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On Wed, 9 Aug 2006 14:59:17 -0500, "Donna in Texas"
<donna.mr@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>"Phisherman" wrote:
>>Unless you have pets/children, once every two months should be
>> enough, using a daily dust mop between cleanings.
>
>This is such good advice. Too much mopping isn't good for hardwood
floors.
>And if you use an additive to help the cleaning process, be sure not
to make
>it too strong.
>
>Some people just mop with clear water, but I cannot speak for that.
>
>My cleaning lady uses something that is store-bought. I will have to
find out
>what it is.
>
>Also with your hardwood floors really watch that you do not get water
or
>liquor spilled on the floors. If your floors are not polyurethane,
then you
>might get spots in the similar way that you get spots on your
furniture with
>water drops or rings.
>
>
>
>This is OT, but many of us oldsters probably remember when it was
just the
>thing to do (created by carpet sellers, no doubt) to cover the
beautiful
>hardwood floors with carpet. Hardwood was seen as "old fashioned"
and
>touted as hard to keep clean. :-) Supposedly the carpet would be
better,
>but that carpet brought extra airborne chemicals into the house and
was a
>terrible catcher of dust, however often it was vacuumed. And of
course
>there are the stains that cannot be removed. (And of course then you
need to
>buy more carpet. What good consumers we are.)
>
>And those old houses of the 40s and 50s had the real hardwood---thick
and
>really durable, not like the hardwood floors that I've in my
"modern"
>house. Now durability is a problem in our modern world. But
Madison
>Avenue wanted to sell us carpet, so we bought it, even though the
hardwood
>floors were perfectly good, and with a refinishing every thirty
years, would
>last a lifetime.
>
>Then we went through a period when wood parquet was just "the thing"
to have
>in part of your house---used in combination with carpet, often in the
>entryways.
>
>And the kitchen and bathroom.........In the 50s and before we had
linoleum,
>which had to be waxed on your hands and needs with the old paste wax
(and
>then buffed)every few months. And many women actually mopped every
day in
>the kitchen, but not with anything caustic so as not to wear off the
wax.
>(My mother used to say that her kitchen floor was clean enough to
"eat off
>of." Then along came liquid wax, which was an improvement, since it
didn't
>need buffing.
>
>Then vinyl flooring was developed but had to be waxed. Then some
angel
>from Heaven developed a vinyl flooring that had a shine that (for a
while at
>least) did not have to be waxed. Then the true non-wax vinyl was
developed
>which pretty much didn't need to be waxed. By that time so many of
us were
>working outside the home, and that was terrific. ***And you could
really
>get it clean.***
>
>We even went through a period when indoor/outdoor carpet was used in
the
>kitchen. However you vacuumed, you never got it really clean.
>
>Now, when the "house makeover" people on television enter the target
house,
>they immediately turn up their noses at the vinyl floors. It's just
not
>fashionable. You must have tile, and it must not be the
old-fashioned small
>tile (1 foot square) that was just in fashion about three years
ago-----it
>must be the new 18-inch (or so) tile.
>
>When we went to pick out new kitchen flooring, there weren't even
more than
>6 or 7 samples of vinyl in the store.
>
>The kitchen tiling was touted as the be all and end all of kitchen
and
>bathroom flooring. It would last forever, they said. (But they do
leave
>extra tiles in case the original ones get broken :-) It the
tiling,
>they said, would just be a snap to keep clean. They absolutely did
not
>recommend sealant.
>
>Now I see constant questions on television and in magazines saying
that
>their tile is grungy----how on earth on are they going to get it
clean????
>We've figured out that the grouting is porous, and maybe some tile
is, too.
>Surprise, surprise.
>
>And so it goes.
>
>Some comments::::::: vinyl is less expensive than tiling----no
wonder they
>did the Madison-Avenue sale on tiling. When it's all the rage in the
>magazines and on the television, you can bet that America will pull
up that
>vinyl and put down the expensive tile (or dirt floors, or whatever
the
>product of the moment is).
>
>Now.....the thing about the carpeted bathrooms..........carpet is
faster to
>put down than vinyl (and much easier to take up when it gets dirty
and you
>have to change it) and probably less expensive than the really good
quality
>vinyl that homeowners were used to. You can put down cheap carpet
and it
>will look great long enough for the buyers to make an offer. No
wonder
>the homebuilders were pushing it.
>
>And of course, we went through the shag carpet, plush carpet phases.
For a
>while a couple of years ago shag carpet was making a comeback. But
those
>of us old enough to remember shag had "been there -- done that" and
knew
>better than to buy it again.
>
>The pendulum always swings----- Sometimes there are true
advancements, but
>more and more these days the changes in home decor are "just
somethin' to
>sell," as my dad used to say.
>
>
>But I do truly digress......
>
>Warmest Regards,
>
>Donna
>
>
>
>
Agreed:) such is life. I just noticed the pendulum going the other
way on those HGTV shows too. Pull up the carpet.
aloha,
Beans
--smithfarms.com
farmers of pure kona
roast beans to kona to email
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Re: Wood Floor Cleaner (Long)
