Sprint Scrubbing

A Japanese Visual Arts Tropes. Rather than using mops, the characters take a wet towel in their hands, put it against the floor, and run back and forth putting pressure on it. Looks unusual to Westerners in that their backs are straight while their legs are running; most Westerners would either be on their knees scrubbing, or use a mop.

Often a Genki Girl or other energetic character is shown running insanely fast while doing this.

Anime and Manga

 * Keiichi is forced to do this to pay for his room and board to a Buddhist monk in the Ah! My Goddess anime.
 * Lucy (as Nyu) does this in the Elfen Lied anime. In the OVA, Nana tries this, but trips and loses her arms.
 * Spirited Away: This is how the bathhouse workers clean.
 * X 1999: Sorata is shown cleaning his temple this way.
 * Happens in Rurouni Kenshin.
 * Seen in Love Hina as part of Motoko's efforts to "become a normal woman" after she (temporarily) abandons bushido.
 * This how the two girls clean house in My Neighbor Totoro as well.
 * Done by the main characters in Amaenaideyo on occasion.
 * Patamon and Takeru do this when they help clean Piccolomon's house in Digimon Adventure.
 * Filler episode 312 of Bleach has Soi Fon doing this - but because she's Soi Fon, the "sprint" turns into The Flash-style superspeed.
 * Ohana in Hanasaku Iroha has to do this.
 * During Operation High Tension of Angel Beats!, Takamatsu, Noda, Hinata, and Otonashi reject using mops and opt to use dust clothes to clean and race around the hallways.

Video Games

 * In Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Maihitoyo Akane is spotted doing this at one point (nearly running over Shimon in the process).
 * Rick the Hamster can do this (with Kirby as the mop) with a certain ability in Kirby's Dream Land 3 on the Super Nintendo.

Real Life

 * For a Real Life example, recruits going through basic training in the United States Marine Corps use this in place of mops to clean the floor of their squad bays each morning. This is done for a few reasons: it builds discipline, it acts as a form of exercise, and it actually gets the job done faster than a mop and bucket.