SWIFFER
Over the last several years, Swiffer disposable mops have gained a tremendous amount of popularity. Their popularity has more to do with Proctor and Gamble’s huge marketing budget than their effectiveness, just read the reviews of people that actually use them! There are several reasons why Swiffer disposable mops are far from the best mops for hardwood floors. First, the most obvious reason: they’re disposable. We wrote an article comparing the cost of using Swiffer compared to microfiber (read about it here), Swiffer mops are exponentially more expensive than using a machine washable microfiber mop because you constantly have to replace the “cloths”. Another issue with Swiffer is that they’re really cheaply made and the handle is really short, which makes it hard on your body because you often have to bend over to use it. They also don’t clean very well and don’t have very much capacity to pick up and hold on to dirt. They’re a two dimensional piece of non-woven cloth, there’s just not a lot there, not a lot of surface area to store dirt. One more issue, and it’s an important one, is Swiffer is tiny. The head is only (measure one) inches wide. Most microfiber mops are at least twice as wide, which means they cover twice as much floor, so it would take half the time and half the effort to use a microfiber mop.
Learn more about why microfiber are the best mops for hardwood floors and why Swiffer mops can’t compare. Watch the video in which we compare Swiffer to Microfiber.
OTHER CLEANING METHODS FOR HARDWOOD FLOORS
BROOMS
Another method of keeping your floors clean is a broom. They’ve been around for eons and are among the most common cleaning tools there are. However, when it comes to actually maintaining hardwood floors, they’re the least effective and least thorough method. There are two things that make brooms ineffective at maintaining hardwood floors; they leave fine particles of dust, dirt and sand behind and they kick up dust into the air only to have it settle back down later. Yet, they’re effective for collecting larger debris, cleaning up dry spills and have a place in most homes.