# The best vacuum for wood floors and cat litter



## ihugtrees (Oct 16, 2008)

I have two cats, one of whom is a bit off in the head and seems to think the litter box is her personal playground. She flings litter ALL OVER. We recently bought an igloo cat litter box, thinking it would stop her, but it doesn't...she runs in, digs around, then comes shooting out, leaving a trail of litter all over the floor. The mat we have around the box doesn't seem to help.

My vacuum cleaner just blows the litter around, even on 'hard wood floors' setting (we have hard wood floors in our whole house, minus the tile in the bathroom.) What is a great, lightweight, powerful wood floor vacuum? I am so tired of sweeping with a broom, and feel like I never really get it all any way!

And while we are on the subject of cleaning, what about mops?? All I have is this really annoying one that you have to twist to squeeze water out. I like the idea of a Swiffer but my old roommate had one and it didn't work that great...you'd have to use about a million of the wet pad things, which adds up $$, and I'd prefer to use vinegar and water to mop with any way. Is there anything similar that works better?

Can you tell I'm nesting?


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## Autumn Breeze (Nov 13, 2003)

Um, do we have the same cat? Yours must be Boost's sister. Boost digs, and flings, digs and flings, and unlike my Cleo, doesn't wipe her front paws on the edge of the box. She just jumps out and walks away.

I've bought a box with the higher lip, an done of those spikey looking mats. They helped a teeny bit.

I use a dust buster to clean up the litter. I first use a fox tail brush to sweep it all together, then the dust buster. (or the vaccum attachment)

It's a HUGE PITA!!

As for the swiffer. If you get the swiffer wet you have to use a million pads. If you get the Wet Jet, you can use up one bottle of their cleaner, and then you can put your own solution into it. I haven't messed with that in a while, I can't remember if I got the bottle open or not. But the mop itself was like $30, and a box of 24 pads for it was like 7 or 8. The bottle of hardwood floor cleaner is about $5 and lasts me about a month, washing the floors once a week, and spot cleaning.


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## siennaflower (Aug 31, 2004)

It isn't lightweight but my Dyson does an amazing job on bare floors and with cat litter. I







that thing.

As for mops, I prefer the Clorox Ready Mop to the Swiffer. Easier to use washable cloths and refill with vinegar and water as opposed to buying those nasty chemical bottles.


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## Rebecca (Dec 4, 2002)

I face my covered litterbox toward a corner so there is still room for them to get in and out but not enough to blast off like a dirty little rocket ship. I put a rubber-backed bathmat in front of it which seems to catch a lot of the litter, but not all. My dyson gets the rest.


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## LeighB (Jan 17, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rebecca* 
I face my covered litterbox toward a corner so there is still room for them to get in and out but not enough to blast off like a dirty little rocket ship. I put a rubber-backed bathmat in front of it which seems to catch a lot of the litter, but not all. My dyson gets the rest.

We've done this too. The box is facing the wall and there is a grass mat underneath it.


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## Krisis (May 29, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rebecca* 
I face my covered litterbox toward a corner so there is still room for them to get in and out but not enough to blast off like a dirty little rocket ship.









:

Oh my gosh, I don't know why I found that so funny but I almost peed my pants laughing. Seriously.

OP, I have the same issue. Our cats track litter EVERYWHERE. It was fine when their box was in the garage because it almost never got into the house, but now I am constantly stepping on litter crumbs and they've even gotten some into my BED. Maybe I'll try getting them a covered box too.


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## Autumn Breeze (Nov 13, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rebecca* 
I face my covered litterbox toward a corner so there is still room for them to get in and out but not enough to blast off like a dirty little rocket ship. I put a rubber-backed bathmat in front of it which seems to catch a lot of the litter, but not all. My dyson gets the rest.

What a great idea!!!

I used to use Feline Pine, the pieces were too big for the cat to track everywhere. But my husband likes this other 'all natural' kind. It doesn't smell as bad as quick, but I'm tempted to switch back because I just, I odn't know how much longer I can handle the litter everywhere. Especially as humid as the bathrooms get!!! It sticks to the floor, and the boxes are right by the toilet, so it sticks to the part of the toilet on the floor. I have to use paper towels or my cleaning rags to practically scrape it off. *shudder* ew.


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

What kind of litter are you using? That made a huge difference for us. When we were using the pine shavings, it got everywhere, in the furniture, in our bed, EVERYWHERE! We finally wound up switching back to clay - which is not as eco-friendly, but the cats like it better and can't fling it nearly as far.

As for the vacuum - I have a small shop-vac. Most uprights don't do so well on hardwood, IME. I picked up a $50 shop-vac at Costco years ago and while it can't handle sucking cat hair out of carpet, it does a great job getting everything off the hardwood.

As for the mopping - I use a swiffer body with a dishrag cover. I get it wet, wring it out and pop it on there. It gets gross pretty quickly (since I don't mop often), so I have to change it for every room, but I have a stash of them, and they just get tossed in the bathroom hamper with everything else. I do have to vacuum first, since it won't pick up the litter or the fuzz balls, but it does a pretty good job on the floors.

ETA - we also got a high box - I've seen them for sale, but we just picked up a large rubbermaid tub and use it. Only one of the cats will use it, but the jump required to get in and out prevents both flinging and tracking.


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