The far-corner floor protocol

Read the room before the bucket

I take my shoes off and walk the floor once in socks. Heel marks show as grey commas. The floor tells you exactly where the coffee urn sat.

Never skip the dry soil

Chairs up, rugs out. Grit under a wet rag is sandpaper. Broom first, then spot the protein and the dye — on my knees, so I can see.

Clear · dry sweep · spot · wash · air

Barely-damp cotton, with the grain

A teaspoon of mild soap in a gallon of warm water — or a cup of white vinegar if the floor is dull. Wring until it will not drip. Rinse the rag more often than feels efficient.

The one rule I will not sell

Start at the far corner. Back yourself to the door.

If you walk on what you just washed, you have not washed it. A floor that stays wet in our August is a floor that will cup.