For want of a mop sponge [work]
Jan. 14th, 2026 03:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterShortly after I arrived at this institution, back in 2018, I determined that the insect room was going to need its own mop. The insect room came with one of those string mops, but in my experience string mops are best for occasions when a person wants to spread water or disinfectant around on a floor, not for occasions where the main goal is actually picking up excess liquid to encourage the floor to actually dry out and maybe even get clean(er).
I don't have easy means for maintaining any of those microfiber mop pads, and I'm not a fan of any of the 4000 disposable mopping products, either.
The aquarium room came with a roller sponge mop that was disintegrating, with the attachment bolts/nuts corroded in place. I managed to get the bolts off, and put on a replacement mop head, and that mop has been working perfectly well for us ever since. Yay!
I got a butterfly sponge mop for the insect room. It also worked well, up to the point where it, too, started to disintegrate, as sponges are wont to do. Time to shop for replacement sponges!
The question is, in this modern day and age, what is the least of all the evils? Yesterday I ventured over to the Ace Hardware in Troy for an in-person look at their replacement butterfly mop sponge options. That hardware store location is a more pleasant bike ride than the one way out on our Central Avenue. I'm glad I did go to look in person, because there was exactly one replacement in stock, and its attachment mechanism is incompatible with the existing butterfly mop. Ugh.
Ultimately, I instead left with a second roller sponge mop, so that future replacement sponges can be allocated either to the aquarium room mop, or to the insect room mop.
Unfortunately, it looks like I will have to spend money at one of the big evil retailers to get more of those replacement mop heads. I hate this so much.
But I will probably do it, because I have gotten tired of crawling around on my hands and knees at work, with a sponge. I do not love these floors enough to do that. At home, rags are fine. At work, no.
In case you still harbored notions that being a professor is a glamorous job.
I don't have easy means for maintaining any of those microfiber mop pads, and I'm not a fan of any of the 4000 disposable mopping products, either.
The aquarium room came with a roller sponge mop that was disintegrating, with the attachment bolts/nuts corroded in place. I managed to get the bolts off, and put on a replacement mop head, and that mop has been working perfectly well for us ever since. Yay!
I got a butterfly sponge mop for the insect room. It also worked well, up to the point where it, too, started to disintegrate, as sponges are wont to do. Time to shop for replacement sponges!
The question is, in this modern day and age, what is the least of all the evils? Yesterday I ventured over to the Ace Hardware in Troy for an in-person look at their replacement butterfly mop sponge options. That hardware store location is a more pleasant bike ride than the one way out on our Central Avenue. I'm glad I did go to look in person, because there was exactly one replacement in stock, and its attachment mechanism is incompatible with the existing butterfly mop. Ugh.
Ultimately, I instead left with a second roller sponge mop, so that future replacement sponges can be allocated either to the aquarium room mop, or to the insect room mop.
Unfortunately, it looks like I will have to spend money at one of the big evil retailers to get more of those replacement mop heads. I hate this so much.
But I will probably do it, because I have gotten tired of crawling around on my hands and knees at work, with a sponge. I do not love these floors enough to do that. At home, rags are fine. At work, no.
In case you still harbored notions that being a professor is a glamorous job.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-14 09:17 pm (UTC)I also use one of those microfiber wet&dry mops to keep my floors tidy. I just throw the mop cloths in the laundry once in a while and that seems to work fine.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-14 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-14 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-14 10:38 pm (UTC)Huh! All the profs I worked for had cheap grad/undergrad labor to throw at grungy problems.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-14 11:31 pm (UTC)I really don't like sponge mops anymore now that I've used the spin mop for a few years.