Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Having a toddler, a corgi and a couple of cats really means that we are in a constant battle to keep our floors clean in the Nass household. Here are a few items that are particularly handy in our house.

Bona Hardwood Floor Spray Mop.  I really love Bona Hardwood Floor cleaner. It doesn't leave a sticky residue like the Swiffer Hardwood cleaner does and dries pretty quickly with no streaks. I like that this uses a resuable microfiber cleaning pad which is more cost effective and environmentally friendly than constantly having to use disposable pads. The problem with this mop is that it seems to not actually pick anything up in the middle, so when looking at the cleaning pad, there's dirt that forms a circle and the middle is clean. Otherwise, it is a great buy.   

Bona Hardwood Wet Cleaning Pads, 10-pk. I received a pack of these for free to try. As you can read above, I was already trying to get away from disposable cleaning pads. These Bona pads have all the benefits of the Bona floor spray but the ease of Swiffer pads. While I wouldn't recommend these for everyday, all the time cleaning, as they are a little on the flimsy side, they are really great for spot cleaning. The old adage about cleaning up the little messes before they become big hairy messes is so true and these cleaning pads are perfect for those little messes.

iRobot Roomba 770 Vacuum Cleaning Robot for Pets and Allergies.  We have had a number of Roombas over the years and this one is fantastic. It goes off based on a timer, goes around picking up all the animal fur and then docks itself. It just needs to be emptied once a day but that's a small price to pay to cut back on at least one sweep a day. The only downside is that the Roomba moves around by bouncing off of surfaces which means it's not that great at getting under tables surrounded by chairs. Also, I've noticed that in the places that Roomba tends to bounce of very often, the furniture and cabinets are getting scuffed/worn down.

O-Cedar Power Corner Large Angle Broom. I never thought that there was such a big difference between brooms but there is. There really, really, really is. I've bought cheap brooms and fancy brooms with foam in the middle and dry swiffers and sweepers and this is the broom that had me stop and say, "Wow, this is a great broom." It just gets to all the dirt. Dirt that for some reason wasn't getting picked up by other brooms. It gets into corners and doesn't hang on to dirt and fur which makes a huge difference when throwing things away.


BISSELL Powerfresh Steam Mop. This is my husband's favorite floor cleaning tool. Yes, it is super effective in cleaning the floor because it steams up all the junk and leaves the floor feeling like it just went through the dishwasher. You know that warm dish feeling? It's like that.  Downside is that if you have real hardwood or engineered hardwood, improper use of a steam mop can strip the polyurethane surface of the floor. The steam mop was left in the upright position after use, unplugged but still hot, and it damaged the floor by leaving a mop head sized grey area where the finish is stripped off the floor. I also think it dulls the floor a little so I only use this once a month between Bona cleanings since Bona leaves a shine. If used on a laminate floor, I think there would be no issues. Just happy, clean, sanitized floors.