If you’re getting ready to host a holiday event, floors will be part of your cleaning plans – both before and after your party.
Vacuuming and mopping may be part of your pre-party prep – and vacuuming, mopping, and stain removal will most likely be part of your post-party clean-up.
Commercial options
Have you ever stopped to consider that commercial mopping and stain removal products may not be very healthy?
When the Environmental Working Group evaluated 62 hard floor cleaners, 29 products (46 percent) received an F and 23 products (37 percent) received a D.
When I used to mop my floors with a traditional mop and cleaner, Mop & Glo was my cleaner of choice. I would have liked to know that the EWG rated Mop & Glo Triple Action Floor Shine with an F because of ethoxyethanol, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, and methoxydiglycol (all affect developmental, endocrine and reproductive systems), unspecified fluorosurfactant (causes biodegradation), and ammonium hydroxide (is acutely toxic to aquatic life).
Stain removal on carpeting isn’t any safer. Out of 36 carpet cleaners tested, 17 products (47 percent) received and F and 15 products (41 percent) received a D. That’s 88 percent of the tested carpet cleaners!
Resolve Triple Action Spray, a product I’ve used in the past, received an F for its inclusion of sodium salts (affect developmental, endocrine and reproductive systems) and acrylic acid (is acutely toxic to aquatic life).
Safer alternatives
Once I began to clean with safer alternatives, I preferred cleaning my hardwood floors with Murphy’s Oil Soap. And I mopped my tile floors on my hands and knees with a watered down castile soap.
For stain removal, I really loved the homemade concoction of cornstarch, white vinegar, dishwashing liquid and hot water. It worked better than Resolve ever did.
What I use in my own home
Now that I’ve been using Norwex products, the days of washing my hard surface floors on my hands and knees is over. I use my Norwex mop collection and switch between my dry mop pad and wet mop pad. I’m not a huge mopper or diligent floor cleaner, but this system is so much simpler and quicker than a broom and dustpan or old spongy mop that needed continually rinsed, squeezed, and replaced.
And when there’s a stain on my carpet, I try to clean it up with a Norwex EnviroCloth first. But if it stubbornly won’t come out, I use my cornstarch/white vinegar/dishwashing liquid/hot water remedy.
How do you clean your floors without commercial cleaners?
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