| Author | Content |
| woodspirit1 Lake Toxaway, NC Zone 7a August 21, 2006 | I have an odd way of mopping but I think I get cleaner floors with this effort. First, I clean a toilet. Then I mix the cleaner with hot water in a container and spill a little on the floor in a small area. After I mop the area, I rinse the mop out in the toilet and flush the dirty water away. Then I move to next area and repeat. This prevents me from putting the dirty mop into the bucket with the cleaner which causes one to mop with dirty water. Each time the mop goes back into the cleaner with the dirt on it, the cleaner water gets dirtier and dirtier. With my method, you never use dirty cleaner/water solution on the floors. This message was edited Aug 22, 2006 8:55 AM |
| ecrane3 Dublin, CA Zone 9a August 21, 2006 | That does sound like a good method for keeping your water from getting dirty, but I have to say I wouldn't do it--I have a phobia of toilet water, even if I just scrubbed the toilet to death with bleach I'd still be worried about there being toilet germs in it! On the rare occasions when I actually really mop the floor (Ready Mop is my weapon of choice generally!), I will rinse the mop in the sink in between times that I need to dip it in the cleaner, I think that does pretty much the same thing. |
| woodspirit1 Lake Toxaway, NC Zone 7a August 21, 2006 | Probably so. But I use a string mop so it's easier to rinse in the toilet. |
| MQN Salt Lake City, UT Zone 6a August 21, 2006 | Hate to tell you this but they have on one of those HGTV cleaning shows shown that in general the kitchen sink to be actually dirtier/more germs then the toliet in most homes.... |
| ecrane3 Dublin, CA Zone 9a August 21, 2006 | I know, I've seen that too. My thing with the toilet water is an irrational fear! To be clear though, my mop never comes in contact with the sink, only the running water. And I clean my sink often enough that I think it's at least as clean as my toilet! |
| woodspirit1 Lake Toxaway, NC Zone 7a August 22, 2006 | Yeah, I take the sink strainers out and run them through the dishwasher or scrub them with a brush from time to time |
| Terry Murfreesboro, TN Zone 7a  August 23, 2006 | I hand-mop my bathroom floors. (I use one rag per bathroom - I clean the sink and counter first, then tub/shower, then toilet, then floor - using a disenfecting spray (with bleach) on all surfaces. Once all three bathrooms are clean, the rags and the white bath mats all go in the washer with hot water, bleach and laundry detergent. I use a regular mop on my kitchen floor, with ammonia and water in a mopbucket. As long as I do both of these things on a regular basis (usually once a week - maybe every ten days if I get busy), I'm not terribly worried about the germs on the floors in any of these areas because: 1) it's not as though we eat off them; 2) I don't have any small children or babies crawling around and sticking their hands (and everything else) in their mouths; and 3) more studies are finding that our attempts to completely sterilize our environment is correlating to more asthma and allergy problems and other health problems in our children. Conclusion: exposure to a certain level of germs is a good thing for our immune systems. (Or maybe those are just the studies I *want* to hear, lol.) At any rate, *my* kitchen sinks ARE cleaner than my toilet. I know this because I only clean the toilets once a week. However, I clean my kitchen sinks daily with a (fresh) rag and dishsoap or Softscrub with bleach. At least once a week I run hot water in both sinks, add some bleach and let the strainers and mats soak for a half-hour or longer. I do a lot of cooking (and therefore cleaning) in my kitchen, plus this time a year I'm busy putting up vegetables from the garden. I have no desire to poison my family so I'm very conscientious about having sanitary work surfaces for food prep and storage ;o) |
| woodspirit1 Lake Toxaway, NC Zone 7a August 23, 2006 | Well, I'm a lousy housekeeper but have become fair-to-middling since my house rehab. It's easier to clean things and to see what I'm doing. I am really enjoying all the light, nice surfaces and water pressure, really really good water pressure. |
| handbright Coral Springs, FL Zone 10b August 25, 2006 | This is actually much more hygenic than it might seem. The water in a toilet, after it has been thoroughly scrubbed, is much cleaner than an old plastic bucket filled with "mopping water" that is used to rinse the mop and then mop again. Each "flush" adds approximately 1and 1/2 gallons of new clean water as it removes the old water from the mop. (the new "Water Saver" toilets have different water levels to flush ratios and I dont trust them at all, but still its better than double dipping into old mop water...) So, anyway, each time the mop goes back into the "scrubbed" toilet it is rinsed (and maybe wrung) in a flushing flash, and the dirty old water is gone. No more "double dipping" in an old bucket! A toilet, when properly cleaned, is much more sanitary than it's given credit for! :) A |
| woodspirit1 Lake Toxaway, NC Zone 7a August 25, 2006 | Exactly! You said it better than me. |
| PeggieK Claremore, OK Zone 6a January 30, 2007 | As I think about all this, I think I'd rather mop from the toilet than to put a mop into my sink. What you get from your toilet will go onto the floor.......... What you get from the floor will go into the sink. If you clean the toilet first you eleminate a lot, and if you don't kill 100% of germs, at least it's your own family, at worst. If you mop from sink...........you are introducing into your food prep area, stuff from everyone's shoes.....which have maybe walked in public places, sidewalks where people with viruses and contaigious infections spit, throw up or even bleed, or who knows what. I think I'd rather take a chance with a little Clorox and my family's toilet, than have any of that other stuff anywhere near my food prep area. I might spread some of my family's germs around, but at least it's only toilet to floor, and floor to toilet. But I really do think the Clorox in toilet will knock it down to a small chance. I'd never heard of mopping from the toilet before. But logically it sounds best. I've mopped from the sink and from mop buckets both. Never really liked either one. The toilet sounds a little funky, but makes sense to me. Still don't think I'm going to like it though. LOL. |
| WUVIE Hulbert, OK Zone 7a January 30, 2007 | Signing in as a mopping fanatic. I love to mop! Thankfully, our house is built much like a rectangle, with the bathroom in the center of it all. I simply spray the mop with a good douse of cleaner (currently Pine Sol) and mop the bathroom. Then I hold the mop under the running bath water and wiggle the mop back and forth to clean it. I put the mop on the side of the tub to drain and go do something else for a while. Dishes, laundry, whatever. I'm not a wimp, I just refuse to twist a mop head by hand. Nasty. I remember the days of working in restaurants with dirty mop water in a bucket. It never made sense to me to mop a floor with the same old water. Much like taking a bath when one is dirty. LOL. I come back after that project and the mop is drip ready for another session. I shake the fuzzy wuzzies and dirt that may remain after rinsing, spray the mop with more Pine Sol and go at it again in another room. Then back to the tub to rinse the mop and drain again. When I finish, I make certain to clean the tub drain of all loose strings or whatever, spray the mop down with Clorox Clean-Up, and put the mop in the hall closet until next time. I love to mop and actually wish we had more hard flooring to mop. And get this! I buy my mops at the dollar store. Yes, one single dollar for a mop. When it gets sad, another one is just a dollar away. Yep, I'm certifiable. |
| PeggieK Claremore, OK Zone 6a February 7, 2007 | Love to mop ? Wow..........how did your mother instill that in you ? I wish my mother would have had her secret. lol. I hate mopping, but have to admit, I love it when it's done.............especially the Pine-Sol. Smells so fresh and nice. I agree with the dirty mop water thing. No point in putting the dirt back on the floor. My bathroom is small enough, I usually can get it done pretty quickly on my hands and knees with a rag and soapy water......... Not too bad now that the kids are all gone, just DH and I, it stays a lot cleaner than it used to. |
| WUVIE Hulbert, OK Zone 7a February 10, 2007 | LOL Peggy, I don't remember mopping one time while living at home. I guess it was just instilled in me from working in restaurants most of my previous life. LOL. My first marriage was a nasty one, and my second was not a great deal of fun, either, so I would withdraw into housekeeping for stress relief. Sounds funny, I'm sure, but it worked. I'm hooked. When I'm mad, I'm cleaning. Pine Sol. Mmm! Fresh and clean. |
| susancva Zone 7b February 22, 2007 | For a really easy method, use swiffer. You can see the dirt that comes up on the pad thingy's and the house has a very clean smell after. Susan |
| Prickle Porter, TX Zone 9a February 22, 2007 | I like swiffers too. However they don't seem to get into the crevices very well so I use them until my floors are in need of a really thorough going over. I have a goofy way of mopping. I spill a little water/cleaner on the floor then use my natural bristle broom to scrub and spred the cleaner around. I don't have to bend to get at the sticky stuff and it gets in all the cracks. Then I use a sponge mop to suck up all the water and muck. I also use the dollar store mops, like Wuvie. When they get yucky you just chuck 'em. |
| susancva Zone 7b February 23, 2007 | clorox clean up is good for spraying on the floor around the baseboards that can be difficult for swiffer and it works great for a little extra cleanliness. I think the swiffer products are heaven sent!!! :) Susan |
| pebble Bodrum (TR) Zone 10a September 9, 2007 | I like the toilet idea. Here is what we use in Turkey, I hadnt seen these in the states before i went, but when i came back i looked and looked, and finally found something similiar at walmart. This system, you dont hav to touch the mop at all. i think its brilliant.
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| Gymgirl Houston, TX Zone 9a September 18, 2007 | I think I'd go for the wring out in the toilet before using the tub...JMHO |
| jeri11 Central, LA Zone 8b September 21, 2007 | Have any of yall seen those flat mops that the pads come off and you can rinse it out before putting into the cleaning water. They remind me of the old dust mops that my mama used. I have an absolute adverstion to touch a string mop. I've bought different pads for each room and just put them in the washer to clean. I also put some cleaner in a spray bottle and spray the area then mop. That way I don't get as much drag. My GD loves to spray the floor and it really makes mopping alot faster. Jeri |
| birdsnblooms Zone 5b September 21, 2007 | While it makes sense to mop from the tidy-bowl in the bathroom, I'll still use my sink, since it's just more physically convenient to mopping the kitchen. |
| cactuspatch La Luz/Alamogordo, NM Zone 8a October 22, 2007 | I rinse the mop in my utility room sink, when I use a mop. I have a lot of tile which I love since it is so much cleaner than carpet. I have one of those Floormates that I love to use. I vac or swiffer first. The Floormate uses clean water with detergent added. You spray it on by pressing the lever, it scrubs with little rotary brushes and then you switch the lever and it suctions up all the dirty water. |
| sarv48 south of Grand Rapids, MI Zone 5a October 25, 2007 | I just bought a bissell 'steam mop' and it is the best thing I've ever used. Uses just plain water (we have little grandkids crawling on floor) but with the steam, I've never had cleaner floors. They feel wonder on your feet (that's how I can tell they are clean!) |
| MsKatt Mid-Michigan, MI Zone 5b December 4, 2007 | I'm a weirdo, I confess. I scrub all my floors on my hands and knees with a scrubby. Then I go over them with a sponge mop and polish them. I have old, hardwood floors throughout the house..except the bathrooms and bedrooms. I'm trying to convince my DH to let me rip out the remaining carpet!! |
