How do you clean your kitchen floors?

[coolpatterngirl]

Hi all,

What do you use to deep clean your kitchen floors?

Regular mopping doesn't shift the dirt and the only thing that seems to work is down on my hands and knees scrubbing with bleach (which I don't do nearly often enough)!

Karcher steam cleaner this one

I bought it on Tesco vouchers when they were doing a boost thing on electricals. I think I got 4 times value of vouchers which covered the price.

Hello steam cleaner folk.
We've moved to a place with tiled floors EVERYWHERE, including the bedrooms. I've just about persuaded DH to take me steam mop shopping tomorrow. What features do I need to look out for? Not in UK, so brands all different looks at black and decker toaster

Are steam cleaners and steam mops the same thing, just the mop has less flexibility? And how do you clean a steam mop? ie I would change a mop head when it got manky. Is it similar with a steam mop?

So, what would be your must have features? What's nice to have? What to avoid (apart from a cleaner fluid container, which you've already said is a waste of time)

Steam cleaner is better than just a mop. The one I have (linked in my last post) has lovely attachments such as a pressure nozzle which is amazing for things like toilet seat hinges (DS has poor aim), dishwasher door hinges, grunge around taps and that horrible black stuff that lives in the washing machine drawer. I've even defrosted the chest freezer in a few mins.

Oh and the mop heads are just e-cloths that are attached at each end with a gripper thing. You get a few with the machine so just throw each one in the washing machine when its mucky.

I agree with nightsky, the one I have is just the mop and I have a separate steam cleaner with the nozzles/window cleaner etc, I'd much prefer to have all the attachments in one.

Have a look on Amazon at all the different attachments you can get and draw up a list of what you'd use, then I'd see what the reviews are like on any that take your fancy. I wouldn't buy without a recommendation, my first was pants, I may as well had thrown a bucket of water on the floor!

And 4/6 is a good number of pads to have.

My kitchen floor is lino, I find using Zoflora and hot water with a mop and bucket does the job.

Your assuming I have access to sensible online shopping info, and model numbers!!!! I'll be going in blind on this......

Is a steam cleaner as good at cleaning floors as a steam mop? Or is dedicated use better?

I borrowed a dedicated steam mop - that green one they advertise on telly a lot. It left the floors pretty wet and the steam was not that hot really. Hence I did a bit of research and bought the one I did. I think you need to look at bar pressure level when buying. I think mine is 3.2 bar. I also have a half-steam option which is great for laminate floors as I don't want them to lift.

Don't generally. I vacuum them but as I eat using plates at a table, I can't get worked up about the kitchen floor.

Old DS jogging bottoms, a bucket of warm water and down on my knees. Vinyl flooring in the kitchen and bamboo in the rest. I have not found a suitable mop.

We've got a vileda mop with with a little scourer bit on the top, which is great for scrubbing away any stubborn marks. It does shock me though the amount of people that don't know how to mop. I was at a friends house the other week, and her DH was mopping the kitchen but just waving the mop over the floor in lines. I had to show him how to do it properly, using the end of the handle to put pressure on the floor

I brush everywhere, then hover then first steam mop with floor cleaner in then a second steam mop with 70% solution of disinfectant to water.

I do a quick vacuum to get the bits up.

Then, I have a steam cleaner - one tank for water and a smaller tank for diluted cleaning product. i have a range of pads for it depending on need - some tougher than others.

For quick, small areas or stubborn bits then I use floor wipes.

I generally send the hoover round again once dry. We've a robot hoover so no pain or hassle to press the button again.

We have vinyl, it's textured and I have to scrub it on my hands and knees.

The polished porcelain tiles are waiting to go down.

I have black slate. I hate it (apart from when it is just washed) I clean every day with zoflora/natural stone cleaner. It shows up every speck of everything!!

Scrubbing with a brush made no improvement. Thinking of having it professionally cleaned then seals
With some kind of gloss so it wet look. Maybe that'll help....

Steam cleaner. Vax. Attachments mean tiles, shower screens, etc., can be cleaned as well. Very simple and easy. Ceramic tiles in kitchen, Amtico stype stuff in hall, dining room, family room, bogs and bathrooms. Have a very light chargeable mini hoover thing for inbetween times.

Twinklefuck - I have broken two X5s so am officially banned from any further steamer purchasing - both times let the element lose contact with water. It doesn't have high volume capacity and frankly didn't work at all well on bathroom tiles the way it looked in the infomercial - overrated imho.

Can you use steam cleaners on vinyl and wood laminate?

I've just bought a Vileda 1 - 2 spray mop and I'm really pleased with it.

I use a Vax steam mop. I spray some Dettol floor spray around first, rather than use the Vax stuff that goes in the tank. The mop does a good job but this is my third one as the previous two broke under guarantee so this is yet another replacement. Wouldn't buy Vax again as they're unreliable (have the same ongoing problem with a Vax carpet shampooer).