Seeing the thread about Broken Dyson… made me think about how often I/we use what we call the “hoover”… on our floors.
As our flooring is mostly wood/tiles we tend to use broom and dustpan and brush or mop and bucket … so the hoover comes into play about once every couple of months… (more often as necessary of course)
back in UK, it was different, with fitted carpets virtually everywhere and the hoover was used possibly every day… somewhere in the house… 
All our floors except the boiler room (tiles) and the bathrooms (?vinyl) are wood, so we use broom and dustpan as required to remove unsightly crumbs, leaves that blow in or fall off indoor plants, and fluff. To shine the wooden floors we use a cheap all-surface liquid cleanser, one bouchon in 5 litres of warm water, applied with a very well wrung-out mop. It leaves a very pleasing shine. After much trial and error this has proved to be the most labour-saving and least deleterious way of cleaning lots of parquet floors that get plenty of off-the-street traffic in winter. No rinsing or polishing is required.
There is no evidence of harm to the wood, provided that the mop is damp and the dilution of the cleaning fluid is as prescribed. We use the hoover once a month or so to get into corners and under beds etc. We have a hearth hoover for cleaning out the wood-burner and surround, it is a grimy beast.
My wife likes a tidy home, but is not obsessive. Life is too short. I am the main floor-person chez nous.
Mmmm… that’s interesting to hear about the cleanser you use on the wood…
Stuff from outside, is usually deposited in our tiled hallway, so the wooden floors are normally just dusty… (where does all this dust come from???) … but some mud etc does sometimes travel further indoors… aaaaargh.
A ‘hearth hoover’ proved to be €20 very well spent. It made living with a log burner very easy indeed.
For the tiled floors I wound a daily brush combined with a weekly or 10 daily hoover round and the occasional wash did the job. Living without carpets is so much nicer.
Weekly or monthly hoovering?!!!
Every two days here. I suspect it is the dogs and cats. Plus James of course 
Oh dear… I wonder if James is suffering from “over-moulting” syndrome… 
quite possibly my schedule would be different if I had pets (or a moulting OH) 
but I like being able to keep reasonably clean/tidy without using electrics too often (getting quite canny in my old age)
I’m also the round owner of a carpet sweeper which is Fab! Works on hard floors too and sweeps up everything bar the cats themselves!
I was very sceptical about using anything moist on wood, Stella, but ground floor surfaces especially the kitchen/sejour get a lot of traffic straight off the street and/or the garden, and can get muddy. It has to be cleaned periodically. A thin layer of cleaning solution evaporates in minutes, and I see no deterioration In the wood after 5 years of occupation here.
Like many older homes here, the main entrance to the house opens directly into the living-room kitchen, and all other rooms are off that large and hospitable room. It’s the room we use for entertaining visitors and for all our meals.
We have even tried to coax visitors into our dining room/salon which can easily accommodate twelve diners, but they always prefer the intimacy of the kitchen!
When the house was a bar-restaurant (up to the 1960s) it was reputed to serve 120 lunches to workers, in shifts, from the Degrenne (cutlery) factory 3km down the vallley. It employed 800+ in its heyday.
Many ex-employees live in the neighbourhood. A near neighbour, also ex-Degrenne, mere footsteps from us, hung himself the other day. His wife discovered him hanging. There has been no signs of life at the house since we got the news, so we haven’t been able to call on his wife. He was taken to the hospital at Avranche, we don’t know if he survived. His parents lived in our house, apparently. I can’t get him out of my mind.
Your home has an interesting/delightful history… 
Sorry to hear about your neighbour… there are a lot of sad stories these days… folk who simply have had enough… or simply can’t take no more… 
and it comes as a shock when it happens so close to home… 
Try to remember the happy times which your house will have seen, filled with locals, bustling and jostling…
take care
Vacuum cleaner every few days, otherwise dog hair tumbleweed takes over.
I regret few things in life, but the decision not to put in a central vacuum cleaner when we renovated might be one of them. Our budget was getting too tight to allow it sadly.
And savon noir for all surfaces; stone, wood and ceramic.
Savon noir, absolutely agree. All those old timer products like savon, noir, vinager, bicarbonate, all work very well, very cheap and totally ecological.
By the way a tip for those with family silver - even if it is just an old necklace or whatever, Line a salad bowl with aluminium foil and fill the bowl with a solution made of a couple of tablespoons of bicarbonate mixed with hot water. Then just dip your tiara in making sure it is covered by the liquid and in contact with the foil for at least a minute. Then take it out and wipe it with a dry cloth. Magic . Try it…
Morning All
With two labs and stone tile floors the old hoover is a must.
When they moult they shed enough hair to fill a pillow every couple of days !
If you use brushes it just spreads the hair all over the shop.
Need the technology.
Andy
Phew… so glad my tortoise never shed hair… and next door’s cat takes her fur with her after inspecting our home…