How to Clean Your Floors
Cleaning your floors requires brooms, mops and more. Let’s face it – our floors take a pounding. Some of us walk like we’re a herd of elephants! While one may argue the kitchen or bathrooms are harder to keep clean, I think it’s the floors of those, and all the rooms that hold the most grime. Wherever we go in the house, we track dust and dirt, spill liquids, and make messes. If we have pets, then there’s the addition of pet hair and dander. Do you struggle with knowing how to clean your floors? Check out our info below:
Variety of Floor Types
How we take care of our floors is based on the type of material. People have different flooring throughout their house – carpet, hardwood, laminate, ceramic tile, vinyl and carpet. Whatever type or types you have, it needs to be routinely cleaned.
I have found on occasion that a Swiffer Mop® on hard surfaces is exceptional when it comes to removing dust, dander and hair that a vacuum cleaner leaves behind, or in between the times I vacuum. Obviously, you can’t mop carpets and rugs, but did you know that you shouldn’t steam clean, wet mop, or wax laminate flooring? Allowing too much water to sit on these surfaces can cause swelling and irrepairable damage. You should, however, clean spills immediately with a damp cloth. When vacuuming hardwood or laminate flooring, you don’t want to use the beater bar feature of your vacuum cleaner because it can scratch the finish of your floor.
Ceramic tile and vinyl flooring is best mopped weekly after you vacuum. When mopping ceramic tile flooring use a classic string mop or strip mop. For smooth vinyl flooring you may want to use a sponge mop. It is best to use two (2) buckets – one for cleaning and the other for rinsing. I have used one bucket and the sink while mopping the kitchen and bathrooms. For the entryways, I have used one bucket and then thoroughly rinsed it and the in the sink and then reused them for rinsing my floor.
Beyond Brooms and Mops
Vacuuming is versatile since you can adjust the settings to suit the type of carpet you’re cleaning. It is recommended that you vacuum weekly to prevent dirt from being ground into the mateial. Be sure to set the cleaner to the proper carpet height for plush or shag and Berber when vacuuming carpet. You never want to use the bare floor setting for carpet because it can damage the fibers. If you need to revitalize your carpet or rug, you can sprinkle baking soda before vacuuming. Not only with they be revitalized but deodorized, as well. Indentions caused by furniture are easily removed by placing a piece of ice on the area. As the dampened area dries, the carpet fibers will bounce back to their original position.
The dirtiest parts of our floors are the areas in front of entryways. If that area is carpeted, it should be vacuumed frequently before the dirt sinks into the carpet pad below and becomes impossible to remove. Rug Doctor carpet cleaners are excellent for bi-annual deep cleaning.
We Lazy-Girls take pride in having clean floors throughout the house. We want to keep our floors maintained and looking good. Flooring that is properly cared for takes a small amount of time and effort up front. It not only looks better, but it lasts longer, which will not only save you money, but also the time and effort in the long run.
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