i use a microfiber mop for all the hard surfaces in my house (more tile and laminate flooring that a person SHOULD have!)
the microfiber pad is the only thing that can get dry enough to not leave streaks on the floor. i would love to find a wringer that i can use by the sink (crank kind?)
i think my hands are going to turn into claw-like appendages after mopping!
anyone have any ideas?
i've looked into the carwash type wringers... shop wringers... and the cheapest one i can find is $50. it's 2 rubber rollers and a crank!
I don't know about a wringer but did find that if I added alcohol to the mix of water and vinegar and detergent for mopping the floors, it dried real fast and didn't leave streaks as much. I have off white ceramic tile and also have found that mopping with vinegar - not mixing with anything - will clean the floors pretty well and won't streak too bad. I buy the cheapest white vinegar I can find ... Save a Lot has the best buys around here.
have you found an ordinary mop bucket? bucket with two rollers at the top & a pedal you press with your foot to squeeze the rollers together? i think it's what you need ;-) kylie
"0tterbot" wrote in news:9JSxg.1264$ snipped-for-privacy@news-server.bigpond.net.au:
i have seen them... and was interested. i've never seen one used before. it's hard to shift gears when you THINK you know what you need. know what i mean?
used the wrong type of vinegar. I tried to be environmentally friendly but I just find the "natural" products not worth it. Debbie, I hear you on the "claw-like" appendages. I gave up the mop when I gave up on cleaning with vinegar. My back and knees were always sore after mopping, so my husband recently bought me a robot mopper the Scooba for Mother's Day. Not sure if you are into something along those lines of allowing a machine to do the housework, but I am totally sold. I am now saving up to get the vacuum version, the Roomba. Maybe worth the purchase over the microfiber pad.
JUDY wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.west.earthlink.net:
ahhh... Juuuuuuuuuuudy. i have done exhaustive research on the scooba. it is still too expensive for me to risk disappointment. i've followed reviews on the roomba for the last few years, as well.
floors are such a source of frustration for me. i have about 700 sq feet of ceramic tile... and more than that in pergo. the scooba isn't an option on the pergo. the microfiber is the ONLY thing i've found that doesn't streak it.
i may *gulp* just be destined to have graceful/taut arms (from all the wringing)... attached to vulture-like claws. CRAP. ;)
two years from now... my manicurist will GASP at something that looks like this...
formatting link
i suppose i could just BITE the bullet and look into that medication for OCD. ;) then i wouldn't have this hard-wired need to do SOMETHING with the floor!
(for the record... i don't have a manicurist. ANY self-respecting germ- a-phobe would never be caught DEAD in such den of festering bacteria!!!!) ;)
::gasp:: it's beautiful! it's exactly like my mum's old one (only, of course, new). i feel like getting one myself now. we are moving shortly to a house with lumpy slate floors, so my sponge mop is going to be pointless & i need a string mop & one of those :-)
Maybe I used the wrong type of vinegar. I tried to be environmentally friendly but I just find the "natural" products not worth it. Debbie, I hear you on the "claw-like" appendages. I gave up the mop when I gave up on cleaning with vinegar. My back and knees were always sore after mopping, so my husband recently bought me a robot mopper the Scooba for Mother's Day. Not sure if you are into something
totally sold. I am now saving up to get the vacuum version, the Roomba. Maybe worth the purchase over the microfiber pad.
I have to mention the Cham-it mop from the Butler Mop Company. I have 1900 sq. feet of saltillo, terra cotta, and terrazzo floors. This mop works better than anything I've ever tried and is easier, light weight, self-wringing and I get no streaking. I'm compulsive about floors too. We have 3 dogs, five cats, and 3 people who go in and out all day. I use the Roomba Red for picking up all the hair and tracked-in dirt daily, then use my super-mop about twice a week with a mixture of cleanser, water, and wax. Here's a link to the mop in case you'd like to try it, they are pretty inexpensive and each mop head lasts for several months.
formatting link
They used to be sold everywhere around here, but none of our stores stock them anymore and I have been reduced to buying them online. Here's a link if you want to try one out.
"Lauradog" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net:
the microfiber flat mop has come to be my newest floor passion. for the tile i have a favorite but the pergo has proven tricky.
for tile i like the bissel steam mop. what cleans better than REALLY hot water? you can't use it on pergo. crap.
i wish i could be more open-minded about this one. i looked at your mop and the chamois stuff makes SENSE... but i have such a fierce reaction to anything that resembles a string mop. i don't think i could buy one of these for 3 good reasons.
1) pathological string mop aversion
2) i can't buy anything over the internet that i'm not already a rabid fan of. (because i hate re-packaging anything and mailing it back).
3) if i get anything new and so different from my usual. my husband will get nervous. first he'll circle nervously. then, he'll blink rapidly. he might even drool. the phenomenon resembles a farm animal JUST before a tornado touches down. ULTIMATELY, he will have me committed.
what would become of my floors... if i'm committed!!!? ;)
"0tterbot" wrote in news:B7oyg.2457$ snipped-for-privacy@news-server.bigpond.net.au:
i'm calling ahead to make sure they carry it in-store. i hate going all the way there to find out it's an "internet-only" item.
i'm going to "come clean" about an obsession. (could there be a more fitting forum to come "clean"??)
i make a huge sink filled with hot water and fabuloso every day. the smell makes me HAPPY and i have found fabuloso to be an amazing multi- purpose cleaner. so, i set about wiping away grime/fingerprints/evidence of the 2 dogs/3 children/clutter-prone-engineer-husband. :)
i am going to use this bucket... filling it with my fabuloso and every microfiber cloth/floor pad i have. wringing them/using them and tossing them in the washing machine after using. this way the bucket stays clean along with my house/floors/shiny surfaces. :)
i am more titilated by the prospect/potential payoff than i should be comfortable with. ;)
i have very lumpy ceramic tile. the fabuloso seems to get into the dirt- catching spots. i'm not sure if it's good to use on slate. is that a water-only surface?
"Lauradog" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net:
i got my best mop at walmart. it's a vileda. i think that is a small part of o cedar.
i went to ACE. i purchased the bucket that was to be the "bucket of my dreams".
i was sensitive to the possibility.... of disappointment. to be honest, i assumed there might be a 5% chance i WOULD like it. i've been hurt.
thinking proactively, i stocked up on chocolate and cheap wine.
"Operation Wringer Bucket" was a total failure. i am loathe to admit. maybe if didn't have the upper body strength of a newborn...
i think i'm going to have to just take the plunge and buy the harbor freight wringer. son of a B!! sorry to use harsh letters. i'm just so disappointed!
nice idea. the bucket is totally solid!! for a standard mop, or someone with 2000% more upper body strength, this thing would get a big thumbs up!
Will do. I'm always on the lookout for something that works better. I haven't even seen them anywhere, but then I haven't been looking. Are they at Wal-Mart or will I need to go to a janitorial supply place? Sue D.
absolutely not, but the longer you spend here, the sorrier you may be
yes, but you're fully aware of your own obsession, so... um... yes! well. (let's just say you'll fit in very nicely ;-)
i THINK it is (i had custody of a slate floor last year & was instructed to only use water - but that might be due to lack of trust rather than a water-only surface ). having said that, when i get to cleaning my lumpy slate floor, i think i shall have to use just a tad of soemthing more cleanliness-inducing, if only because the property has been empty for ages, and bla bla bla, and the whole place is very dirty, floors no exception i'm sure. if i bugger up the surface of the slate somehow, nothing really lost, because you should see the _rest_ of the house!!! but really. slate's stone. it's unfinished, so i just don't think there's much to bugger up. (famous last words).
i'm not sure fabuloso is even available here, but i see you're a fan. kylie
as the person who first sent you down this path, i must object to you abandoning your bucket after the very first try!!!
here are some ideas:
1: they're actually intended to go with string mops rather than a vileda (hm, i see you've noticed this), so the problem might be that the vileda doesn't become narrower during the squeeze like a string mop does, and be forced out the rollers more or less by diminishing girth (you know how they're quite thick at the join & peter out towards the ends? - this makes them more likely to pop out through the rollers more easily, i would think). so, did you try not squeezing so hard? you really should be able to control the rollers to some degree, so that you're not forced between the two options of full-squeeze or open, you should be able to get a looser or harder squeeze for what you want, and quite easily (i used to use ours when i was a kid & could control it perfectly well - so you really _don't_ have to be muscular nor especially well-coordinated, although it does take some strength if you're squeezing the mop hard to make it as dry as possible. you can try less hard but do it twice, but at any rate, for a committed mopper such as yourself, you'll be arnold schwartetc in 3 days anyway. )
2: you need some practice.
3: you're hopelessly uncoordinated (this group can't help with that one, sorry ;-)
4: the bucket's just rubbish. not as a concept (obviously), but maybe it's a dud brand or by some misfortune, the one you got was the only dud in the pallet :-) try pushing the pedal to get control over the roller distance. if you can't do it reasonably easily, take it back. they don't just bang open & shut, they come together and you should be able to stop the pedal at any point. also (i hope i'm not being utterly patronising!!!!!) do be sure to stand on the sticking-out bit, won't you. kylie sounding like a mopping obsessive..!
Thanks to your advertising, Ace Hardware just jumped the price to $27.
I used to mop a lot and found that kind of bucket ideal. I don't mop much these days, but I have borrowed a wringer bucket like that from a relative and it worked as well as ever. When that bucket wasn't available, I had to borrow a much more expensive Rubbermaid bucket with a lever squeezer. It didn't wring as well.
I think you're putting too much weight on the lever. Most of my weight goes on the other foot, the one that holds the bucket down. As I recall, I press the lever with my toe while my heel rests on the floor.
I'm not familiar with your mop. A good string mop works well with a roller wringer and will leave a floor almost dry.
"0tterbot" wrote in news:IrGyg.2881$ snipped-for-privacy@news-server.bigpond.net.au:
the mop pad is a rectangle of microfiber with even thickness. i did it 20 times on one water-soaked pad. with really intense down-ward pressure on the pedal and intense up-ward pressure on the pad... i nearly gave myself whip-lash. i varied my degrees of intensity... with very disappointing results. i think my desire to make it not so much not too wet (or very nearly dry) is the challenge.
"sticking-out bit". that is funny. :)
the bucket is SOLID. if i used a string mop... THIS is the way to go! great idea. wish i'd come up with it!! ;)
i like "enthusiast". my mother-in-law prefers "eccentric" to crazy. go figger. ;)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.