[Blindtlk] Sweeping and Mopping floors

[Mike Freeman]

I prefer mopping the floor on hands and knees with a sponge and bucket. The
wisdom on overlapping strokes still goes, though.

Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Julie J.
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2012 3:13 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Sweeping and Mopping floors

LOL  You are too funny!  Sighted people leave bits behind. My teen age 
son, who is sighted, sweeps the floor.  Then I mop it.  I assure you 
that floor isn't 100% debris free when I start mopping.

Overlapping strokes just means that each time you sweep over an area you 
are covering part of the space from the previous swipe. So the 
mathematical explanation would be if your broom is 12 inches wide, each 
time you should move it over 6 or 8 inches.  This way you will be 
covering 4 to 6 inches  twice.

For sweeping I pick a corner and sweep everything towards it, instead of 
trying to keep track of a pile somewhere in the middle of the floor.  If 
you are sweeping a really big area, divide it into segments and sweep 
each section into the nearest corner.

To clean up the pile of dog hair and dust that I've swept up I usually 
use a damp paper towel.  I find this does a better job than the dust pan 
approach.

Mopping is fairly straightforward.  You are basically  wiping off the 
floor just like you would a table or counter top.  I start in the 
furthest corner and work my way across toward my living room.  This way 
I'm not walking on the wet floor.  I sort of make the area into blocks 
in my mind.  So the first section is the little space at the end of the 
counter between the wall and the stove.  I mop that.  Then the next 
block might be the area from the stove to the refrigerator in front of 
the sink.  This way I can remember what I've already mopped and what 
needs done still.  After I mop each one of the imaginary blocks I rinse 
the mop so it's clean for the next section.

I think the best way to learn what works best for you to sweep and mop 
is to just do it.  You can check if your sweeping worked by tactual 
checking with your hands or bare feet to see how much stuff is left.  
There will be a small amount, that's normal.  The floor shouldn't feel 
gritty though.  After mopping the floor should feel clean with no sticky 
spots.  In my house the areas in front of the stove, the sink and the 
back door get the most dirty, so I go over them twice just to make sure 
they are clean.

You'll do great!  Give it a go and let us know how it goes.

Julie





On 7/9/2012 3:50 PM, Humberto Avila wrote:
> Hello everybody:
>
> I want to learn how to mop up and sweep the floor of my house correctly
and
> without sighted help. Last night I was watching some videos off the
> www.blindhow.com website on daily living, and for cleaning, mopping,
> dusting, ETC. they say I need to use overlapping strokes. So, what are
> overlapping strokes? Do you know?
>
>
>
> Also, do you all have any tips and tricks, for mopping, sweeping, and
> cleaning as a blind person doing it alone? Is it possible that, when I'm
> sweeping up the floor, to not leave any debris anywhere at all, just like
> sighted people can do it? If so, how do you do this? Any suggestions are
> welcome.
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Humberto
>
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