Cleaning up Your Floors During Winter Mud Season

When we lived in Northern Minnesota, winter was winter. It went below freezing in October and didn't get above freezing until March. And once the thawing began, we called it Mud Season, the season between winter and spring.  Now living in St. Louis, we don't have a designated Mud Season. It freezes. It thaws. It freezes. It thaws. So, every other week is full of mud.

The other thing about where we lived in Minnesota was that culturally, you did not wear your shoes in the house.  It was considered rude to not immediately take your shoes off at someone's front door. Many times, the hosts would have a little basket filled with slippers to slip on when you came in. It was quite cozy. But, not having been raised with this cultural norm, and possessing extremely funky smelling feet, I was a little unnerved by this practice, even though it made complete practical sense. Now, when I go to someone's house during winter, I usually bring my own pair of slippers and slip them on at the front door.

I wish the practicality of removing your shoes at the front door was a culturally acceptable one here.  But where we live now, it would be considered rude to ask to someone to remove their shoes. It is a level of intimacy and vulnerability that is out of the current, collective comfort zone.  And frankly, I don't have the wherewithal to retrain myself and my entire family. Not to mention I don't think Humphrey would keep his slippers on. So instead, you best keep your shoes on at my house because I cannot be responsible for your socks.  At my door I have this:

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My kingdom for a mud room!!

We have discussed how the name of the man who rehabbed our house has become an epithet, and that follows true on our first floor floors. He put in all new hardwood that gleamed and shone during the walk-through, but quickly after moving in, they showed themselves as the cheapest, crappiest wood floors he could have purchased.  There is virtually no finish and that is especially true in the kitchen since I wash the floor regularly.  Unfortunately, I also had an addiction to a certain super-convenient spray mop with lots of trash associated with it.  This cleaner was destroying the already crappy floor I had. But, ohhhhh the convenience!

The first time I used Simply Floored, I could not believe how lovely it smelled. It has this subtle, comfortable minty smell. Not a harsh cold mint, but a warm, homey-feeling mint.  And then, it was just not that big of a deal to use. Just a squirt onto the floor, and mop with a damp microfiber cloth and done. And after using it and looking at my floors, I was shocked by the clean, light sheen to them.  Once again, after using Better Life products, I could not believe what I was letting pass for clean. This is going to sound absolutely ridiculous, but nonetheless, my floors looked happy and healthy. They kind of glowed.

There was no residue. No film. No waxiness. Just the beautiful wood.

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I was blown away. (Now, after this particular muddy mess, it looked fine after mopping, but I did rinse my microfiber cloth and mop over it again because of the extra mud.)

And by the way, the convenience of a certain spray mop, can be had without all the waste. I have been using this one and couldn't be happier.  I just fill the reservoir with Simply Floored! and go. I also like that the sprayer is manual and not battery powered.   I also really like their Microfiber Floor Mop because I don't have to buy pricey pads. I buy a pack of 10 microfiber cloths at the warehouse store for less than $10. Then I can wet one, fold it in half, and tuck it into the corner grabber-hole thingys. This is incredibly economical and easy to use. All the right tools to combat Mud Season.

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3 comments

*snorts*You need 12 inch tall dogs with coat. That mud gets up into their belly and flank hair TO THE SKIN. AND just to make things itserenting, you need 6 of them. To many and to for this old woman since that is 24 feet. However, I also simply cannot live with that much wet/muck/mud/filth, so I taught them all to walk through a cat litter pan with 2 inches or so of soapy water in it. Just enough to go up just to the top of their toes. In and out several times, then across a flannel sheet purchased at Salvation Army for $2 and it’s a done deal. I only have one dog that simply cannot do it, he’s an 11 year old rescue and we don’t.do.feet on Dashie w/o a muzzle. He goes directly to a crate with another $2 sheet in it. Then the floor sheet goes directly into the washing machine. For the belly hair, a long piece of terry cloth (45 inches wide, cut across width) purchased at a fabric store then rubbed back and forth across their bellies and the mud is better, not great like the feet, but better..-= Hollyb4s last blog .. =-.

Dharshan

I bet your house smells lovely.

Kate

Kate, I just bought Simply Floored at Schnucks! I used it on my hardwood floors for exactly the same reasons (messy winter muck) and I love it!! I also finally picked up some Whatever and I love it too. I actually stayed up late cleaning my kitchen with the stuff!

Chantal

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