Thursday, January 16, 2014

DoggyStyle: On Mopping a Dog Home

Miss M lies in apprehension of what is coming at her
I've realized a lot of people think owning pets means you can never have a clean home. Though embarrassingly enough, my apartment was much, much dirtier before I had our dogs. Living with the pups has given me more self-awareness to prevent messes in the first place and to find easy ways to clean.
We had written here that one way to stay on top of cleaning is to find good cleaning products that can be "fun" to use. Though I still hadn't found a solution for mopping our hardwood floors; which according to many people doesn't exist.
So you can imagine our excitement when our favorite "fun" vacuum  came out with a hard-floor version: The Dyson Hard DC56.
The idea is that it combines a handheld vacuum with a Swiffer-like mop head, so you don't need to vacuum to get rid of the dog-hair ahead of time; it makes things easier by vacuuming and mopping at the same time.
It is a bit pricy, but we had some gift cards so we decided to splurge, and I thought it would be worth it if it actually did make our cleaning much easier.
It turns out, that I have been using it every day...though not for the reasons one would think.

What we Liked:
-It's lightweight and it doesn't need a plug so it's really easy to carry around your whole home.
-The mop head can come off and it becomes a really powerful handheld vacuum with long reach. I was able to use it to catch all the crevices and angles that I'm often to lazy to get when I'm doing the regular vacuuming.
-It takes up little storage space and it lives in a holster in our closet.

What we Didn't Like:
-It uses wipes so you need a constant supply of wipes on hand if you are going to clean. You also have to shop at stores that sell these types of wipes.
-The wipes kept running out of moisture. I had already used up one wipe when I was only half-way through cleaning our main room.
-It does pick up the hair as you're mopping, but sometimes the little holes in the mop get jammed with the hair, so you need to keep cleaning it out.
-Since it's cordless, it only stays charged for 15 minutes. I didn't realize this the first time, and I ran out of power half-way through (and I had just put on a new wipe that dried out as I had to wait for it to recharge). It also takes awhile for it to recharge.
-You have to press down hard to make sure the wipes pick up the dirt. It hurt my arms.
-It's pricey.
So, we wouldn't recommend it as a mop.
But....I really liked it as a cordless vacuum, more than I expected.
I never realized how convenient it was to have a cordless vacuum, but I have literally been using it every day to pick up the dog-tumbleweed that has been making it's way into the corners and baseboards. Since it doesn't have a cord, it's really easy to just grab it and go from room-to-room, which is so much easier than taking out our canister vacuum and using the attachment.
It also has come in really handy that time we saw one of those furry-centipedes on our ceiling. The arm was long enough to keep the perfect distance. It is a bit pricey, but we did end up keeping it just for the cordless vacuum convenience.
We are still on our search for the perfect mop, though we think we might have another contender.
Has anyone else stumbled upon that perfect one?

Also:
Less fur!
Did you know Miss M moonlights as our maid?
"Fun" Cleaning products 
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9 comments:

Debra@Peaceabull said...

We, too, are ever searching for the perfect mop. We'll just keep trying.

Unknown said...

We got the new dyson mop/vac when it first came out and were sooo excited (is that sad?)! Unfortunately we found a lot of the same "cons" about it and returned it. We're back to using the dyson animal and following up with a wet swiffer type mop-- but use microfiber towels and cleaning solution so we're not using the disposable stuff. It takes a bit of time, but gets the job done!

Two French Bulldogs said...

Mom is always mopping and vacuuming. She is big on a clean place
Lily

Regina Hart said...

I have bamboo floors throughout my house, and I'm a Sh-Mop fan. See http://www.thecleanteam.com/Sh-Mop_c_21.html.

Tabitha T said...

We have a pittie and an english bulldog, so lots of little hairs everywhere. We're lucky that we have all hard wood floors. So we've been using a combo of a broom then a wet swiffer. I like to have spray bottle of green cleaner while I swiffer, for the tough spots. The swiffer part works reasonably well. But we have been debating getting some sort of cordless vacuum, since a broom just misses so much hair. I just worry we'll have the same battery issues.

bigalrlz said...

Enough about what YOU guys think, what did the dogs think of the new vacuum? Do they hate the noise or are they simply curious? Is it quieter because it's battery powered?

Unknown said...

hopefully we'll be searching for one...once we get rid of this carpet!!! Such a pain, especially when fostering puppies in the past :/

Unknown said...

Are you ready for a tool made specifically to pick up hard-to-get things like pet fur?? Curious : ) yes, take 10 seconds to see what you are missing at www.SecretKidCleanup.com

Unknown said...

Who could say no to an ecologically sensitive solution to
these pet hair problems?? : ) You need to see this cool tool! Just take 10
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