Trial: Vinegar Mopping Review

Ok so today I arrive home to find that I had forgotten to shut the gate that keeps the dogs UPSTAIRS! This wouldnt be a huge deal other than a hairy couch except it was also trash day and there wasnt enough room in the bin for the kitchens garbage so I left it ready to go out when the bin was emtied. Yeah, a hound dog and boxer can make a full can of trash travel a LOOONGGG way. I have been putting off mopping the whole house and just doing alot swiffering because with all these freeze thaw cycles they track the muck right back in and I get discouraged.

So since I had to do the floors I figured I'd try out the 50% vinegar mop this time, delivered via a spray bottle that I used to use with the laminate floor cleaner. I have all hardwood and ceramic tile except the kitchen which is the snap together wood and the small bathroom which is laminate. The floors were pretty dirty between their pre-existing state and then adding in coffee grounds etc well lets just say it was a very thorough trial.

I did wear my breathe healthy mask, the thicker one with smaller microns while sweeping and mopping.


Let's start with biggest positive first, I never realized that I made so many efforts to keep Lillian and her things away from the cleaners! When she was little I was hyper paranoid about it and that is when I started looking into other options but didnt follow through so I used to 'rewash' with just water and a towel wherever she was crawling. Luckily crawling didnt last long. Well I realized that I never really spray too heavily around the eating area or her toys or her room and today I went to TOWN!

Jared and Lillian got home part way through my down stairs mop, normally I try to do it when she is not around ---again that wasnt really a though thing any more though it was when she arrived. She got home and wanted to help of course. Normally I would have made her sit on the couch or go upstairs where I wasnt mopping but I was able to let her run around--even without her shoes on without fear which was really a huge bonus.

The other nice thing was that since I was just using the vinegar I was able to multi-task better. I used something that left the floors with a bit of a shine ie waxy residue and so I took care not to spray the trim etc since it then collected dust better, this time I didnt worry about it and then I was able to take a towel and run it along the dust prone areas of the trim so a big 2 in 1! and I saved on the swiffer duster that I normally would have used ($$$$) plus the vinegar cleaned some dirty spots off the trim as I was going that the swiffer of course wouldnt have. Normally I end up letting that build up until I do all the trim at once---what a chore!

I thought Jared would complain about the smell when he got home but he didnt, whether he didnt mind or is trying to be supportive I am not sure yet but it wasnt as bad as I had feared. I think I could get used to it and I didnt seem to 'linger' of course we also have ceiling fans/bathroom fan in every room and the stairway so that helps.

As far as the efficiency I did have to spray more than the cleaner I used to use but that is mostly because it didn't add a 'slippery layer' but cost for cost it was still cheaper despite using more.

There were some areas of 'high traffic' that I could have used some grease cutter factor on but that was due to the condition to start with! Perhaps I could have a 'special potion' for those high traffic days. As it was it just took a bit of extra rubbing and it wasn't bad so maybe I just need to buff up a bit!

Oh, and no asthma, no wheezing, no smell, again I never really had huge problems with it but it did affect me for sure though I didnt really consciously think about it I hated mopping and I would always get short of breathe a bit and try to get hubby to mop instead (one chore he pretty much refuses to do).

I am going to try and MSDS the ingredient list later on but I cant find the stuff online right now.

Overall Review:
Efficiency B
SafetyA++++
CostA++++ (it was 2 for a jug and I 'might' have used 0.10 worth)

If you use a regular mop I also just found this online--maybe I will try it if I want to add the shine factor back in.

Step1
Combine 1/2 cup vinegar and a of gallon of warm water in a bucket. Use this to clean the floor. The acid in the vinegar cuts through oil, dirt and grime. Be sure to rinse the floor with clean water before polishing.

Step2
Mix 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup vegetable oil in a bucket. This is a wood floor polish that you buff into the floor with a soft clean cloth. The oil adds a little shine to your floor while the vinegar prevents the oil from sitting on top of the wood and making to floors greasy.

Step3
Store the mixtures in a cool and dry area. Vinegar has an almost indefinite shelf life. Due to the acidic nature of it, it's self preserving and doesn't require refrigeration. The polish however contains oil and will separate, requiring shaking prior to the next use.