Funny you should mention it, I was just thinking about this.

A few years ago we stayed with friends for a couple of days. First thing in the morning, Angela took her Swiffer and just walked around the house. It was part of her morning before-work routine that literally took maybe one minute.

So a few weeks ago I remembered that, and took the Swiffer to my floors. YIKES. The next day I did it again. A little quieter Yikes. Two days later I did it again. Tiny yike.

I have separate living, dining, sunroom, foyer, and doing it quickly takes just a couple of minutes. I don't fret over every inch, what I do is "enough". And this morning when I did it, I wondered why it took me so long to figure it out.

Sometimes I use the "pet Swiffer" because of the cat fur, sometimes I wrap a slightly damp shopcloth or old dishcloth on it. And doing it regularly makes a big difference.

Sort of like emptying the dishwasher in the time it takes my coffee to heat up, I'm always surprised at how little time some things can take.

Edit to add, there's some stuff that the Swiffer doesn't pick up, just pushes around. So I let that push to a little pile at one end of the room, then suck it up with the little hand vac.

All of that info in one reply!

This ole clutter breeder, which operation has little in common with the breeding of dogs or cats, has next to no advice to offer, sorry.

ole joyful

Oh, I have clutter! I just Swiffer around it lol.

By the way, I just realized that it takes longer for the coffee to brew than to Swiffer 3 rooms and a foyer. Oh, and I always have to take the handvac to the foot of the stairs, and the dust and cat hair likes to accumulate at the bottom step, and the foyer floor is black. Ugh.

We have terrazzo here, with a couple of area rugs, and the dust/detritus collects just as easily, but it doesn't show😏, so I dust mop every week or so and only do a big vacuum/mop session about once a month. There is sand, so I push everything into a pile and use a whisk broom & dustpan to collect that and dispose. It's true, it takes maybe 15 minutes at the most, but then we have a small home - no more pets either. I have a small carpet sweeper that I use on the rugs in between vacuumings, which are flat weave, not pile.

Just know that same dirt & detritus is collecting in carpets - and sifting through to stay trapped underneath. I learned long ago that if one has allergies/asthma, which my young son did back then, carpeting breeds dust mites. I think bare floors are easier to keep clean.

I've never heard of semi hardwood. My red oak hardwood is just wiped with a damp mop and swiffered in between.

Funny, I much prefer hard surface flooring because it's so easy to dust it quickly with a Swiffer or the like. The same dirt would be in your carpet. You just wouldn't be able to see it.

Throw rugs are your best friend!

I remember when I was reno-ing a house with wall to wall and they had had the carpet professionally clean just before they sold it. I removed literally pounds of dirt and this was the home of a tidy elderly couple. I would go with wood floors.

Yes, there’s no more dirt because of hard floors. Just more visible and easier to clean.

I’d recommend Bona, with a few extra pads. They clean in the washer.

I highly recommend getting a robot vacuum. You can program it to clean every day. I love ours. We have three pets and this thing is a lifesaver.

Even a super cheap robot vacuum works amazingly well. My husband got he cheapest thing off of Amazon for his Austin place, around $100, and surprisingly that thing works. He runs it every morning. (The cheap ones get stuck, unlike the better ones, plus the mapping is not as good. My husband calls his Wrong Way.)

At home, my floors are swept every day by myself or someone else. It takes little time. I use the Bona thingy up top. My housekeepers vacuum the area rugs once per week. I may get a Roomba for the house, though.

Exactly what Food said. Just think where all that dirt would be going (hiding) if you had carpet. I have a small rechargeable vac (mine is a Dyson, but there are good cheaper ones, like Shark). I use it in rooms such the kitchen and entry area almost daily. it takes minutes. I use the swiffer under the bed and sofa, things the little vac can‘t reach as easily, about once a week. The housekeepers come once every two weeks, so they take care of things major every other week.

Definitely NO carpet. My allergist told me years ago get rid of the dog, get rid of the carpet, close your windows and turn on the a/c. I said well, I can do 2 of those, the dog stays til he dies.

Carpet is just dirty.

Oh, and yes, what Food said. Seeing dirt does not equal there being more dirt. Hidden dirt is gross and breeds nasty things.

At least with carpet the dirt stays put!

I'm still wondering what semi hardwood is.

Never mind. I googled it. Thanks

OMG FOODONASTUMP!!! I love it.. you made me laugh with that reply.

So what's the trick to removing dog saliva and water drops from hardwood floors?

I Swiffer 2 or 3 times a week and then vacuum the carpets. My Shark does a great job of picking up debris and dog hair - but not a good job on plain old dust which is why I still have to dust mop.

Once a week I use the Bona mop on the floors but I have to really press hard to get rid of the water drool from the dog.

Perhaps the enzymes in saliva having an effect on the finish...?

Oh, darn, Food. I'd love to hear your response!! LOL

Carol - - you may be right about that. I can remove the water spots but I have to rub hard to do so.

I've had wood floors throughout the house my whole married life. When Roomba came out we bought one. Now I live in Florida with engineered wood floors. I have 4 Roombas and this house is smaller than what we lived in in NY.

Buy a robot vacuum and let it go every day. Easy, peasy!

Jane

If dust and minor floor specks are the issue, I'm with the minority. Carpets are much easier to keep looking clean, and a good quality carpet feels good on the feet and lasts a long time with regular vacuuming.

But the question was how to keep bare floors clean. What we do is: keep a swiffer in easy reach so it can be used often, every 2 or 3 days. Downstairs it's tucked behind the powder room door, upstairs it's in the hall closet. Also I keep a dustpan and hand brush behind the kitchen waste can, so it's always available for minor dog-hair bunnies.

I have both carpet and wood floors. Both are easy to maintain. I doubt if my carpet was to be removed that there would be sand under it, We don't have sand and we take our shoes off at the door--where would it come from? I really like carpet better.

Sal, I have no idea where it comes from either. I just know it's there! 😁

Not trying to talk anyone into or out of anything. We all have our own preferences and that's what keeps life interesting. I am only chiming in to say we are no shoes in the house either, I am a total neatfreak, and I about threw up when I saw them take up our old carpet in the bedroom. I vacuum almost every day too.

The only other thing I can add is I'm close to the ocean and so I'm surrounded by sand. I'm sure that factors into it. However no more wall to wall carpet in this house for me.

You really want to get a war going, start a post on the joys of LVP. 😁 The "real wood" people come out of the woodwork (LOL!) to sniff in derision. Poor souls can't sleep at night thinking some of us find it superior to REAL hardwood. 🤣

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The stuff in the carpet comes from the same places the dust on your furniture does.

And carpeting/padding does break down over time and use, so there's that as well

In the end, I guess the key to keeping anything clean is the same: don’t spill on it, and clean it regularly. So, find the tools and methods that do both of those of those most efficiently (if it isn’t efficient, you won’t use it!).

And, for me, there is the question concerning a Roomba's ability to deal with furniture, especially chair and table legs... I have more furniture than floors (went vertical years ago, and would cover the ceiling as well, if not for gravity, dammit). Does a Roomba navigate furniture legs well??

Even my swiffer has trouble getting around the chair legs. I can’t imagine a roomba in a dining room, especially mine with a two-pedestal table, 8 chairs, and two sideboards.

All hardwood with low pile wool area rugs here. Two Seniors. No pets. I use the central vac weekly and Swiffer the wood once in between (15 minutes). The electrostatic filter and flow-through humidifier on the furnace help a lot. The central vac doesn't recirculate any dust like other vacs with bags; dirt goes directly to a bag in a canister in the basement.

Carpeting holds dirt, and the sticky residue from carpet cleaners stays in it, attracting more dirt. Wool rugs go out to be washed and rinsed -- like sweaters.

bpath, The swiffer is much bigger and less flexible than the robot. The robot has small whisker-like brushes it deploys which jut outside of the round disc you see moving about. Those brushes easily get into nooks and crannies.

I have a large low-pile rug under our dining room table. I pull the chairs out to let the robot get everything under the table. As Zalco said, the robots have small brushes which sweep crumbs, dust away from the chair legs. They get sucked up by roomba. What I love about the robots is the ability to go under the furniture and get dust I can’t reach with a vacuum. Same with the bedrooms. They get under the beds, along walls, I can’t get at because they are blocked furniture.
We live in Florida and sand gets in. Even removing shoes doesn’t help. Our dog goes in and out all day, carrying sand on her feet.

Haha - sometimes I think the sand is in the air here...

All we have is grass, cement and that's it. No sand anywhere.