Cleaning Week - Day 2 - Tile & Linoleum Floors

Today is day two of Cleaning Week - I received a request yesterday for a post on cleaning floors so today's topic is tile and linoleum.  I don't have hardwood floors at home, so I need to do some research on options since I don't know from experience.
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There are a number of environmentally friendly cleaning products available in stores including two brands mentioned yesterday, Dr. Bronner's and Seventh Generation. (Ecover is another I like.) Although these brands may not be available in a specific store you shop, there is likely a green aisle or section that will have a selection of green cleaning and household products.  One thing I would note is that some companies will attempt to mislead consumers about the 'greenness' of their product by putting leaves on the bottles, or including statements like '97% natural'.  It's best to read the label and opt for 100% natural cleaners, with all ingredients listed.  If a product is 97% natural and the ingredients aren't listed the remaining 3% could likely be things you don't want in your home.

If you have children or pets at home, you probably already know that floors get a lot of attention and whatever you use to clean with will most likely end up all over pets and kids, as well as likely consumed by them to some degree.

Commentary:

I use Dr. Bronner's liquid soaps for my floor cleaning and it works great.  There are a number of different scents available, although I usually opt for non-scented cleaners to avoid strong smells and headaches.  The Dr. Bronner's scents I like quite a bit though and aren't overpowering, so we use the Eucalyptus and Lavender varieties for cleaning our floors.  I promise I'm not a saleperson for Dr. Bronner's but I can't recommend their products enough (and thanks to Rico for the Christmas gift that got me started using them).  

All their soaps use organic ingredients (other than mineral based ingredients which aren't eligible for organic certification).  Their ingredients are also Fair Trade certified which essentially means they buy products from producers that don't run sweatshops.  A 16 ounce bottle is around $10 and goes a long way.  To clean our floors I use one squirt from the bottle and that is more than enough.  (I used more a couple of times and ended up with a bucket full of bubbles which are fun but not the best for mopping.)

Plus, the company is based in Escondido (San Diego County) so we get to suport a local company. :)

Suggested action steps:

1. Sweep floors
2. Mop with hot water and a squirt of Dr. Bronner's
3. Let air dry
4. Put on big fuzzy socks and slide around the clean floors

Sidenote - Amazon Store

I've added a link at the top-right to an Amazon site I set up that has products I recommend.  I've seen these type of stores on other blogs and websites and thought it was a good idea to have a central location for the products I mention.

I try to shop at local businesses and encourage others to do so also, but I know that's sometimes not possible and/or convenient.  Hopefully you find the store useful and I'll continue to update in the future to include the items I note in my posts and others I've enjoyed.  Please let me know if you have items you think I should add.

Have a great day!