Just bought a new butterfly mop, laugh all you want, but I am not used to mopping ... any advice?

I use ¾ cup bleach per gallon of water for my tile bathroom and linoleum/whatever floors.

I don’t know if it’s better or not, I never tried vinegar, but it works for me.

I use vinegar for the kitchen and bleach for the bathroom. They both work well but I have issues with allergies and bleach so I have to limit my use of it.

Tips for mopping- I keep a spray bottle of straight vinegar and spray the floor (don’t soak it just get it wet because you’re using non-diluted vinegar/cleaning agent). Instead of filling up the tub and wetting the mop in dirty water- which it will get very quickly- use the taps and rinse/wet the mop head directly. Then simply go over the sprayed floor.

To be honest, I hate butterfly mops and now use a wringer mop. The butterfly ones tend to be rubbish in corners- they leave a little dirt line and it drives me crazy.

I’ve found the Swiffer stuff – and the other stuff they sell next to it in the store—too dinky. They just do not last.

I have wood and linoleum tile floors.

This Rubbermaid wringer mop lasted about 2 uses before it broke. It sucked anyway as it did not seem to pick anything up. Even if it did, the face of it that contacts the ground is so narrow and small that you wouldn’t get much. Plus it is a long rigid shape that doesn’t quite fit into our bucket. Big FAIL.

I then got one of these Swiffer dusters. I like the swivel action and that you can get into the corners (although never completely). If you dampen the cloth, it does pick up dust well. The plastic is pretty dinky, though, and I don’t like that the cloth thing is disposable. If I threw one out every time it got covered in dust I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I have to rinse the cloth several times just to finish cleaning the floor of ONE room. And the cloth material makes it hard to get stuff off it, especially short hairs which get embedded in the cloth and refuse to come out, even after a wash in the washing machine. The cloths are flimsy and cheaply made so even if you do try to reuse them, they end up falling apart (the elastic fails) real fast. Another big FAIL.

I now have this, like the lunch lady. My mop head is just plain white cotton though. This thing gets the job done every time. The mop is rather heavy though and the plastic bucket thing can be hard to maneuver. You also can’t really get into little crevices well because the mop head is big and bulky. The head also picks up so much crap that it can be hard to get it all out. When we threw it in the washing machine, the cotton started to tuft up and separate from the head and we ended up with a huge pile of cotton bits all over the place.

So basically, I am still looking for a good cleaning solution here. If you have one, please let me know.

As for tips for mopping, here is what I do:

I sweep the area first. I try to get all the things I can see with the naked eye into one pile then vacuum it all up with a little hand-held battery-rechargeable vacuum (this thing is great, especially if you have long hair, because there is nothing for the hair to wrap around). Then I bring in the mop and bucket. I fill the bucket with hot water from tap and mix in a bit of this floor soap – just whatever amount looks good. Dip in the mop, wring it out with the built in wringer, then hit the floors with it and scrub. Rinse frequently, wring, and scrub. Keep doing that until the floors are clean. Then, I dispose of the dirty water and take the bucket outside to hose down.

@lilikoi I have had the exact same issues as you’ve described. I felt wasteful with the swiffer and even when I crocheted my own reusable covers- they just are so flimsy.

I’m thinking of getting one of those steam mops next. Actually- I think I’ll ask a question about that.

I love my Shark steam mop. Get lots of extra pads.

What I find with mops is they require a learning period to find the best way to use them, it takes longer the first few times, but you finally get the hang of it.