Scrubbing the kitchen floor

[Tom Bender]

We have a Mannington Floor, it's a soft vinyl. Looks good and nice to walk on but it's a dirt magnet. My current method of cleaning is to vigorously scrub in some dish soap, (the expensive stuff from Mannington works just the same) let it soak half an hour then scrub again. It's a big floor and i can only clean a small area at a time. Cleanup is the hard part, getting the dirt and soap up. I sponge on a little water and sponge it up. Can't use much water as it runs away with the soap, making the rinse task bigger. Even after three rinses there is a lot of soap coming up with the water.

So I'm sure there is an easier way. What's your method?

[Tom M King]

I mop the dogroom floor last thing every night using a bath towel in the mop handle. First one is wet with the sprayer from the dog washing sink, and misted with Clorox cleanup. That one goes right in the washing machine, and is followed by another one with water only. The third one is dry. Last thing every night is to start the washer with all the dog stuff.

We've tried various types of mop heads, but nothing beats a towel. We used to use a mop bucket with squeegee built in, but with the washer right there in the room, it's quicker to just put them in the washer.

[Paul F Franklin]

RoboRock robot vacuum/mop. Jeeves vacuums and then mops the floor with plain water a couple times a week. We have him do it as soon as we are done with major cooking or baking so the "stuff" doesn't get ground into the floor. Once or twice a month, I'll mop the corners and baseboards that he doesn't reach. Floor has never been cleaner. You can walk on it in white socks and they stay white.

[Alan Lightstone]

iRobot Braava jet for our kitchen wood floor. I fill it with a combination of 1 part denatured alcohol (the stuff with the highest ethanol/lowest methanol content) and 3 parts water with a squirt of Dawn in it. Works great, and evaporates quickly.

I used to use Bona all the time, but it leaves it looking cloudy after a few runs, despite their marketing. Plus far more expensive.

This is on a kitchen floor with lots of use, multiple dogs, and toddler, so needs to be done often. I have a Bona mop that I use by hand , with the same solution.

Found this approach online once, and it works great on wood floors. As to yours, not sure why it shouldn't work either.

[Tom Bender]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to switch to using towels to control and mop up the scrub and rinse water. It'll require a few towels but the washing machine and dryer will take care of them.

It's surprising how much soak time and scrubbing is needed. Wife mops and hand cleans often but this flooring holds onto dirt. Would like to find just the right power scrubber. Not too big or aggressive.

[Tom M King]

The white bath towels sold in Sams are just the right size. They aren't the really large size bath towels, but thick enough to hold a good amount of water. One is folded twice lengthwise, which makes it three layers thick, and not too thick to break the plastic mop head.

[Walter Mooney]

What about vinegar and a little water? There’s also “cleaning vinegar”.

[Thomas McCurnin]

I'm not sure there is much difference in any floor detergent, although the commercial stuff does get grease off better.

My secret is what we used in the Army--the three bucket system. One bucket with only a few inches of hot water and detergent. Two buckets about half full of plain water for rinsing. Sponge mop. Do in small sections, the size of which depends on how dirty the mop head gets. When dirty, stop. This might be only a single pass 10 feet or so, or more if your floor is cleaner. Then squeeze dry and rinse in both buckets squeezing dry between each bucket. You may have to empty the first rinse bucket several times, the second one less frequently, and the detergent bucket and sponge should stay very clean.

To recap

1. Soap and Scrub and Squeeze Mop Dry.
2. First Rinse to Sponge Squeeze Dry.
3. Second Rinse to Sponge Squeeze Dry.

Repeat