have every dry and wet swiffer type thing available on the market but can not ever manage to keep my feet or socks free from the dreaded black. I will try the water and vinegar with a dry mop. Sounds promising.
I have used the washable cotton cloth thingys in the past but they could not stand up to all the crap on my floors. That could just be a sign of my poor housekeeping though. :help: What I can I say, I do my best.

 

[carshark]

i wasnt poking fun at you with the thread, its just so many responses and well thought out responses to this is what made it humorous... nice looking floor, good thinkg you dont have the tank that room.. where is yours at anyway?

 

[mr_bill]

Hey Scotts , My wife and I use the wet swiffer sweepers on our wood floors. You dont' need to dry them it dries without residue. She says she tried the dry ones but we have two boys who aren't the cleanest so we went to the wet ones to get the extra spilled drinks, candy, and crud off.

 

[scotts]

Well I am actually on my way out to get a swiffer now. Although I know we had one before but it was a POS and never stayed together. I was not so worried about black crud on my socks, more about picking up the crumbs, hairs and stuff that ends up on the floor. Now I have to worry about stuff getting on my socks, well when I wear them. Bill thanks. We have two kids and three dogs and 2 cats so yes there will be stuff on the floor.
Car, No problems dude, I can understand where this would be a funny thread. BTW my daughter yesterday tried the sliding thing on the floor, but with her sandels on not her socks. I stopped that quickly. Now are you ready for the kicker for you. I am doing two rooms, one of them is where the tank is in. Although we are probably going to move the tank into the room pictured. I think on Friday I will be to a point where I have the fun of tearing down my 125 with a 60 gallon sump and moving it. Yeah that is going to be a lot of fun. Sorry if my first reply to you sounded rude, my humor is hard to come across on the internet.

 

[bluemandj]

What kind of finish did you use?
Did you have any problems with dust and the tank?

 

[lovethesea]

I don't know what Scott did, but we moved our tank to the opposite end of the house sealed the room off..we used the "dust less" system to sand the floors. We also used the oil based poly (S T I N K Y). Once again, the tank was far away and the ceiling fan running to circulate air in that room.
We knew it was gonna be a huge job and it was put off 2 years because of the tank