Spring clean

[vicky whitworth]

We have what is called a farmhouse kitchen which means that most of the farm yard lives in our kitchen. Cats and chickens seem to come and go, and my husband wanders in wearing his wellies straight from the garden. Floor surface - old terracotta small pamments with no sealant. Problem - filth. I'm not a great house keeper but the floor is disgusting. I hoover but I hardly ever wash it. I've tried using a floor, squeegy mop but that simply pushes the dirt into the grouting between the tiles. I've tried a once a year sit on the floor and scrub approach but it's exhausting and again seems pointless. My friend brought her stream mop over yesterday. She raves about it for her laminate floors but she has an impeccable bungalow. As far as I could see it simply squooshes out stream but again just moves the dirt around.

It's not that I can actually do any cleaning at the moment but I have too much time on my hands thinking about these things. What do you do with your kitchen floors?

 

[worms]

You can get things that loook like a pair of Crocs, only bigger, that you can step into without taking your wellies off. Might solve the problem of garden/farmyard muck getting onto the kitchen floor...

 

[LadyArowana]

Cats and chickens seem to come and go, and my husband wanders in wearing his wellies straight from the garden.

Stop them doing this.

I hoover but I hardly ever wash it.

Do a lot more of that.

or

the floor is disgusting.

 

[plasticpigeon]

There is available a George which is a cousin of Henry, that has carpet cleaning and hard floor cleaning facility, which sprays water out and simultaneously sucks it back in again. There is a hard brush attachment for scrubbing hard floors as one goes. Could be an idea.

 

[Lime]

On old tiled floors where dirt is a problem I use an old style mop with an old style wringing out bucket.
Nothing can beat it.
The mops are cheap.
http://www.thetradeshop.co.uk/products/janitorial-cleaning-materials/mops-brushes-squeegees/mop-complete-with-wooden-product.html

mop bucket
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Galvanised-Metal-Mop-Bucket-15L-LTR-Litre-Great-Restaurants-Schools-Janitors-/260964031948?pt=UK_HomeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA&hash=item3cc2ab1dcc

My mop bucket is still going strong 40 years later.
I buy the mops in quantity (20) and they are cheaper still. (can't recall the name where I bought them)

Once you have acquired the knack of using them nothing else will do.
DON'T buy anything plastic.... it WILL break.

 

[vicky whitworth]

Thank you Plasticpigeon, George could be my man. I will do some more research.
How do you stop cats coming in with dirty feet? I know, let them live outside. Poor little things, they'd freeze. Here's a sample.

 

[worms]

These tiles (and cat) look clean enough to me!

 

[LadyArowana]

These tiles (and cat) look clean enough to me!

Yes, he's even managed to take his boots off before getting into his basket! What a clever kitty.

 

[Flyfisher]

. . . but that simply pushes the dirt into the grouting between the tiles.

Ah, now that is something I can claim some experience of solving for a number of houses - dark grout. It's how it'll end up anyway, so might as well just accept it as soon as possible.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Hi Vicky, same here. Flagstones and Georgian pamments and wooden floors throughout, some of them I've mopped once or twice, some, like the early 19thC Brick floor in the wine cellar, and the stone stairs, I never bother with. And the trouble with mopping the wooden floors, which are 19th C, is that the stench is appalling as the water soaks into the cracks where there is 200 years of filth and 100yr old newspaper sealing the gaps. A good vacuum once or twice a week and that will have to do! In our basement kitchen the efflorescence and crumbling on the pamments is so bad there seems little point mopping. I used to find it all a bit upsetting but now I wear these, and never let them go outside, I don't really care anymore!

http://www.celticandco.co.uk/ladies/footwear-1843/ladies-sheepskin-boots/sheepskin-house-boots/

The husband has got to be trained. The cats can be seized and towelled if you see them, mine are. I know you can't catch them every time but every time you do it helps. The giant doormats also help outside the door, you can get them at Wickes, and then have a smaller doormat in your kitchen.

2012-2013 has been absolutely appalling for mud. :x

 

[tycarregydwr]

No outdoor shoes inside, ever! We have two front doors and three back doors (don't ask) but try very hard to limit use to one of each, beside each door is a small shoe rack with shoes and slippers. The back door that we mostly use comes into the utility room, which is off the kitchen. The utility room floor is fairly grubby as this is where muddy wellies get kicked off, but they do not, on pain of death, come any further than that. Shoes/boots off, slippers on. Vast improvement.
Perhaps you could even turn your husband into a net dirt remover rather than importer, by getting him to wear these inside http://www.amazon.co.uk/acc-Dust-Mop-Slippers/dp/B0077KTM3W :lol: