They say because it just stirs up the dust and if there are bits of hard substance it might scratch. My Mom and I used dust mops on hardwood floors and never any any damage. I used a product called Endust on the mop, that made the dust stick to it. We had nice shiny floors. I would still us a dust mop if I had hardwood and if I didn't hire someone to do my floors. (:-))

Ido Ive had hardwood floors over 20 yrs using endust & dry mop.no problems here.

It's a matter of personal preference, I believe.

If you use a dust mop, you are left with the problem of how to clean it. Go outside and shake it? Some people live in places where that's not possible. Put it in the washing machine? Then you are left with cleaning gunk out of the washer.

And a dust mop won't pick up the heavier stuff that my dogs manage to bring into the house, such as clumps of grass or leaves.

I can easily empty a vacuum cleaner. And it picks up everything.

Not to get off topic, but gunk in the washing machine is a problem for me with my high efficiency front load washer. If I wash, for example, the dog's bedding and then follow that with washing my white towels, I will find dog fur in my towels and wash cloths because apparently some of the fur is left in the drum. Dirt/grease/grime are not a problem - they get washed away.

I don't know if all front loaders have this problem. It didn't happen with the top loaders I have had.

How often do you wash your dust mop? I would think not very often.

I wouldn't thinkyou are to use in the bathtub oily....The only problem I could see if you over spray ,floor would get slippery.

I hold my dust rags over the kitchen sink to spray because of the over spray. If I had wood floors I would hold it over the trash cart to spray. I don't like vacuums, DMs much easier.

I use a dust mop and Endust on my Bamboo floors with no problem. I wash my dust mop when I wash my throw rugs. As for shaking it - I don't. After use, I just put it in the dryer with a throw rug for about 5 minutes .

I use to use a dust mop, but now use a Swifter and throw away the dirty cloth. A dust mop is the more environmental, less wasteful way to go tho'.

I think you just have you watch out that you don't pickup any tiny rocks or glass or anything else that's hard since that would scratch.

If your hardwood floors scratch with a dust mop, your floors do not have a good finish on them. If a DM scratched your floors what do shoes do to it when you walk on them.

We have two year old site-finished white oak floors. The satin surface shows some scratching, but the benefit of site-finished floors is that it can be re-done as needed.

Our flooring installer said to be careful what you use on them, as it might cause the finish to change chemically. He told us to use Bona, which I do when needed (not like Endust, or he said definitely not Murphy's) in high traffic areas, in front of the rangetop, or after cleaning up sticky spills.

It's just two of us, with about 2k sq.ft. of Chestnut colored floor, and we both work, so there's not much dirt like from kids or dogs. But I've become completely enamoured with the little Dyson Digital. It's great for edges, under-stuff, and in high-use areas like kitchen & office.

Next level of cleaning, I use exactly same dry-mop that you do - big ole thing, hand-vac or sweep what comes from that, then shake it outside, and wash every couple of sweepings. I think I Bona'd the whole floor once - before my Mom came to visit, LOL.

Good luck!

I use Bona about twice a year- I use both their wood floor washing liquid and the high gloss shine product. Last Thanksgiving, I hosted my two nasty sisters in law. One saw my floor looking shiny and asked if I'd put in a new floor! By the way, I have both a broom and wooly dustmop. I like the broom better. Just a personal preference.