Lean, Clean, Earth-friendly Green Floors!

Although the idea of Eco-friendly or "green" lifestyles has become significantly more popular in the last few years, it has been the way of life for many people for generations past. The best part? Living green is surprisingly kind on the wallet! Not only are household cleaners competitively priced with non-green cleaners but there are other alternatives to explore for those of you who are looking to leave the smallest stamp on the planet: reducing wasteful packaging, and using materials that are gentler.
Here are some of the cool products I've found and the categories I've separated them into:

::Cleaners::
For greasy, no-wax floors:
1 cup vinegar
1/4 cup washing soda
1 tablespoon vegetable oil-based liquid soap
2 gallons hot water
Combine all ingredients, stirring well to dissolve the washing soda. Mop as usual.(From Clean and Green)

All-purpose floor cleaner I:
1/8 cup vegetable-oil-based liquid soap (usually coconut oil-based, found in health food stores and called all-purpose or dish washing soap)
1/2 cup vinegar
2 gallons warm water
Put soap and vinegar in the bottom of a bucket. Fill the bucket with warm water, swishing the ingredients around a bit to activate the soap. Wash the floor as you normally would.

All-purpose floor cleaner II
1 cup vinegar
1 pail water
Wash the floor as you normally would.(From Bastyr Center for Natural Health)

::Floor Tools::
For mopping, there has always been the never failing bucket and wash rag on your hands and knees method, but these days who really has the back for that? Especially when science has discovered how to attach that rag to a stick? Recently, we have implemented the same idea for sweeping to help reduce the fly-away dust and hair and heaven knows what else that gets propelled into the air while using a broom. The cloth-on-a-stick method clings to the normally airborne debris far better than a conventional broom which inevitably reduces the frequency of dusting and improves air quality. (Yay!) We've all seen the Swiffer Sweeper and Swiffer Mop. You can make your own washable cloths for these tools at home, which means nothing to throw away. There are TONS of great sites that teach you how to make these, however my favorite site happens to be a fellow blogspot site run by Karin who came here 16 years ago from Germany. Here's how she makes them:

1.Get a package of microfiber towels. You can find these in the automotive section of most stores. They are made of 80% Polyester and 20% Polyamide.
2. If you are using a green Swiffer (dry) all you have to do is trim the towels to fit your swiffer and stick the ends into the holes on top. You can serge it if you like but microfiber generally does not fray.
3. If you are using the purple Swiffer (wet) all you have to do is tri-fold the towels and sew a few lines across to turn the towel into a pad. I do two rows lengthwise and 3 across.
You won't need many rows - just enough to keep the pad stable once it gets wet.The purple Swiffers have Velcro on the bottom that sticks perfectly to your microfiber pad and will hold it in place without you having to sew Velcro to your pad itself.

It takes less than a minute to make the wet pads and will be a big money saver if you have laminate or tile floors and swiffer a lot. The microfiber attracts dust and hair when dry and when wet mopping is very absorbent. It also is easy to wash and quick to dry. A very economical solution to reduce waste and save money!
Depending on your floor it may take a little more 'push' to wet mop with this pad. I have found no difference on my ceramic tile floor but I have to push a little harder on my laminate floor. On the plus side though the disposables never got my laminate clean. As soon as it dried I could see little greasy hand prints again! With the microfiber pads I get it clean in one swoop. :)The pads can then go in the washer and dryer to be used again.
Karin

For something that might be far easier can be found on the ehow.com site and implements using pieces of felt! Click here to see it.

Tipnut.com also has a bunch (15!) different ways to make reusable swiffer cloths and you can find them here.

Let's get to work on our floors today! For those of you with kids, I know this can be a never-ending journey but sweeping and mopping on a daily basis will sure help to reduce the grime and slime that comes with having young ones around the house. Good Luck!