dirty floors
 

We dust mop our tile and wood floors every day, each day the dust mop is filthy. We tried keeping the doors closed, we don't wear outside shoes inside. Where does it all come from?? Does anyone else have this problem? Thanks for any advice.

Check your A/C filter.

that's not the problem. My friends have just had their A/C refubished and still complain of dirty floors every day. I think it's just Florida and the construction around here.

I have the same problem. I have tile and clean it every other day with Shark Steamer and when done the cloth is black. We have had our air cond checked as well. We live north of 466.

I think it is just the very fine sand. It stays in suspension in the air and often is so fine the filters don't trap it.

We use our swifter every other day and it would look as if we just had a play date complete with mud pies!!

But you would think that if all the doors and windows are shut all the time that everything would stay cleaner. So where the heck does it come from?

We live near Lake Sumter landing and have tile floors in all but bedrooms. I use a swiffer and if I use it everyday, I always come up with a dark cloth which also means the same is happening all over the house. When I dust with a microfiber cloth I am amazed at how much I pick up. And the venetian blinds are a wonder every couple of weeks. No animals, keep doors closed to keep out pollen . Not dust like up north that ended up with dust bunnies.

Could it be all of us older people turning to dust? Sorry for the morbid thought .

New tile
 

Is your home new?? When we first built our home, I mopped the floors often because each time I mopped, the mop was dirty! I couldn't understand because it was a new home. Then I figured out that because the tile was new it had a lot construction dirt on it, I guess from all of the work done inside when building. I was pretty upset the thinking that this was the norm. But as time went on, about 6 months later, the tile was not dirty any longer, just normal cleaning was all it needed from then on. Hopefully your tile gets cleaner as time goes by.

I think it's due to walking in from the garage where the golf cart is right near the door into the house, and here we don't have a mud room like we had and walked thru on rugs in bigger houses before. We take our shoes off at the door, but we have the dust/dirt mentioned, too.

Having your furnace/AC air ductwork professionally cleaned out is an eye opener for sure, in ANY house regardless of how clean it is kept by cleaning people and owners. There are contaminants, building construction dust/dirt, carpet fibers, human hairs, pet hairs, dirt/dust, and all kinds of stuff in there you didn't know about.

Air duct cleaning has to be done by companies specialized and equipped to do that, because there can be blowback etc if mistakes are made, and it has to be done under strict guidelines. Not every HVAC company will do it, because it's expensive to get and use the equipment, and it's heavily regulated by the EPA(I think that's what contractors told me) and health laws.

This web pages explains it, and a good "quick start" video there is the 4th one down the page.

See: Videos | NADCA

Once you've had this done, you'll be amazed at what is in the air ducts of a "stereo-clean" looking home. It's pretty disgusting, and it affects cleanliness of the home. We had a veteran cleaning lady who always suggested that her homeowners get the air ducts cleaned, so that the house was truly clean inside, and then the house stayed cleaner between bi-weekly or weekly cleanings. We did it and she was right.

**Also: I use a wet Swiffer to spruce up our laminate areas, but I use that only after vacuuming. There is no substitute for suction of a vacuum cleaner, which Swiffers and steam mops don't have. They are nice, but really, they rub the dirt around and pick up "some" of it. Vacuum first. Shark makes an awesome cordless stick vac with strong beater bar.

You might just be my new hero :bigbow:

iRobot
 

Does anyone have a Roomba? The regular one or the squeegee one maybe? I wonder how well they work for something like this.

But I agree with others here. Get your ducts cleaned every few years and things will likely be cleaner anyway.

I love my Roomba! It sometimes gets stuck though. When I lived in a all-tile house before TV, it was perfect as there we wide open rooms.

I would perhaps check the following;

1) Replace your A/C filter and upgrade it from a MERV 8 filter to a MERV 11 filter.

2) Check your dryer vent pipe for excess lint build up. Folks should have the Dryer vent ductwork cleaned out every year or two, depending on how much they dry their clothes.

3) If dust/dirt is getting tracked in from the concrete floor in the garage, you may want to consider applying an epoxy coating.

Hope this helps....Frank D.

I highly recommend a Roomba. It's just amazing how much dog hair and filth ours collects. We have the 650 which is cheaper than some of the newer models but does an excellent job. We also have a Scooba to wash the tile every few days. The Roomba does a great job on carpet or tile. They both save a lot of backbreaking work. Before we got one I thought they were toys or gadgets -- most definitely not!