Utterly filthy floors

[Muppet7410]

As the subject says I have utterly filthy floors . I have a big, hairy, dirty German shepherd but no matter how frequently I Hoover (everyday) and mop (unfortunately not so often) my floors remain filthy.

We have slate effect tiled kitchen floor and karndean throughout the rest of the downstairs. The floors look clean to the eye but when you wipe up a spill with kitchen towel it always comes up black.

I use a spray mop as it's quick drying, and fill it with diluted disinfectant.

Aside from the filth, the floor always seems to have a sticky grimey finish when you walk round in socks (which I never do as it feels so gross!)

What can I use to strip back the filth and get them spotlessly clean?

This is very true, hot soapy water is an excellent cleaner. Disinfectant won't shift the dirt, but hot soapy water will kill germs while it cleans.

As the owner of two small, fluffy, filthy, stinky dogs, 6 cats and the same flooring, I reccomend mopping over with very hot water, kitchen spray with bleach and laundry liquid. I then go on hands and knees with a not too abrasive scourer then mop again with hot water and disinfectant. I do this twice a week and just use hot water and laundry liquid in between.

Scrubbing brush and sugar soap. Two buckets, one half full of hot water for rinsing the dirty brush/cloth, the other full of clean hot water/sugar soap solution. Work in small sections to avoid overreaching/strains, wipe each section with a damp cloth.

Mop fairly liquid do it every couple of days.Have to put in a bit effort you can’t be gentle if you see what I mean good exercise for bingo wings

Vacuum before you mop, this gets all the bits of dirt and hair off. Worst case scenario, you may need to do a clean with an old- fashioned scrubbing brush to get the floor properly clean.

Pledge floor wipes

I felt the same about my floors until I bought the bissell crosswave. Look it up, it’s amazing, it washes and dries hard and carpeted floors. The first few times I used it the water was black afterwards😱😱😱now it just looks cloudy and the floor finally feels clean when walking in bare feet. ( I don’t work for them 😂just a delighted customer with super squeaky clean floors) Oh and it’s easy peasy to work too. 🍀

Laura that sounds very satisfying!

It’s brill Caroline, it’s halved my cleaning time. It also picks up dust and crumbs as it go along but i prefer to quickly hoover first so the brushes don’t get clogged up. Buy one, you’ll be eternally grateful to me!😂😂😂

Beardedmum they sound horrendous for the environment

Hand and knees, bucket of hot soapy water and a scrubbing brush. I have a stone floor and a muddy dog and that's the best way to get it looking new again.

Thanks Laura I think I will!

You need to mop properly with a mop and bucket often, and use the spray mop for patch cleaning or a quick once over in between mops.

And keep the dog outside more so he doesn’t mess up the floors my dogs are allowed in the house love them but they are animals at the end of the day.

I'm surprised at all the animal people saying bleach as I thought that encouraged dogs to urinate inside as it smells as a previous dog has.

When we've had cleaners in they've always been pleased to see our mop and say they are the best. Heads go in the washing machine.

I use flash or bio washing liquid generally.

I've heard bleach is bad for dogs paws.

Yes, that makes sense.

It’s pointless using bleach in hot water.
Cold water should be used for dilution as hot water decomposes the active ingredient of bleach and renders it ineffective.

I feel your pain! I follow TOMM and sweep and hoover every bloody day, and mop with boiling water and floor cleaner once a week on a Friday morning. The water is always black, like I've emptied a shovel of dirt into the water.

I walked downstairs to make morning tea today less than 24h after mopping and I could already feel the grit and dog hair under my feet

It's a good thing she's adorable.

I scrubbed the floor with bio washing liquid diluted in hot water and went over it with the mop and bucket with flash. I did it in small sections and it took me apx 4 hours but I got there! Ive been spray mopping daily and the pad is relatively clean now. It feels nice to walk on. I'll always have to hoover daily but I will have to accept that. At least I'm in a cleaner place now. Thanks for all of your advice.

Using a steam mop wiith karndean is not a good idea as it is likely to melt the glue underfloor. Use a standard mop with the water not too hot for vinyl floor.

I did it in small sections and it took me apx 4 hours well done but you must live in a mansion!

HappyPeopleDay - no a 3 bed semi! But the floor was that dirty it took forever!!!

My friend has an effective system in that on return from a walk she washed the dog, or parts thereof, before going in.