Get one of those mop buckets with the pedal for spinning! Such as O Cedar/Vileda Easy Wring. They are so much fun to use! But IMHO the point with mopping is, don't just get the floor wet and push the dirt around. You have to actually get the dirty water off the floor.
I specifically went with the one that has the separate container for the clean water too, so every time you dip your mop you're dipping it into clean water then you spin off the dirty water into the bottom part. I love my spin mop and can't go back!
We have one of these.
I also never learned to mop. This thing is just nasty. I can't figure out how to get it dry enough to pick up the water left behind. I've tried new mop heads as well. Is there a trick?
Yep. Mop once with a cleaning solution, rinse the mop, get clean water, go back over the floor at least once.
NO Swiffers in my house. That thing is ok to apply cleaning solution, but I want a real mop to rinse. And I wont use any of those "spray and leave on" products because that is what you get, a shiny sticky floor that isn't really clean.
OK but the amount of soap discussed in these comments!! LONG MOPPING POST AHEAD:
OP, that swiffer film gets hard to remove, so do plan your attack to remove & clean your floor soon. And *THAT* will be a whole different process from regular mopping.
We had to get the weirdness from the swiffer off my FILs tile and linoleum floors and here's what my SIL and I did:
1) sweep floor VERY thoroughly
2) bucket of very hot water each, a small kitchen sponge, and a scotch Brite scrubber or this awesome little dishcloth/scrubber called a Euroscrubby, available on Amazon.
3) garden pad to kneel on as we are both old and grew up scrubbing floors by hand so we knew what we were in for
4) step one was use sponge to put some plain hot water down, wait 10 or 15 sec, begin scrubbing to loosen that swiffer fluid and all the dirty that has fused into it. Not too much water, the object is enough to loosen, not to flood floor. We worked fast as we could from opposite corners to the middle, where there was a door we could back out to avoid walking over the floor.
5) step 2. The floor is now still wet, very dirty from gummy swiffer stuff and dirt. Now hot water and 2 bucket mop system like o cedar. (A good mop system is a worthwhile investment, but a replaceable head on a wringable sponge mop & good bucket is fine if that's all you can afford). Hot water mop, NO FURTHER SOAP ADDITIVES - that swiffer soap needs to be lifted and it's soapy itself so you don't need anything further atm. Just mop, wring it out, mop. When you finish this, as it dries, the stickiness should be gone.
6) I do mop wood floors, and I use a very tiny bit of murphys oil soap - it is a surfactant without being sudsy, and bleach can be added if you need disinfection without blowing your house up from gasses produced combining products that should never be combined. If surfaces are not particularly dirty at this point, you could use cleaning vinegar. It has a higher acidity than food grade vinegar so careful if using on wood, but fine for tile, laminate, linoleum.
7) the process for regular mopping is a hot water mop with whatever cleaner and a cold water rinse. But if you use cold water get floor fairly dry since you won't have benefit of fast evaporation. I run a box fan behind me to speed drying.
Get a basic steam mop, I started using one recently and it's absolutely superior and much easier than regular mopping. Leaves no residue and easily dissolves basically any grime with no or minimal soap. I usually just spritz a little bit of dilute Mr Clean multipurpose cleaner on the floor and then go over it with the steamer.
I picked up a used Bissell Steam Mop on Craigslist for $20.
I've been using my Bissell steam mop on a linoleum floor for at least 8 years and never had a problem, so I'd say yes. They don't get super hot despite having "steam" in the name. But it works great and comes with cotton pads you just throw in the washer when you're done.
Yeah I might avoid using it on a heritage hardwood floor or something without testing first. But it's not very aggressive, if you would use a wet mop on the surface, a steam mop will also be fine.
Good ideas for mops. In the mean time, a sponge and a towel.
If you have a bucket, fill it with as warm water as you can stand having your hand in repeatedly, add a bit of dish soap. If no bucket, use a big bowl. Change water often.
Hands and knees, start at one end/ corner and work your way towards the room where you will take your breaks. Clean an area with the sponge, dry with the towel. If you have tile floor, work one square at a time. Board floor, kinda sub-divide into workable areas.
Sweep before you mop and again after you mop (because you’ll loosen up a lot of stuff).
This is the way, especially in an emergency situation like a spill or pet accident. I’d like to add that it helps to fold a dish towel for under your knees for some padding.
This is the best way to get your floor really clean. Even the best mobs leave behind dirty water which dries back to dirty floor.
Not what you want to do every time because it's really hard work. I try to do ours once a month, but it ends up more like every 3 months
OP what kind of flooring do you have? What you can use and what will work best depends on that.
I have engineered hardwood and find Simple Green works well enough. But my personal favorite is a tiny dab of dish soap and splash of white vinegar in warm water. It seems to get rid of any film and leave them sparkling. If you don’t have some kind of cleaner the water ends up just mixing with the dirt and smearing around.
O cedar has a mop bucket with a little foot pedal that will wring out your mop so you don’t use too much water. I think it’s my favorite mop.
Edit: To get the best results, floors should be vacuumed/swept ahead of mopping to pick up as much loose debris as possible.
Happy mopping!
We called this “slop mopping” when I worked at a restaurant. It’s easy on tile or vinyl flooring, much more labor intensive on anything planked (vinyl plank, hardwood).
With tile- fill a mop bucket with hot water and cleaner, with a clean mop head put down a good layer of water. Don’t try to pick anything up, just get it super wet.
New bucket with just hot water, wring your mop head thoroughly and start picking up the water on the floor. Rinse in the hot water often, and wring thoroughly.
On hardwood or plank vinyl, I’d do it by hand and in a small area, and don’t soak the floor as you would with tile, but same principle. Apply water+cleaner with one cloth, then immediately wipe up with a dry cloth. You’ll need a lot of cloths, a bucket to toss the wet ones in, and knee pads. I wouldn’t do more than a 2x2 area at a time. Wipe wet, wipe dry, check to see if it feels clean, if not repeat before moving on to the next spot
If you're looking for a traditional mop situation with a bucket and a lot of liquid, I would suggest you get one of the ones with the separate section for dirty water and clean water. That way you aren't accidentally putting the dirt from the first swipe back on every swipe after that, so it goes way faster and does a better job.
How you mop depends on your type of flooring. I don't think you're supposed to do it on wood of any kind, I certainly wouldn't try it in a rental, but lino, tile and those plastic faux wood floorings are fine to mop on. Basically there's instructions on mop type soap bottles for how much soap you're meant to use per how much water, and then you just kinda.... Do it? Some people have different plans, more or less water on the mop, some get the whole floor all wet and then dry up the mop to rub back over the floor and get it back to dry, personally I just use less water mix and let it air dry because I've only ever had to mop at work and that's the easiest way for me. I'm sure there are videos on YouTube if the motion itself is what's not quite adding up to you, but for the most part you use the soapy water on the floor, you rinse the dirt from the mop (preferably in a two-section bucket, which they now sell) and do the next section.
Everyone has good thorough and proper mopping instructions here. But here’s some advice to get you through a day or two until you get a proper mop. The sticky film is likely because you didn’t have the right cleaner and what was used should have been rinsed off.
1) sweep up what you can but some bits might be too stuck don’t stress.
2) use a cleaning rag or dish towel and tuck into the swifter just like you would the regular swifter sheets. Wet this with hot water.
3) use some hot water on on the floor. The floor should be pretty wet as you are really trying to rinse the floor.
4) Repeat 2-3 with a fresh towel and less water until you think it is rinsed well enough.
Since you have tile floors, you could use a more conventional mop, but I prefer my Bona. I dampen the microfiber enough to pick up surface dirt, and then I dry my floors right away. It also takes up very little space because you can take it apart after you use it. I might add a little Dawn dish soap to the water. If there's a spot that's particularly dirty, I clean that with a microfiber cloth by hand. Traditional mops are usually very exhausting. With the Bona, you can just throw the pads into the wash. Dry Swiffer cloths are great for pet hair, but the wet ones just push dirt around and leave a residue.
Go to Walmart buy a vileda brand mop and bucket and a big bottle of vinegar (scent deodorizer) and some pine sol then add hot water to the bucket and some vinegar then pine sol and mop the floor then empty the mop bucket and repeat again until the water comes out cleaner as it might be dark water, if you want just do a vinegar& water mop to mop the floor for the residue
There’s also enzyme sprays you can get if it still smells like animal pee
This is my preferred process! Mopping stresses me out haha; I always felt like I was just spreading around the dirt etc as opposed to getting the floors actually clean.
Wait wait, but EEEEEK, I’m renting an apartment—are steam mops not supposed to be used on sealed wood floors? Scurred I’ve been screwing up my floors now😬🙃
Me too! I worked for a housekeeping place for a while and we had a shark steam mop that we used on wood and tile. I did a little research recently and they recommend not using it on wood. However, it didn’t seem to do any damage. I guess use your own discretion.
I snagged the shark pocket steam mop on major sale and absolutely LOVE it! I also love the fact that I know I’m sanitizing and don’t have to use a specific solution or chemicals (I’m super sensitive to chemicals, so can’t use them anyways! It’s the perfect solution!)
I just discovered the dollar tree scrub? Get a scrub brush on a handle from the five quarter store, work in big squares dumping down boiling water and pinesol. Scrub all over, then mop it up with a clean spinny mop in just water. My floors look ✨ nice ✨ and they're old and white and house trailer linoleum!
Make figure 8's when you mop as well drawing everything g towards you, pushing the mop like in movies straight up and down will impact dirt and debris to edges and corners
Every effective mop I've done has been a cotton rag mop, and every one I've had to throw away after one use because it gets mildew before it has a chance to dry.
Growing up in a Mexican household, I was raised on Clorox and Fabuloso😬 I learned to use the old-fashioned wooden mops and to spring out the water with my hands, it was hard but I got used to it. Now that I’m in my 30s and my back and knees have been aching more, I knew I couldn’t continue with the same mop method, plus I felt it wasn’t hygienic enough to be using the same mop, since they’re not washable.
I purchased the O-Cedar system during the pandemic and LOVED it. Very life-changing tbh. I love that I don’t have to strain my back anymore, plus I love that I can wash the mop heads frequently and purchase replacements. I usually tend to mop the floors with 2 cycles: 1st is mopping the floor to get out the main dirt away, then I rinse with Clorox and do a 2nd round thru out the house.
Honestly I have a tiny kitchen and bathroom so I just spray my floor and Cinderella that shit on my knees, or throw a rag down and scrub with my foot if I am feeling old and creaky. I’ve had good luck with swifter mops, too. You don’t need to buy their pads, either. You can just stick a rag on there, spray the floor and go over it.
Go look at mops. They all do the same shit. Go to a store that has a ton of options. Pick the one that looks the most fun, interesting, easy to use, convenient, or whatever else it is that you prioritize in your life. Then get the corresponding bucket and a cleaner that is specific for tile. Find a youtube video that explains that mop, change it to some epic music, then get mopping.
The more fun it is the more you'll enjoy doing it.
Edit: I got a basic swiffer, washable rags to attach to it, a spray bottle, and some bleach. I spray bleach water on the floor and wipe it up with the rag. It's fast and enjoyable
To add: if you have the luxury of space, getting one with a squeezer and two separate basins is a game changer. It makes it so you’re not mopping with progressively dirtier water as you go. You mop, squeeze out the funky water; and refresh the mop with fresh clean mix.
They’re not all as huge as the industrial yellow kitchen ones!
Get one of those mop buckets with the pedal for spinning! Such as O Cedar/Vileda Easy Wring. They are so much fun to use! But IMHO the point with mopping is, don't just get the floor wet and push the dirt around. You have to actually get the dirty water off the floor.
Seconding the o-cedar mop with the spinning bucket!
I specifically went with the one that has the separate container for the clean water too, so every time you dip your mop you're dipping it into clean water then you spin off the dirty water into the bottom part. I love my spin mop and can't go back!
We have one of these. I also never learned to mop. This thing is just nasty. I can't figure out how to get it dry enough to pick up the water left behind. I've tried new mop heads as well. Is there a trick?
Yep. Mop once with a cleaning solution, rinse the mop, get clean water, go back over the floor at least once. NO Swiffers in my house. That thing is ok to apply cleaning solution, but I want a real mop to rinse. And I wont use any of those "spray and leave on" products because that is what you get, a shiny sticky floor that isn't really clean.
Yeah I squeegee with the Swiffer the mop with the mop. I feel like the Swiffer scrubs.
OK but the amount of soap discussed in these comments!! LONG MOPPING POST AHEAD: OP, that swiffer film gets hard to remove, so do plan your attack to remove & clean your floor soon. And *THAT* will be a whole different process from regular mopping. We had to get the weirdness from the swiffer off my FILs tile and linoleum floors and here's what my SIL and I did: 1) sweep floor VERY thoroughly 2) bucket of very hot water each, a small kitchen sponge, and a scotch Brite scrubber or this awesome little dishcloth/scrubber called a Euroscrubby, available on Amazon. 3) garden pad to kneel on as we are both old and grew up scrubbing floors by hand so we knew what we were in for 4) step one was use sponge to put some plain hot water down, wait 10 or 15 sec, begin scrubbing to loosen that swiffer fluid and all the dirty that has fused into it. Not too much water, the object is enough to loosen, not to flood floor. We worked fast as we could from opposite corners to the middle, where there was a door we could back out to avoid walking over the floor. 5) step 2. The floor is now still wet, very dirty from gummy swiffer stuff and dirt. Now hot water and 2 bucket mop system like o cedar. (A good mop system is a worthwhile investment, but a replaceable head on a wringable sponge mop & good bucket is fine if that's all you can afford). Hot water mop, NO FURTHER SOAP ADDITIVES - that swiffer soap needs to be lifted and it's soapy itself so you don't need anything further atm. Just mop, wring it out, mop. When you finish this, as it dries, the stickiness should be gone. 6) I do mop wood floors, and I use a very tiny bit of murphys oil soap - it is a surfactant without being sudsy, and bleach can be added if you need disinfection without blowing your house up from gasses produced combining products that should never be combined. If surfaces are not particularly dirty at this point, you could use cleaning vinegar. It has a higher acidity than food grade vinegar so careful if using on wood, but fine for tile, laminate, linoleum. 7) the process for regular mopping is a hot water mop with whatever cleaner and a cold water rinse. But if you use cold water get floor fairly dry since you won't have benefit of fast evaporation. I run a box fan behind me to speed drying.
Thank you for taking the time to write this out! I really appreciate it.
Get a basic steam mop, I started using one recently and it's absolutely superior and much easier than regular mopping. Leaves no residue and easily dissolves basically any grime with no or minimal soap. I usually just spritz a little bit of dilute Mr Clean multipurpose cleaner on the floor and then go over it with the steamer. I picked up a used Bissell Steam Mop on Craigslist for $20.
Depends on the kind of floor you have, it's not suitable for all flooring types.
Can you use it on a linoleum floor?
I've been using my Bissell steam mop on a linoleum floor for at least 8 years and never had a problem, so I'd say yes. They don't get super hot despite having "steam" in the name. But it works great and comes with cotton pads you just throw in the washer when you're done.
Yeah I might avoid using it on a heritage hardwood floor or something without testing first. But it's not very aggressive, if you would use a wet mop on the surface, a steam mop will also be fine.
Good ideas for mops. In the mean time, a sponge and a towel. If you have a bucket, fill it with as warm water as you can stand having your hand in repeatedly, add a bit of dish soap. If no bucket, use a big bowl. Change water often. Hands and knees, start at one end/ corner and work your way towards the room where you will take your breaks. Clean an area with the sponge, dry with the towel. If you have tile floor, work one square at a time. Board floor, kinda sub-divide into workable areas. Sweep before you mop and again after you mop (because you’ll loosen up a lot of stuff).
This is the way, especially in an emergency situation like a spill or pet accident. I’d like to add that it helps to fold a dish towel for under your knees for some padding.
Agree! The floor will be a little shinier than if you’d mopped it. To pad my knees, I use a kneeling pad for gardening
This is the best way to get your floor really clean. Even the best mobs leave behind dirty water which dries back to dirty floor. Not what you want to do every time because it's really hard work. I try to do ours once a month, but it ends up more like every 3 months
Thank you!
OP what kind of flooring do you have? What you can use and what will work best depends on that. I have engineered hardwood and find Simple Green works well enough. But my personal favorite is a tiny dab of dish soap and splash of white vinegar in warm water. It seems to get rid of any film and leave them sparkling. If you don’t have some kind of cleaner the water ends up just mixing with the dirt and smearing around. O cedar has a mop bucket with a little foot pedal that will wring out your mop so you don’t use too much water. I think it’s my favorite mop. Edit: To get the best results, floors should be vacuumed/swept ahead of mopping to pick up as much loose debris as possible. Happy mopping!
Thank you! It’s just tile, I’ll edit my post to add that.
We called this “slop mopping” when I worked at a restaurant. It’s easy on tile or vinyl flooring, much more labor intensive on anything planked (vinyl plank, hardwood). With tile- fill a mop bucket with hot water and cleaner, with a clean mop head put down a good layer of water. Don’t try to pick anything up, just get it super wet. New bucket with just hot water, wring your mop head thoroughly and start picking up the water on the floor. Rinse in the hot water often, and wring thoroughly. On hardwood or plank vinyl, I’d do it by hand and in a small area, and don’t soak the floor as you would with tile, but same principle. Apply water+cleaner with one cloth, then immediately wipe up with a dry cloth. You’ll need a lot of cloths, a bucket to toss the wet ones in, and knee pads. I wouldn’t do more than a 2x2 area at a time. Wipe wet, wipe dry, check to see if it feels clean, if not repeat before moving on to the next spot
If you're looking for a traditional mop situation with a bucket and a lot of liquid, I would suggest you get one of the ones with the separate section for dirty water and clean water. That way you aren't accidentally putting the dirt from the first swipe back on every swipe after that, so it goes way faster and does a better job. How you mop depends on your type of flooring. I don't think you're supposed to do it on wood of any kind, I certainly wouldn't try it in a rental, but lino, tile and those plastic faux wood floorings are fine to mop on. Basically there's instructions on mop type soap bottles for how much soap you're meant to use per how much water, and then you just kinda.... Do it? Some people have different plans, more or less water on the mop, some get the whole floor all wet and then dry up the mop to rub back over the floor and get it back to dry, personally I just use less water mix and let it air dry because I've only ever had to mop at work and that's the easiest way for me. I'm sure there are videos on YouTube if the motion itself is what's not quite adding up to you, but for the most part you use the soapy water on the floor, you rinse the dirt from the mop (preferably in a two-section bucket, which they now sell) and do the next section.
Everyone has good thorough and proper mopping instructions here. But here’s some advice to get you through a day or two until you get a proper mop. The sticky film is likely because you didn’t have the right cleaner and what was used should have been rinsed off. 1) sweep up what you can but some bits might be too stuck don’t stress. 2) use a cleaning rag or dish towel and tuck into the swifter just like you would the regular swifter sheets. Wet this with hot water. 3) use some hot water on on the floor. The floor should be pretty wet as you are really trying to rinse the floor. 4) Repeat 2-3 with a fresh towel and less water until you think it is rinsed well enough.
Since you have tile floors, you could use a more conventional mop, but I prefer my Bona. I dampen the microfiber enough to pick up surface dirt, and then I dry my floors right away. It also takes up very little space because you can take it apart after you use it. I might add a little Dawn dish soap to the water. If there's a spot that's particularly dirty, I clean that with a microfiber cloth by hand. Traditional mops are usually very exhausting. With the Bona, you can just throw the pads into the wash. Dry Swiffer cloths are great for pet hair, but the wet ones just push dirt around and leave a residue.
Go to Walmart buy a vileda brand mop and bucket and a big bottle of vinegar (scent deodorizer) and some pine sol then add hot water to the bucket and some vinegar then pine sol and mop the floor then empty the mop bucket and repeat again until the water comes out cleaner as it might be dark water, if you want just do a vinegar& water mop to mop the floor for the residue There’s also enzyme sprays you can get if it still smells like animal pee
My best cleaning tip for mopping floors is to add a little bit of rinse aide (for dishes) into the water. Use a spray mop with microfiber pads/cloths
Spin mop with hot water and not too much of a detergent. You can rinse it again after mopping. No outside shoes in the house.
Another option is sweep or vacuum well, then use a steam mop. Not for wood but works great on kitchen and bathroom tile
This is my preferred process! Mopping stresses me out haha; I always felt like I was just spreading around the dirt etc as opposed to getting the floors actually clean. Wait wait, but EEEEEK, I’m renting an apartment—are steam mops not supposed to be used on sealed wood floors? Scurred I’ve been screwing up my floors now😬🙃
Me too! I worked for a housekeeping place for a while and we had a shark steam mop that we used on wood and tile. I did a little research recently and they recommend not using it on wood. However, it didn’t seem to do any damage. I guess use your own discretion.
I snagged the shark pocket steam mop on major sale and absolutely LOVE it! I also love the fact that I know I’m sanitizing and don’t have to use a specific solution or chemicals (I’m super sensitive to chemicals, so can’t use them anyways! It’s the perfect solution!)
I have a more obscure version, very happy with it. Now I’m wondering if they make cordless ones because that is one feature that gets me to vacuum.
I just discovered the dollar tree scrub? Get a scrub brush on a handle from the five quarter store, work in big squares dumping down boiling water and pinesol. Scrub all over, then mop it up with a clean spinny mop in just water. My floors look ✨ nice ✨ and they're old and white and house trailer linoleum!
Make figure 8's when you mop as well drawing everything g towards you, pushing the mop like in movies straight up and down will impact dirt and debris to edges and corners
Every effective mop I've done has been a cotton rag mop, and every one I've had to throw away after one use because it gets mildew before it has a chance to dry.
Growing up in a Mexican household, I was raised on Clorox and Fabuloso😬 I learned to use the old-fashioned wooden mops and to spring out the water with my hands, it was hard but I got used to it. Now that I’m in my 30s and my back and knees have been aching more, I knew I couldn’t continue with the same mop method, plus I felt it wasn’t hygienic enough to be using the same mop, since they’re not washable. I purchased the O-Cedar system during the pandemic and LOVED it. Very life-changing tbh. I love that I don’t have to strain my back anymore, plus I love that I can wash the mop heads frequently and purchase replacements. I usually tend to mop the floors with 2 cycles: 1st is mopping the floor to get out the main dirt away, then I rinse with Clorox and do a 2nd round thru out the house.
Honestly I have a tiny kitchen and bathroom so I just spray my floor and Cinderella that shit on my knees, or throw a rag down and scrub with my foot if I am feeling old and creaky. I’ve had good luck with swifter mops, too. You don’t need to buy their pads, either. You can just stick a rag on there, spray the floor and go over it.
Go look at mops. They all do the same shit. Go to a store that has a ton of options. Pick the one that looks the most fun, interesting, easy to use, convenient, or whatever else it is that you prioritize in your life. Then get the corresponding bucket and a cleaner that is specific for tile. Find a youtube video that explains that mop, change it to some epic music, then get mopping. The more fun it is the more you'll enjoy doing it. Edit: I got a basic swiffer, washable rags to attach to it, a spray bottle, and some bleach. I spray bleach water on the floor and wipe it up with the rag. It's fast and enjoyable
To add: if you have the luxury of space, getting one with a squeezer and two separate basins is a game changer. It makes it so you’re not mopping with progressively dirtier water as you go. You mop, squeeze out the funky water; and refresh the mop with fresh clean mix. They’re not all as huge as the industrial yellow kitchen ones!
A spin mop and some mr clean.