I'm in the middle of a DIY kitchen renovation, and my husband accidentally left the doorways open, which let fine concrete dust from a wall tear-out spread throughout the house. The dust has settled on our beautiful wood floors, and when I try to mop, it just moves the dust around. It comes off with my finger, but that isn't a feasible cleaning method! I'm worried about damaging the floors, which were recently polished and stained. What should I do to clean this up?
2 Answers
You should definitely use a shop vac instead of a regular one. Regular vacuums can get ruined by fine concrete and drywall dust. A shop vac is built for this stuff, and it'll do a better job of sucking up all that fine powder without damaging the vacuum.
Before mopping, make sure to vacuum everything thoroughly—fabrics, furniture, and especially those baseboards. It’s best to get rid of as much dry dust as you can first. After that, you can damp mop the floor. You might need to mop a few times to really get it clean. Just think of it as a top-to-bottom clean of the whole space!
Thank goodness there’s not much in the house yet, but this is still exhausting! I’m hoping that a few extra mopping sessions will help.
My husband tried that too, but it didn’t work for him! The dust seemed too fine or something. All I'm left with is swiping my finger, and that's a slow process.