Microfiber Dry Mops

Hi J.. I use wet swifter sweepers. Also my daughter has the same fingertip problem. Put Bag Balm on every night and use a pair of hand mittens. (Its in the beauty department for lotions)

I don't know how well those drymops work with dog hair, but I imagine that they might work pretty well. You might try just getting some of the refills and wiping the floor with them to see how they pick it up before you spend the money on the actual unit to hold them if you are concerned about money. They work with static electricity, so with dog hair, I would imagine they could do quite well.

For your hands, I would use the salt and oil rub suggestion...you can make one yourself or buy one from a store. That will help to remove dead skin and soften your skin. Use bag balm or a very good moisturizing lots (and lots of it) with laytex type gloves. Put an excessive amount of lotion on your hands and then sit with them under a light (for heat). The heat will help your skin absorb the moisture. You also might try using vitamin E oil on them because it promotes healing of skin. You can buy a bottle of it at Target or any store that has vitamins. I had surgery last January, and one of the scar treatments was I had to rub vitamin E oil on it several times a day. Just rub it on and leave it there for a few minutes. You can use it on your skin as much as you want. It is increadible.

Good Luck!

Hi J.!

First of all I use the swiffter mops (I have an angora cat with hair that sheds like non other!) and it works perfect for us! I find that I am more apt to cleaning my hard floors now more than ever!

Secondly, I am District Manager for a company called Arbonne. We are a botanically based company with some amazing products. I have a cream called "Rejuvinating cream" that would work wonders for the dry fingertips! I can give you a sample of it if you like. My email is ____@____.com

Have a great day!

A. & Emily Grace (6 months next week!)

Hey J.-
I don't want to sound rude but I also would like to know what u find out about those mops. I have a Saint and another big dog, I vacuum A LOT as well-If you remember and have time, could you keep me posted on your responses? Thanks so very much!!!!

As far as lotion, I have extremely dry feet and have experienced really dry skin and I use Melaleuca's Renew lotion. It's beaten Eucerin in clinical trials and works great. When I want intense treatment, I put it on and wrap my feet in socks (or hands in gloves) and by morning it's amazing! I don't fight dry skin anymore.
Congratulations to you for staying at home w/ your little girls this year-it's soo much fun to watch them every day! My little guy is amazing me every day!

Hi J.
The dry mops work great. I'm also in love with my "Shark" that I got at Costco. Once you charge it it'll run for a long time and pick up dog hair and food off the floor. I have two dogs & two small children so I use it OFTEN! I have the I Robot Rumba and LOVE it..however I've owned two and both broke after a year....
Best of Luck!

I also have wood floors and a dog that sheds. The daily maintenece can be a burden, but I would not trade it for fully carpeted floors! Not with three kids and a dog :-) What I use so I don't have to lug out the vacuum all the time is a small electric broom. It works really good on the floor and dog hair. They are not much heavier than a regular broom, and the hair doesn't scatter like a broom.

For your dry fingertips I would try one of two things. The first thing I would try in Bag balm. It does wonders for rough hands. I put in on at night and a pair of cotton gloves. Wash it off in the morning. Doesn't smell the best, but you will see a difference as quick as three days.
The other thing you could try is Satin Hands by MaryKay.

Good Luck!

Well for the finger tips some suggestions:
THe Sugar and Oil scrub (salt can can burn any cracks in the skin) Just used some olive oil and sugar, mix enough to make a paste. Every night rub some olive oil (or almond oil my fav)into your freshly washed hands, size of a quarter will be plenty. Rub in for a few mins. coco butter is good too ( will have to soften it)
From house work, yard work, and sewing my hands get cracked quickly.
Good luck

We have a Swiffer Sweeper (http://www.swiffer.com/swiffer/en_US/home.do) ...got it at Costco. It has dry and wet clothes to attach to the mop end. The handle is adjustable so I shorten it and let my almost 3-yr old run it around on our wood floors since she likes to help clean. It doesn't pick up chunky stuff very well (like cheerios) but it does great for the leftover particles that the broom doesn't get. It works great for us since we don't have a pet. If you are interested in this product, get some refills or samples for the dry inserts and see if you have too much dog hair for these to be worth while. If you are just using the mop to do touchup throughout the day, it might be what you are looking for. -C.

Hi, I use the swifter dry sheets. They are great for dusting as well. I have a Himalayan cat. I could use him to sweep my floors.
As for your figure tips, have you talked to your doctor? I have had problems with extremely dry skin, being tired (all the time)and having problems losing weigh (mostly after having my Kids). Your thyroid may be over active. get tested and drink lots of water (lemon water works good for skin)
Enjoy your time off with your girls.

We have 2 dogs, 1 cat, and four kids, adn I love using the swiffer sweeper on my hard wood floors. It picks up so much pet hair and it's so easy. On super cleaning day, I will still sweep the corners and the whole area and then take the swiffer to the floor and am amazed at how much stuff I still pick up. I think you will like it, so give it a try. As far as your finger tips, try a lot of Eucerin cream or Cetaphil lotion with a pair of gloves and sleep overnight for several nights. Your hands should be much softer. To keep them that way try using rubber gloves when working around the house and outdoors. :)

Hi J.! My dog sheds terribly too. I have noticed a great improvement when we switched him to Petlane dog food (human grade dog food). I have a friend who sells it and you can also set it up on autoship if you would like. Their email is ____@____.com me J. sent you; they will take great care of you. In addition to the dog food we also vacuum our dog as well. He loves it! And it really helps. As to your dry fingertips, my husband's fingertips get pretty messed up when he is laying tile. He started using my NutriMinC RE9 body cream and hands down it is the only thing that has worked for him. If you are interested I can get it to you at wholesale and the company has a 45 day no questions asked guarantee. Take care! J.

I too have a dog that sheds like crazy. I have laminate floors throughout my house and have to sweep twice a day if I don't brush the dog. So, my first advice to you is first thing in the morning take your dog outside and brush him thoroughly. This will get any loose hair off of him. In regards to the microfiber dry mop, my opinion is it is messy and doesn't really help if you have children/animals. The mops you see with the removable sheet after using (can't remember the name of it), do not use those. The chemicals in the sheets have been known to cause severe problems in animals.

I know you asked about mops, but I am a dog lover and we have two dogs that shed like crazy, too. Currently, I am drooling over this:

http://store.irobot.com/product/index.jsp?productId=26615...

There's a more expensive model but I'm thinking this model would do just fine for me. I think you have to clean the brush a lot but it's better than you having to vacuum twice a day!

For some humor on the topic: http://tomatonation.com/?p=844

A review: http://www.sundrybuzz.com/2006/09/24/irobot-roomba%C2%AE-...

for your fingertips try some bag balm at night and wear gloves. or you could try to make them smooth by rubbing them with some salt and oil.

For the finger tips I would use cornhuskers lotion. or Udder Cream both are for hard working rough hands. They are also soothing.

i've got a microfiber mop but have never tried it dry. i assume that it would perform similarly to the swiffer in that the dog hair would stick to the edges. i had 3 cats and the swiffer worked great but you'll go through a lot of clothes. i guess with the microfiber, you'll need a lot of spare cloths so you'll have one to use while the other's in the wash.

as for your fingertips, i used to have really dry feet too. they'd get caught on blankets and the carpet and it would feel so gross and drive me nuts. after trying many different lotions, i tried the miracle feet with aloe lotion that they sell at linens n things. (they also carry it at drug stores.) they have a hand version as well.

Hi J.,

I don't have much experience with the dust mops, but I do have experience with severely dry hands. You have some great advice already, but I would add that when my hands and fingers get really dry and catch on everything, I have simply used a fingernail file (the ones kind of like sandpaper) and that gets all the prickly pieces off (you can do the same for your feet too). I also use the moisturizing gloves religiously every night, but I use the heavy Cetaphil hand cream and pure vitamin E oil together. I just put about a 1/4 tsp of vit. E on first and rub it in, then put on a heavy dose of the Cetaphil as well. You could probably do the same thing with the Bag Balm too. I also make sure I wear gloves for any kind of wet housework (cleaning dishes, bathrooms, hand washing laundry, etc.) and that seems to really help as I am very sensitive to most any kind of cleaner.

Good Luck!