I have a feeling you are confused as to what vacuum cleaners actually do. Upright or canister vacuum cleaners are used to remove the loose dust/dirt from the floors.

About once a week after using the vacuum cleaner to remove dust/loose dirt, then wet mop the tile floor using a cleaning solution or mop wood floors with special mop and cleaner.

A vacuum cleaner whether upright or canister will not eliminate the need to mop (scrub) the floor clean off and on using a cleaning solution.

Having said the above, there are floor scrubbing machines made by same manufactures that make vacuum cleaners. You can use a floor scrubbing machine or a mop to "clean (wash)" floors when needed.

For example, Hoover makes vacuum cleaners, floor scrubbers, carpet cleaning machines. Most people refer to them as "a Hoover" without specifying which type they are referring to.

Hope I read your post right.

I can't tell you which vacuum would be best because I hate vacuuming and if I had hard floors I would not use them.

There were hard wood floors in my second home, the real wood floors. All I ever did was run a dust mop over it and ever so often I used a damp, not real wet mop to clean it. I think you are suppose to wax them occasionally but I never did in the five years I lived there and they were fine. Personally I like carpet they are even less work, can't scratch them and they are much warmer.

So, if I understand this correctly, you first clean the non-carpet floors with a vacuum cleaner to remove dust/dirt and then you clean the floor again with a mop or cleaning solution?

This is why I'm confused.

So, why even clean the non-carpet floors with a vacuum if you still have to clean those floors? If you're going to clean the floors with a mop anyways, isn't the mop or cleaner going to remove that dirt/dust?

It seems to me that you're doing twice the work where once a week you vacuum those non-carpet floors and then once a week you're cleaning those same floors with a mop or cleaner.

Wouldn't you get it just as clean with half the effort if you just cleaned those non-carpet floors once a week with a mop and skipped the vacuum?

If you don't remove the grit (dust is probably okay) you will scratch your floors with it when you mop.

Wow, glad I have carpet on most of my floors. In my entry way, bathrooms and laundry room I have hard floors, no scratches anywhere on them. Of course they are linoleum. The entry looks so good, company and my cleaning lady thought it was hardwood.

If the dust/dirt is left on the floor, mopping with liquid cleaner will make "mud pies". Most dirt contains gritty particles that will scratch the floor when walked on or cleaned. Removing the loose grit will help prevent scratches.

On tile floors the "mud pies" dirty water will soak into the grout causing it to become very dirty/discolored and very difficult to get clean without a huge amount of work. Many tilers use a soupy (too much water) grout mixture. More air will be in the grout mixture and when air bubbles come up through the grout during the drying time it will leave pin holes resulting in a porous grout. Porous grout will absorb and hold on to dirt.

Mopping removes the stuck on dirt the vacuum cleaner did not suck up.

If you do not vacuum AND mop tile/wood floors, the dirt will accumulate until it is a thick scum. This would be very difficult to get clean for sure.

Vacuum and mop once a week is a good general rule. However, depending on how much traffic and how much dirt is tracked in it may be a good idea to vacuum or dust mop the tile/wood floors between regular vacuum/mop time.

Once you "get the" concept of how to keep floors clean, it will become second nature to you.

There are three schools of thought:

1. Clean floors the right way and enjoy a clean home.
or
2. Live with grit and grime dirty floors and wonder why no one ever comes to see you.
or
3. Hire a maid or cleaning service to do the work. This is the expensive way to a semi-clean home.

Housework is not for sissies!! It takes lots of work to keep a home clean, something many of us take pride in!

sweeping, then mopping works also, if you don't want to wrangle a heavy vacuum cleaner.

If we did not have carpets we did not have vacuums, nor did we have mud pies. I swept the kitchen floor, then mopped it with a bit of dish washing liquid in the water and rinsed it. There was no mud on my mop. If you have mud you are waiting waaaaaayyyy to long to clean the floors.

The interpretation of "mud pies" terminology is a slang way of stating what water plus dirt can make depending on ratio of dirt and water.

Much will depend on what part of the country you live in as to how you interpret the slang term or taking it literally.

I used the slang expression "mud pies" to stress how important it is to remove the dirt before cleaning the floor.

Yes, there are other ways to clean tile or wood floors, however the original poster was confused as to the machines and the floor cleaning process.

No offense taken, this post is for clarification only.

It seems that you should vacuum the flooring right before you mop.

So, if its necessary to both vacuum and mop, then how come I don't ever see that being done at work or when I was at school? Instead, all they did was mop the tile floors and then put out that sign warning you not to slip.

How did people clean their non-carpet floors before vacuums?

Even with the sweep and then mop method, wouldn't the grit still scratch things up as you sweep?

I have 2 canister vacuums ... one is an old Sears with a "power head" that is great for carpets, or with a switch of heads, for hard floors. The revolving brush really gets dirt out of carpets.

The other is a cheap Eureka canister, but it's small and adequate for getting cathairs out of corners and dust off the floor. Then we use a steam mop on the tiles.

The Sears has HUGE bags, but the fine AZ dust clogs them before they get full, so the two actually can pick up about as much dirt before needing a change.

I've had uprights and hate them because they are awkward, and I've had bagless, and dumping the collected dirt is always messy

Wouldn't you get it just as clean with half the effort if you just cleaned those non-carpet floors once a week with a mop and skipped the vacuum?
No, because the dust and hairs get spread around by the mop, not removed as well.

If you clean up spills and selectively mop traffic areas you can go longer between moppings. Just run a vacuum or dust mop to collect the dust bunnies.

How did people clean their non-carpet floors before vacuums?

They swept up the loose dirt into a dust pan, discarded it, then mopped or scrubbed with a hand-held brush.

They also swept with various sprinkled-on products that would collect the dust better: fine sawdust with a bit of oil works well.

When sweeping, the grit is being flipped along surface of the floor to an area and then picked up in a dust pan.

At work or school, if you give the floor a "white glove test" (wipe with a white rag) after a wet mopping the glove/rag will be dirty. In other words a quick slinging of a wet mop across the floor will not remove all of the dirt. If your home floor is cared for in the same manner, it will not pass the "white glove test".

I love a clean floor, socks don't get dirty, bare feet do not feel gritty and dirty. Dirt on socks or feet will transfer the dirt to the chair cushions, etc. if you tuck your feet up in the chair or sofa. Think about how dirty chair/sofa cushions will become if there are children running around on the floor and then getting on the furniture. Their little legs are too short to reach the floor in order to sit like adults.

Everyone has their own opinion of how clean a floor has to be. I very seldom do anything but vacuum my floors. My floors won't pass a white glove test, but no one dies, no one gets sick.

IMO, a canister vac is better for hard floors because it is more maneuverable than an upright.

If you live in a home that passes the white glove test how can you stand to visit your family and friends or go to dinner there. How do you eat out because restaurants won't pass a test like that. What is the term for this syndrome, OCD maybe.

Sorry for the late posting, but I saw this question while I was searching for something else and just had to add my 2 cents. Here's what I do for my hardwoods: 1) Do a light vacuum with my Hoover cordless Linx. This is a great little vac for hardwoods. It's pricey and you should buy an extra battery so you can switch them out if you run out of juice mid-vacuum. But it is actually fun to vacuum with this little guy. (It's not that great on carpeting, though.) 2) Mop up with my Bona hardwood mop with the attached bottle of Bona hardwood cleaner. This is the only cleaner my installer would recommend. It, too, is kind of fun to use. Just pull a little lever on the mop to squirt out some cleaner, and mop away. It dries very quickly. I suggest buying an extra pad for the mop, so that you always have a clean one. They wash great in the dryer.