A few days away leaving a teenager in the house alone…really??!!

Yes, this was a challenge.  But my teen didn’t want to come…and our dog needed looking after, so we thought we’d give it a go…

One of the first things I noticed when I came home was the streaks on the cork floor of our family room.  That’s nice, I thought, they’ve had a go at cleaning the floor.

Then I noticed some white residue on the quarry tiles adjacent.  Other evidence suggested a flour fight had taken place.  (The family room shares a bench with the kitchen.)

Hotly denied, of course.  ‘We just made a cake.’  But there was proof around the room (and on the windows).

I was grateful that at least most of the mess had been cleaned up.  (But sad that they didn’t have the nouse to clean it properly so I couldn’t tell :(.)

It was clear that they had used our preferred method of cleaning floors – a microfibre pad (see 6 August 2012 post).  The mop was dumped in the bath.

Microfibre pads work well for general damp mopping.

Sweeping or vacuuming deal with most of the dirt.   Doing it daily prevents dirt scratching the floor surface or building up.

If you wipe up any spills immediately, all that’s needed is a quick damp going over once a week with microfibre mop to pick up the really fine stuff and leave the surface dust-free.

But if you don’t do this regularly – or you don’t sweep or vacuum up the remains of your flour fight first 😉 – then something stronger is needed.

This doesn’t mean using chemicals.  Especially for cork.

It just means something that will pick up more of what’s on the floor : a mop or squeegee and a bucket of water…or two.

Water is completely natural and chemical free…the ultimate in sustainable cleaning products.

Using a bucket of water allows you to rinse your cleaning implement as you go – instead of smearing the dirt (or flour or whatever) all over the floor.

Remember to squeeze the mop our very well.  As well as ensuring you are not re-applying the residue, a wrung-out mop means that you don’t use excess moisture that will damage the floor’s surface – a big issue with cork or wooden floors – and that the floor will dry quickly.

So, after doing this, I have a nice clean floor again.  No streaks or residue, just shine.

What do you use to clean your floor?  Let me know in the Reply box below.

Till next time…be gentle to yourself and our world!