Floor Cleaning Options
The floor that you’re trying to clean may be hardwood, tiled, carpeted, rubber, or just plain concrete.
Most floors can be cleaned by sweeping with a broom and mopping with a wet mop. These are probably the most basic and universal forms of floor cleaning.
Sweeping
Sweeping is done to get rid of dry surface dirt. Basic brooms have long plastic bristles (traditionally made of plant material such as stalks), while specialized brooms have short rubber bristles to get into gaps in tiles or carpeting. Some even have microfiber cloth lining to attract dust and dirt better.
Mopping
Mopping is done with plain water, or soap and water to get out stains or tougher grime. Mops have cloth fibers, absorbent sponge or other synthetic material which can be soaked. Use of floor cleaning chemicals, or for more ‘organic’ options – baking soda, lemon juice or salt, helps the mopping effort.
Carpet and Hardwood
Of course, floors with carpet or hardwood are not amenable to mopping. For these types of floors, sweeping just isn’t enough. Another option must be considered.
This is where vacuum cleaning comes in. Vacuums are a popular alternative when it comes to these floor types.
Vacuuming carpets and other types of flooring is a very effective way to clean quickly and thoroughly. Steam cleaners and steam vacuum cleaners are also great and provide thorough cleaning for tougher stains and messes by releasing superhot steam to clean and disinfect at the same time.
How Often do Floors Need Cleaning?
You guessed it – It depends on how dirty the floor gets! The typical floor cleaning schedule can vary from once a week to once in two weeks. It gets heavier than that depending on dirt levels.
Pets, kids, visitor traffic, location (dust or smoke sources around) all determine how often floor cleaning is needed. Once a day is probably the heaviest cleaning schedule.
For carpeted floors, a deep clean done by a professional service is recommended at least once a year.
Prevention Tips
In an ideal world (or that of a compulsive cleaner!), floors would never get dirty. For the rest of us, here are some general tips to keep floors from getting dirty:
- Reduce sources of dust, dirt and grime: For example, do not walk on them with dirty shoes, or touch them with dirty hands. Use doormats and area rugs, or create a partitioned ‘entry’ area, so any dirt entering is restricted to that location. Reduce clutter so dirt does not have hidden places to accumulate in.
- Try and restrict pets to specific areas (due apologies to all the pet lovers out there!).
- Clean small spills or spots immediately: This will ensure that the stain does not spread and make your cleaning job more difficult later on.
- Control the presence of leftover food on floors: This will help reduce mold growth. Mold and mildew need food to grow. In bathrooms, soap residue containing our shed skin cells can be food. Soap scum can form a nice, cozy protective layer to help mold grow. The kitchen can accumulate obvious sources of food.
- Try and keep the moisture level down as well as the temperature, to control mold growth: This can be done by keeping surfaces dry, wiping them down periodically, ensuring sufficient aeration and using exhaust fans, dehumidifiers and air conditioners where possible.
I painted my room two nights ago, and the paint dripped down from the walls down to the floors because I was in a rush to finish. I didn’t know that mopping isn’t effective for wood flooring, so I might as well consider hiring a professional floor cleaning service that has steam cleaning services. Since you mentioned about that kind of service, I will try reducing the spill on the floor by mixing water with soap while I wait for a scheduled appointment with them within the week.