I remember the kitchen floor in my very first apartment, it was white and gold linoleum with thousands of little indentations in a pattern running through it. I didn’t care, I was so happy to have my first apartment. I swept that floor every day and ran a sponge mop over it once a week. I felt very, very domestic, such a little housewife! Then after about a month something got spilled on the floor and I had to get on my hands and knees and clean it up. After the clean up was done, that part of the floor looked totally different. All the dirt from our shoes was getting stuck in those little indentations. I found the only way to really clean that floor was on my hands and knees, with a scrub brush. Needless to say I vowed never to have that type of floor again.
I’ve lived in many apartments in my life and you really don’t get to decide what is on the floor. After having carpet in the kitchen I was thankful to have linoleum again. I now have laminate that looks like wood in the kitchen, not my first choice, but it was here when I bought the house.
Over the years I’ve tried many floor cleaners and methods and still what works the best is getting on your hands and knees and scrubbing but I have found some ways to stretch the length of time between scrubbings. I have a Mr. Clean mop with a microfiber pad, this is great for daily cleaning. I try to damp mop the high traffic areas every night after dinner. I’ve also found that any cleaner you put on a floor will leave a residue, no matter how well you think you’ve rinsed it. That residue will attract all the dirt it can find.
I only use vinegar to clean my kitchen floor. There is nothing left behind and it actually does a pretty good job of giving my laminate a little bit of a shine. When it’s time to scrub I use two buckets, one for clean water and one for dirty water. First I soak and area of the floor with water, let it sit for a minute or so and then wipe it up. If you let it sit the water will do the work for you so you don’t have to scrub as much. After getting all the dirty water up, wipe the area with the clean water and move on. It’s time consuming but the floor looks great afterwards.
Also keep a spray bottle of vinegar and water under the sink, for little messes just spray and wipe up, then the floor doesn’t need to be cleaned quite as often. What is your favorite way to clean your floor? Do you have any tips to keep from having to scrub on your hands and knees? I’d love to hear them.