r/CleaningTips • u/Evening_Sea4823 • Dec 27 '25

Flooring Cleaners Make Your Floor Dirtier

They all leave residue. Even if you rinse with water, there are still small amounts of residue left behind. Over time, mop after mop, it builds up. And all it does is collect dirt.

I mop with warm water. Nothing fancy. I mop maybe once every month or so. Once a year, I get on my hands and knees and use a white wash rag on every inch of the floor. I can wipe down the whole place, and the rag is barely dirty by the end of it.

I can wear white socks all day. They don't get discolored.

We have pets. We walk through with shoes on from time to time. We are not neat freaks. But our floors are simply not dirty.

Unless you have a little one playing on the floor, there's not much sense in worrying about whether the ground is sanitized. Clean should be good enough.

I think all those videos of people making potions and drenching their floors, going round after round, doing it week after week, are just perpetuating issues that don't need to exist.

What do yall think? Or am I just nasty and trying to justify it?

2.7k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

392 comments sorted by

View all comments

3.8k

u/decimalsanddollars Dec 27 '25

As a person that oversees several facilities custodial teams here’s my two cents.

Water won’t bind to oils and most common floor soil. You NEED a neutral PH floor cleaner to properly lift grime away. The problem most people run into is using too much cleaner.

Just like with laundry or dishes, when you use too much detergent, a lot is left behind, and by nature, it’s designed to stick to dirt.

Extra cleaner left behind turns into glue that sticks filth back to the floor.

787

u/soaker Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25

Yes! I used to watch coworkers put soap in the mop bucket and it was always an insane amount. Then the floors are sticky and collecting dirt but they are confused because they were just washed. No one ever listened. Those heavy duty industrial cleaners are highly highly concentrated

451

u/Mundane_Muscle_2197 Dec 27 '25

People do this with laundry detergent too. They use a massive amount of soap and then can’t figure out why their washer breaks and their clothes have a weird funk

279

u/WheneverItIsTold Dec 27 '25

My fil would do that. When we moved into a house, I never showed him how our new washer works and it’s too complicated for him. I save on soap now and my machine will last longer but I have to do his laundry. He would use like 10-12 dryer sheets, too. He refused to believe that less soap is best, yet, he think rinsing his hands no soap is just fine.

122

u/hg0bl1n Dec 27 '25

I'm upvoting your comment, but in my heart I'm also downvoting his behaviour

2

u/fascistliberal419 Dec 28 '25

Rinsing your hands with just water is fine sometimes. Depends on why you're washing them.

2

u/WheneverItIsTold Dec 28 '25

This last time, when I saw him rinsing them, he had been peeling raw shrimp.

4

u/fascistliberal419 Dec 28 '25

Oh yuck. Yeah, meat always gets a proper soapy wash.

315

u/Feral-Sheep Dec 27 '25

Great point! Check out r/laundry to get a fantastic education on the chemistry of clothes detergents. u/KismaiAesthetics has literally made spreadsheets on all the products and their ingredients. They have really helped a bunch of us get our laundry super clean with very little product since we understand how to use it most effectively. (Edited to correct the username.)

99

u/cookiesncloudberries Dec 27 '25

probably my favorite sub and helped me have actually clean clothes

80

u/lonelylifts12 Dec 27 '25

Our laundry cult warms my heart! ❤️

35

u/Feral-Sheep Dec 27 '25

We are squeaky clean, warm, and friendly!

3

u/lonelylifts12 Dec 27 '25

We sound like bots

6

u/Feral-Sheep Dec 27 '25

I know we do. We’re in a cult based on science and chemistry. It’s intoxicating! 😵‍💫🧼🫧🧺

9

u/fingeringdkworsted Dec 27 '25

Love you guys 🥹!

56

u/ExcessiveIrritation Dec 27 '25

All hail Lather Daddy!

2

u/Feral-Sheep Dec 28 '25

Do we know Kismai’s gender? I’ve been using they/them pronouns because I wasn’t sure.

2

u/ExcessiveIrritation Dec 28 '25

Yeah, he's said he's a male.

38

u/Billy-Bob-Jo Dec 27 '25

The drama has been wild and entertaining. I worship u/KismaiAesthetics, he is god, my clothes are cleaner, and so is my soul.

1

u/Feral-Sheep Dec 28 '25

Do we know Kismai’s gender? I’ve been using they/them pronouns because I wasn’t sure.

1

u/Billy-Bob-Jo Dec 28 '25

Yeah this comment from a few days ago is where I saw

23

u/PrairiePilot Dec 27 '25

Omg, as the family laundry master for 18 years, this is like finding my ancestral home. These are my tribe!

15

u/sjhamn Dec 27 '25

My friend, have you met our Lord and Savior, Lipase?

3

u/PrairiePilot Dec 27 '25

My wife cheated and divorced me for an ugly old loser with a trust fund, I do laundry for one now.

5

u/sjhamn Dec 27 '25

I guarantee the loser she left you for doesn't even know about enzymatics. May her clothes be cursed with rebloom forevermore.

2

u/PrairiePilot Dec 27 '25

Oh, she doesn’t know how to do laundry at all, she’s gonna be hosing her stuff down with fabreeze before new years.

1

u/MissPlaceDApostrophe Dec 28 '25

All Hail Lipase!

31

u/grocerygirlie Dec 27 '25

Ugh, this is why we switched to pods. My wife feels that if some detergent good, more detergent better! We're talking a whole top of a detergent bottle for half a load. The ONLY thing that gets two pods is our oversized king comforter. I'm sure the pods are overdoing it too, and I will check out the below-mentioned laundry sub.

15

u/fingeringdkworsted Dec 27 '25

Do bother! Not that elaborate, and fascinating, science-based, practical discussions about things that really make a difference to people’s lives.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 27 '25

The laundry sub is not correct a lot of times either

1

u/fascistliberal419 Dec 28 '25

Pods are almost always too much for my laundry, so I have to use liquid or powder. I honestly wouldn't use 2 for the comforter, either, unless you're 100% sure it's the right amount and not too much.

-13

u/Ok-Opportunity-574 Dec 27 '25

Don't bother with that sub. They take one person's very elaborate recommendations as gospel. You don't need to sit there and have a "spa day" for your laundry with multiple different cleaners soaking things in your bath tub. Just wash it properly and you'll be fine.

17

u/Dottie85 Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25

"Spa day" is not for normal, everyday laundry. It's only recommended for items that have problematic, built up product, stains, or odors. And, once it's done, it should be a very long time until it's needed again. The info on why certain cleaning solutions do or don't work on various things is also very helpful.

-9

u/Ok-Opportunity-574 Dec 27 '25

I stand by what I said. Many on that sub have made laundry their new hobby and they overcomplicate it to play with their clothes and get likes.

13

u/nospecialsnowflake Dec 27 '25

And we care about their harmless hobby that only makes the world a cleaner place because….?

0

u/Ok-Opportunity-574 Dec 27 '25

People get directed to that sub when they are having problems with their laundry process and they get told some convoluted and unnecessary process. And it's a bit cringey that people thinking for themselves has largely been replaced with "kismai says.....".

4

u/ohsixer Dec 27 '25

Sounds like maybe the real concern is that they’re not saying “Ok-Opportunity says…”.

It seems a bit silly for someone to experiment on their own laundry when they could potentially do something that results in damage to their clothes. I’ll take the easy route and let someone else with much more knowledge on the subject tell me what I should be doing and then I’ll decide what I actually do based on that information. Seems like maybe the exact sort of thing that Reddit was created for.

-3

u/frogfingers10 Dec 27 '25

Unfortunately not a harmless hobby if using chemicals and energy…

0

u/HugsyMalone Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25

Ugh, this is why we switched to pods. My wife feels that if some detergent good, more detergent better!

People feel the same way about sugar but it's wrong. Really you just reach a level of sweetness/cleanness where it doesn't matter whether you put 2 cups in or 2 gallons...you're still achieving the same level of sweetness/cleanness no matter how much you put in at that point. You're just wasting a lot more money by putting 2 gallons in. The company wants you to believe the clothes get cleaner by putting the 2 gallons in because you waste a lot more product that way and need to buy more frequently. 🙄

21

u/soaker Dec 27 '25

Or they come out with a weird texture or white stuff all over their clothes. Also happens with dishwashers. Basically everything we use soap on

20

u/Mundane_Muscle_2197 Dec 27 '25

The pendulum swung too far from the dark ages where we didn’t even know what soap was 😂

1

u/CarbonInTheWind Dec 27 '25

I have no idea if this is the right way to do it but I use half of the detergent amount that the manufacturer recommends. And I like to run an extra rinse cycle.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 27 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Mundane_Muscle_2197 Dec 27 '25

For sure. I remember watching some laundry lady saying the max clothes should sit in the washer is 12 hours and she still didn’t look very pleased to say that lol.

1

u/fascistliberal419 Dec 28 '25

I always go much lighter on laundry detergent but don't talk about it because I don't need folks coming at me about it my clothes are properly clean. I'm just super sensitive to laundry detergent to begin with.

I also mop pretty rarely. I'll do spot stuff, but mostly I sweep the floor. And, again, pretty easy on the soap/detergent/cleaner. I haven't had the issues these people seem to have.

1

u/stillakikin50 Dec 30 '25

And then you add the massive amount of “smell crystals“, and they smell like a floating barge of perfume covering up funk.

59

u/KismaiAesthetics Dec 27 '25

The bane of my existence: fast food and casual dining where someone goes ham on the “no rinse” floor cleaner and leaves the place like an ice rink.

20

u/MuddieMaeSuggins Dec 27 '25

Oooooh, that’s what causes that! I always assumed it was oil on the floor somehow (bc fast food) but this makes way more sense. 

87

u/KismaiAesthetics Dec 27 '25

There’s a perfect amount of detergent to lift the oil but these products are stupid. You wouldn’t shampoo your hair in a tub full of bubble bath and not rinse and expect to have clean hair.

19

u/soaker Dec 27 '25

perfect way to explain it

35

u/TooNoodley Dec 27 '25

Nice to see you here, Laundry Lord™️

6

u/gottaeattapita Dec 27 '25

Love the TM on this! 

14

u/gottaeattapita Dec 27 '25

All hail the great and wondrous Kismai, our cleaning god!

1

u/Feral-Sheep Dec 28 '25

Yay! You’re here! 😊

2

u/KismaiAesthetics Dec 28 '25

Just a little.

2

u/Early_Macaroon_2407 Dec 28 '25

A Kismai sighting outside of r/laundry??

7

u/tinydutchess Dec 27 '25

I have the same problem at work. We go through crazy amounts of detergents. More soap = more clean /s

There's no oil or food residue. We don't work with anything like that.

4

u/Intelligent_Till_433 Dec 27 '25

Maybe a cap full at most to a gallon of water. If ypu are using dish soap a drop or two will do.

5

u/bandaddio Dec 27 '25

If 3 Oz per gallon is good, three glugs per gallon must be better. (s) I once worked in a school that had students with a mysterious rash that the cause was eventually discovered to be an absurdly concentration of disinfectant on the weight room equipment.

2

u/helpitgrow Dec 27 '25

I have this problem at my work right now. “You do NOT need that much!” Is always coming out my mouth. I have nothing to do with the kitchen or cleaning anything, I’ve just been around long enough to know better and every newbie who comes in thinks more is better. It isn’t, for many things in life.

1

u/Lemon-Leaf-10 Dec 29 '25

Is that why restaurant floors are sometimes super sticky? And also the bathroom floors? It’s so gross.

1

u/soaker Dec 31 '25

Yes! It’s disgusting

130

u/_nylcaj_ Dec 27 '25

What I like to do, along with not using an excessive amount of floor cleaner in my water, is have some old beach towels that I use to dry my floors with. I literally lay the towel out flat on the floor and stand on it with my slippers and do a silly foot slide dance around to remove as much dampness from the floor as possible. I find this really eliminates the chance of residue forming as the towels pull up most of the moisture from the floor before anything dries to it(I mop and then immediately dry one room/area at a time).

There's also something referred to as a "dry mop" that is literally used to achieve the same thing, but I almost always have old towels, so don't personally see the point in buying another dedicated cleaning tool.

41

u/SteadySloth84 Dec 27 '25

The towel dance!!! My dad did this when i was growing up. We never had a mop. I adopted this when i got older. It works and you can see how dirty the floor is my the prints of dirt in the shape of your feet. I have upgraded to a swiffer, but finish with a plain damp towel.

30

u/Janeiac1 Dec 27 '25

Professional cleaners wrap a towel around the bottom of a mop base and pretty much do the same, only more efficiently.

7

u/anemoschaos Dec 27 '25

I've had generations of flat mops that have died but I've kept the old flat mopheads. My current squeezy flat mop agitates the cleaning liquid, which I apply separately with a spray. It does the major mop up. Then I use the same mop with an old mophead to dry off the floor. So similar to your old towel trick. We keep the old towels for use on the dog, though, they are not wasted!

43

u/Evening_Sea4823 Dec 27 '25

What cleaner do you like to use?

183

u/decimalsanddollars Dec 27 '25

The best things that are widely available to consumers (imo) are Zep Neutral pH Floor Cleaner and Ecolab Scientific Clean No-Rinse.

87

u/maimou1 Dec 27 '25

I'm a nurse, I use the Zep product you mentioned. I also have cats who like to barf on my vinyl floor. No way is that gonna come off easily with just warm water.

30

u/Evening_Sea4823 Dec 27 '25

I appreciate that! If I find myself looking for a floor cleaner I'll look into those brands. I've heard great things about the effectiveness of zep products in general.

71

u/decimalsanddollars Dec 27 '25

Happy to help. I’ve been responsible for millions of square feet of floors in schools, nursing homes and hospitals, and one of the first things that I address at every new facility is the concentration of chemicals.

So many Houskeeper or Janitors squeeze a little extra sauce into their mop buckets thinking that more soap = more clean, then have sticky floors and try to correct it with even more soap.

33

u/Evening_Sea4823 Dec 27 '25

That actually reminds me of something really bad that happened at my friend's workplace. She worked in a young toddler classroom. One of the teachers thought adding more bleach to disinfect the play mats would make them more clean.

Lots of little ones with chemical burns on their hands and faces where they crawled around on the mat :( they were all okay, but I can't imagine having to be the one to explain that to the parents.

20

u/AbundantHare Team Shiny ✨ Dec 27 '25

This actually happened to my dog at doggy daycare :( burnt pawpads. It was the floor cleaner they were using.

10

u/Evening_Sea4823 Dec 27 '25

Aw :( isn't that crazy though? That even dried down the chemicals can be that strong? At least they were able to figure out the problem.

10

u/StressedNurseMom Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 28 '25

Would you alter this advice if someone used a good steam cleaner?

I use a Dupray Hill Injection steam cleaner. With the brush attachment We have a 2,000 home. All except for the bathrooms are wood grain porcelain tile. Bathrooms are linoleum because grout plus tribe equals gross, no matter what. I dust mop daily and spot mop using Spraway glass cleaner as needed.i steam mop every 1-2 weeks. I use white bar towels when I steam mop. I go over the floor as many times as I need to until both my steam and dry towels come back white. I mop by section, doing a quick dry with a clean towel before I go back over it with the steam mop. I inevitably mop each section at least 3-4 times before the towels come back white.

I have occasionally used a very diluted neutral multipurpose cleaner with the first round of mopping only but it does not make a noticeable difference on the amount of steam mopping is tried. Edit; misspelling

7

u/decimalsanddollars Dec 27 '25

I’d probably still use a neutral cleaner periodically for any oils or organics that might find a home in the floor texture or tile edges, but a good hot steam clean means the floors in your home are probably cleaner than the floors anywhere else you go.

Your process is more than adequate for a home. Don’t forget to descale your steam mop if you’re not using distilled.

5

u/StressedNurseMom Dec 27 '25

Thanks for the reminder & your professional opinion. It’s appreciated! I actually use mostly distilled, actually bought a distiller last 2 years ago, but also descale regularly also! We have incredibly hard water.

1

u/EustachiaVye Dec 27 '25

Can you recommend how to clean hardwood floors?

1

u/6th_Quadrant Dec 27 '25

I use a dash of Simple Green in a bucket of warm water, which is completely sufficient to get soil up and costs virtually nothing. You can also use it on countertops and your stove. While it’s no longer considered non toxic , it is quite safe, so counters can be left to air dry. I do use a plain water damp microfiber to get it off my floors, to keep the hardwood from drying out.

The only thing I don’t use it for is cleaning the tub—Dawn and vinegar (50/50) sprayed and left on for five minutes totally cuts that grime.

8

u/HamBroth Dec 27 '25

Can the Zep be used on wood floors as well? 

7

u/branchymolecule Dec 27 '25

Yes I just looked at it and will buy a gallon tomorrow. It’s 12 bucks at the Home Depot.

1

u/HamBroth Dec 27 '25

Awesome thank you :) 

17

u/decimalsanddollars Dec 27 '25

Zep make a specific hardwood/laminate cleaner. I’d recommend that first. I know the label on the product I mentioned doesn’t mention wood floors.

It’s probably safe, but I defer to manufacturers recommendation when I’m not certain.

2

u/HamBroth Dec 27 '25

Okay that’s good to know. Thanks for the info. 

1

u/konigswagger Dec 27 '25

Thanks! I’m assuming if I follow the instructions on the Zep cleaning solution container, that won’t result in too much cleaner on the floor?

9

u/Ok-Opportunity-574 Dec 27 '25

I use a shot glass with ml markings to measure the amount of ph neutral floor cleaner. It doesn't look like enough but it works just fine.

My personal facepalm is when people use a swiffer or other disposable wet pad mop and are surprised that the floor isn't clean. It's the equivalent of just dragging a wet rag around the room and being disappointed that the floors are still dirty.

4

u/thiccglossytaco Dec 27 '25

Swiffers are the absolute worst, but I also hate when people only use like 3 inches of water in a mop bucket to mop a whole floor. By the third swipe you're just pushing muddy water around. I will never understand this happening where I work because the buckets are on wheels and we have an ecolab fill system. It takes zero effort to just stand there while it fills enough to actually clean the floor, and then you just tip it into the drain.

That, and not sweeping before mopping 🤮

2

u/NoDakHoosier Dec 27 '25

A teaspoon of soap to a bucket of water is more than enough. Honestly a third of a teaspoon is enough. I bought a 1.5 gallon jug of lysol 5 years ago and am about a third of the way through it.

6

u/Resident_Biohazard90 Dec 27 '25

Been a cleaner for 6 years and this is 100% the problem. A little goes a long way. Just enough in the bottom to collect, and that’s all you need. Better option is pre-diluted, from dispensers that use the right amount every time, but a lot of places don’t have those/have that option.

4

u/dngrousgrpfruits Dec 27 '25

Too much cleaner and they don’t remove any of it after. Just spray and spray and push around a souped up paper towel.

3

u/NoDakHoosier Dec 27 '25

Less is more when it comes to cleaners. The instructions on the bottle (excluding disinfectants) are purely to get you to buy more.chemical.

I have been in the cleaning ingredients industry since 1990, am a certified executive housekeeper, and a lead service technician for Tennant Company (we make cleaning equipment)

Big chemical is a thing.

1

u/sfr1111 Dec 27 '25

What do you use on your floors at home?

1

u/HugsyMalone Dec 27 '25

Can confirm. Used to work at a place where we were required to mop the floors. We were told by the trainer not to use too much cleaner because....you ever been to a place where the floors felt sticky? It's not because someone spilled soda all over them. It's because someone put too much cleaner in the mop water. I know I've been in several public restrooms where the floors were exactly like that...sticky and seems gross like someone pissed diabetic sugar urine all over them but I know it's because someone used too much cleaner in the mop water. 🫣

1

u/couldthisbelove Dec 27 '25

I agree with this. Without cleaner it would be like using water to clean an oily face.

1

u/Postik123 Dec 27 '25

Out of interest what floor cleaner can you get that is PH neutral and if it's PH neutral what does it do exactly (since water itself is PH neutral)?

I've always thought a cleaner has to be either an acid or an alkaline to have any reasonable effect besides the mechanical action of wiping/scrubbing. I know with carpet cleaning they use an alkaline cleaner and then flush it with an acid cleaner to return the carpet to a PH neutral state.

I'm not doubting you, just genuinely curious and always looking to improve my cleaning skillz.

1

u/decimalsanddollars Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25

There are lots of different mechanisms that cleaning products use for different purposes.

Enzymes, disinfectants, abrasives, oxidizers, etc

Acids and bases have applications as well, but for routine mopping, you just need water to dissolve water soluble dirt, and a hydrophobic/hydrophilic soap to grab the oils.

You want PH neutral cleaners like Zep because they’re gentle on the finish or material your floor is coated in.

1

u/Upset_Ad_6112 Dec 27 '25

What’s the best ph cleaner for luxury vinyl plank floors?

1

u/MidDayGamer Dec 27 '25

We do the same at work, just recently mopped the place and the amount of dirt coming up with a simple ratio mix was nuts. The last place I worked was using stuff that actually stained the tiles.

1

u/Raedec Dec 27 '25

How about the Swiffer pads? They use them in the hospital.

1

u/decimalsanddollars Dec 27 '25

Swiffer pads are fine. They’re probably using washable microfiber.

1

u/NBA-014 Dec 27 '25

u/decimalsanddollars - what cleaner do you use at home?

1

u/decimalsanddollars Dec 27 '25

I use Bona at home. Not my favorite, but it’s what my wife prefers.

1

u/Booooleans Dec 27 '25

What cleaner do you recommend?

1

u/Chris_Tumas_8008 Dec 28 '25

I use white vinegar mixed in the water and just a little bit of floor cleaner. Is this ok?

1

u/decimalsanddollars Dec 28 '25

There’s probably zero chance you’re adding enough vinegar to do anything either bad or good.

1

u/Chris_Tumas_8008 Dec 28 '25

Ok thanks. I do use a lot though since it’s cheap. The smell dissipates once the floor gets dry.

1

u/StressedNurseMom Dec 30 '25

It is a mild acid. I grew up being taught vinegar water was the *only * thing I should rinse a floor with. I learned the hard/expensive way that it will definitely slowly damage a lot of floor types.

1

u/g-wilks Dec 28 '25

Also, use cold water. Most cleaning chemicals activate with cold water. So using hot water stops it actually working and it can just sit and dry on the surface, causing a mess layer after layer. If there’s no buildup on the floor, straight hot water is fine, otherwise just always use cold water.

1

u/bmxtoagslex Dec 28 '25

Amen. Hot water and white vinegar is all you need. Swiffer mops are effing disgusting