You can get the knee pads that have straps with velcro that go around the back of your legs at the hardware store.

I can only scrub on my hands & knees. Mops just don't cut it for me. Never had an issue with marks on my knees. I thought about getting these pads for yard work, but figured they'd be like gloves ... wouldn't stay on for long.

Here is a link that might be useful: stretch knee pads

Natal- Really? You don't have any ugly marks on your knees (I guess I should say the area right below the knee cap)? My Mom would always scrub our floors on her hands and knees and she ended up with ugly, dark calluses on them. I'm pretty much a spitting image of Mom so I'm trying to think ahead. Maybe her being outside in shorts gardening added to the marks.

All hard floor surfaces here. I'm not a swiffer fan. To me, they are more like a dust mop. I have a larger mop that looks very much like a swiffer with a terry cloth (washable) cover that I use like a dustmop on our wood floors. Especially up around table legs, etc. where it tends to look dusty.

I refuse to get on my hands and knees to clean floors and don't think it's necessary. I have 3 mops. One of those mops that is similar to a old timey string mop but is strips of fabric. A sponge mop with a swivel head and one side is a scrubby surface, also has a brush edge that you can use. Several months ago I bought a steam mop - and I love it. It dissolves hair spray too.

Shee - on the wood floors - a thorough vacumming and I do not mop often, just an occasional damp mop every now and then. I also have the hardwood floor cleaner/polish that you use with a dustmop. I don't use that weekly either. Oh the tile floors, again a thorough vacumming first and then I mop with either hot water and a bit of vinegar - or ammonia. The ammonia is especially good on hairspray. When using the steam mop (which is my usual weekly routine), no cleaner needed.

Last week I did my more indepth floor cleaning with my sponge/scrubby mop. I also went around the tub and toilet edge with a small brush. I do that just every few months. Dust seems to accumulate on those spots and can look dingy. Love, LOVE the steam mop and it goes in corners, around the toilet, etc. (swivel head).

Probably more than you wanted to know about how I clean my floors LOL.

tina

I use a fabric strip mop or an old time cotton mop and a 5 gallon bucket. You won't find me on my hands and knees.

Vacuum and steam mop. Occasionally I will get on my hands and knees to primarily get the dust off the baseboards.

I love steam mops!

The key to getting floors clean is to use something that will loosen the dirt. The best thing that I've found - and like all great things - it was by accident, is that a hefty amount of baking soda dissolved in water is wonderful for loosening dirt from crevices. You do have to rinse though, but rinsing is still a whole lot easier on the body than getting down on your knees and scrubbing.

I switched to a cleaning lady last fall and yes, she does the kitchen and bathrooms on her hands and knees.....bless her heart! She's absolutely wonderful and I always have loved clean floors.

Grab a folded paper towel, douse in hot water from the instant-hot dispenser, and spray the wet towel with a few dabs of Crud Remover, which is sold in some auto-parts stores or online. Rub on dirty floor, follow with water-only towel and then dry towel if necessary. Works better than anything else I've tried.

I bought my first bottle of Crud Remover the first time I ever saw it, simply because I liked the name. It gets right to the point!

For my tile & linoleum, I use Hoover Floormate. (I'm on #2, used #1 till I wore it out. ;) The model I have now is about 7 years old, give or take. I couldn't be without it, saves my back and does a good job.

Hardwood I use Bona.

Used to do it on hands and knees, but my knees don't like that anymore. Fortunately, my hips are still very flexible, so I just bend from the hips. Tools are a bucket, water, soap and terry wash rags.

This question reminds me of a friend's story about a guy she met in a bar. Bless his heart, he thought that being female she'd have special appreciation for the products he sold - mops. She finally said that she didn't own a mop. He was shocked and wanted to know how she cleaned her floors. Her answer: "I don't. When they get dirty, I move!"

Hands and knees for me, in the kitchen and baths where it gets dirtiest. I use one of those foam gardening pads, and always dry the floor with old towels.

I second the vote for Hoover Floormate. I love it. You have to empty it often but it does a great job otherwise. Keeps you off your knees.

For serious cleanings, I use the Hoover Floormate. I don't think it's so great at scrubbing every little dot and mark. Those still need elbow grease and sometimes a butter knife to flick off the stuck on goo -- hey, I have parrots. But what I love about it is it gets most stuff, and it sucks up all the icky dirty water and you throw it away, without just smearing it all around.

For between times cleanings, I take a damp microfiber cloth, toss it on the floor, set my old mop on top of it and shove it around for a couple of minutes. The cloth picks up a great deal of dirt, and then it goes in the laundry.

Maybe everyone here knows about microfiber cloths, but if you don't, please do yourself a favor and get some! They are my all-time favorite hands down cleaning tool.

You can use them to exfoliate your dry skin (go gently), or just to wash yourself in the shower -- they are soft. When you're done with that, wring the cloth out and dry your shower walls/floor with it. You can use them on walls, floors, and they're dynamite on windows, even with just plain water. That's the easiest I ever cleaned windows. They are fluffy so they get in all the little cracks wherever you're cleaning. Run them in your window or sliding glass door track and they get almost all the dirt in one pass. Crumbs and dirt stick to them, but wash out quite easily in the sink. They're wonderful for washing your car.

Seriously, they make every cleaning job take WAY less time and be far easier. I am so happy with mine, I'm buying some as a gift for someone I love. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: These are the microfiber cloths I have

I usually use the Swiffer wet mop but I've found it's much easier, faster and cleaner if I get on my knees and do the bathrooms using the wet pad (I go through several) by hand.

I use the wet pads in the kitchen and utility room but if I'm feeling energetic I'll use the wet pads by hand on my knees too. Which isn't very often. :)

This way there's no wringing out, no bucket to fill, empty, fill, empty...

Hmm... I was all about ordering some knee pads and still probably will but now I'm curious if I'd like the Hoover and I need to go check out some mops in general. Scrubby mop sounds good. I've heard people rave about steamers but haven't really done any reading up.

I'm still thinking for the bathroom it would be easier to get on the hands and knees. I'm hunched over anyhow when I wipe the toilet bowl and behind it.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

I'm with Goldust, cotton mop and no scrubbing on my knees.

I use to paste wax my wood floors in my early forty's and then use a buffer and my knees suffered, no more.

I can't remember the name (maybe Brite shine) wax from Walmarts on my wood floors and it looks like I put a top coat of clear nail polish on them, love it. I do it about four times a year and I also use Murphy's oil soap to clean them. I know the experts say you shouldn't but I always have in all my houses and had no damage.

First of all, in response to the OP, there are many knee pads available on amazon.com.

I'm 68 years old, so it is getting difficult to work on my knees. I had a Hoover Floormate for about 14 years but I didn't use it for all of that time. I wasn't too happy with the dry pick-up. But I recently got it out of the closet to see what I could do with it and if it was still running (which it is). However, the wet pick-up didn't work very well, if at all. So I did some research to see what could be wrong. I have installed a new OEM filter and that helped a lot, but it needed something more.

So I kept on reading and found out that the squeegee (I never knew they had one) is the most likely culprit. It is a long narrow rubber thing that is along the front. I checked mine out and it didn't look very good. One end was pulled apart and the rest of it looks bent, probably from improper storage. So I ordered a squeegee (also from amazon.com) and when it arrives, I will change it. I made sure that I was able to do this before I ordered it. It's a simple project but I feel it will make a world of difference. The parts were relatively inexpensive if this saves me from purchasing a new Floormate.

I decided that I will vacuum first with my Dyson, so that will make up for the inefficient dry pick-up. I'm looking forward to my machine being as good as new!

I was fascinated by the description of the microfiber cloths and just ordered some. I hate wiping down kitchen counters with a sponge unless it's very new, and these cloths you can launder. Also, window washing is never quite satisfactory so I'll try them there too.

Yes! Hey, If mom did it, it had to be the right way. I vacumn first, then use the Bona floor cleaner, than the Bona dressing, which gives a nice shine. I wipe up spots/spills with a damp cloth only since anything else would remove the shine, which can last 2-3 months if you're diligent about spot cleaning. With kids, possibly more frequently. I vacumn at least every other day, sometimes every day, depending on dog/cat hair(dander), or if I've been working on a project. lol

We also have vinyl. Vacuum first then use Bissell steam mop (going slowly). The floors are gleaming and paper-towel clean, and no real scrubbing.