Every time I unload the dishwasher, I somehow get drops of water all over the floor. I’m such a clean and tidy person, and still, my kitchen floor seems to always have a spill on it.

There are sauce splatters from cooking and accidental messes from trying to open stubborn jars and takeout containers, and don’t get me started on all the little melted ice pieces that drop from our ice maker. Also to be considered: We have a wonderful Australian Cattle dog who sheds a lot. So something as innocuous as a drop of water will turn into an ugly, gray spot pretty quickly. 

I prefer to take care of each little mishap as it happens rather than doing a full floor mop every day. You might prefer the opposite, to wait and clean up at the end of the day or week, in which case I recommend this handy towel and broom method that my mom learned from someone from Italy. (I still use it whenever I’m cleaning a large area.)

Staying on top of these spills used to involve a lot of time hunched over, wiping things off the floor with my hands. But I now have a great solution, thanks to my friend. At first, she told me that she normally kept a designated towel on the kitchen floor to rub up spills with her foot. She said her mother had done the same.

I tried it out for myself. If the mess is something more substantial than a few drops of water, I spray some all-purpose cleaner on the floor before I wipe it up with my foot. This method for keeping the kitchen floor clean and dry does minimize bending over. But, it isn’t perfect. I often have to adjust the towel, flip it over or refold it. And I don’t love the aesthetic of having a wadded-up towel always on the floor.

So I was even more impressed one day when I went to the same friend’s home and saw a new product on her kitchen floor that she’d gotten in Hawaii. I thought she had dropped a quilted oven mitt on the floor. But when I bent to pick it up, she said, “That stays on the floor. It’s my new floor towel — a slipper!” 

Upon closer inspection I could see, it was like a quilted flip-flop. It had a Hawaiian flower print and cloth piping around the edges. Much cuter than a boring towel!

The overall point of this cleaning hack is to leave something on the kitchen floor to wipe up spills easily with your feet. Any type of cleaning slipper or towel will work. I find these printed ones more visually pleasing and easy to clean with. Plus, you can throw them into the washing machine after you’re done.

What do you use for your kitchen floor?

This post originally appeared on Apartment Therapy. See it there: This Nifty Cleaning Tool Changed the Way I Clean My Kitchen Floor

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