VACUUM OR DUST MOP HARDWOOD FLOORS

In the interest of full disclosure I have been selling dust mops my entire adult life, as did my father and my grandfather. It’s in my blood. When I clean, I use them. I can’t imagine why I somebody that doesn’t have a vacuum designed for hard surface floors wouldn’t use a microfiber dust mop. The drawbacks to using a vacuum seem obvious, I can think of three just off the top of my head:

1. I would worry about scuffing or possibly even scratching the floor with the vacuum. It would be almost impossible to damage a floor with a microfiber mop.
2. It seems to me that a vacuum with a rotating brush would fling as much dirt as it would pick up. A microfiber dust mop, such as our Microfiber Dust Mop Pad with Fringe Yarn, will do a great job of collecting dust, dirt, sand and debris such as pet hair rather than flinging it. If you use the figure eight method of mopping (described here: How to mop with microfiber) you’ll quickly cover the entire floor surface will leaving nothing behind. When you’re finished you’ll have a small amount of fine soil that will need to be picked up, but this is easily done with a damp microfiber towel (this is the only advantage that we could think of for the pro vacuum people).
3. It would take a longer time to vacuum than it would to dust mop. Our smallest microfiber dust mop is 18”, most vacuums aren’t more than 12” wide, the 18” dust mop would cover 50% more area than a vacuum. They’re available in sizes up to 50”. Also, when vacuuming most people go back and forth with it rather than continually moving forward (or backward) like you would with a dust mop. Consider how much time you could save by dust mopping.

If you’re currently using a vacuum to clean hardwood floors before wet mopping or for maintaining floors between deeper cleanings, give a microfiber dust mop a try. If you’re already using microfiber wet mop pads you can get a microfiber dust mop pad for as little as $3.15 that will work with the handle and frame you already have!