Did you even know that there was a right way to mop a floor?
While it might not seem of great importance, if you want to ensure that your cleaning efforts aren’t wasted, you should learn how to mop your floors in the most efficient manner, and with this simple guide, you can do exactly that:
Clear the mopping zone
It’s no good just grabbing your mop and bucket and getting ready to go, you need to clear the area by removing any obstructions, such as furniture, kids toys, pets beds etc.
Clean before you mop
Be sure to sweep the floor before you start mopping, otherwise you’ll simply be shifting dirt, dust and debris around the floor, and your efforts will have been wasted.
Always use warm/hot water
It’s best to use warm or hot water when mopping your floors, along with your favorite cleaning product. Make sure that you fill the bucket enough to fully submerge the mop head. Have two buckets, one for the dirty water and one for rinsing.
Don’t be tempted to use more cleaning product than you need
You might think that by using twice the amount of cleaning product, your floors will be twice as clean, but it doesn’t quite work like that. Extra concentrated wash water won’t improve the cleanliness of the floors you’re washing, but will instead make it more difficult to rinse away.
Dip the mop
Ensure that your mop is damp without being dripping wet, otherwise you’ll just be slopping water all over the floor.
Begin mopping
When you start moving, always work from one end of the floor to the other while moving backward, so that you’re always standing on an un-mopped area of the floor.
If you’re using a sponge style mop, it’s best to mop in straight lines.
Mop in sections
Mopping in small sections helps to get rid of as much grime as possible, and you should mop the floor 3 to 4 times to ensure that every last bit of dirt has been eliminated.
Get rid of any stubborn stains
While mopping will probably get rid of most of the stains on your floors, there may be some tougher spots that require you to apply a bit more pressure with the mop, or get down on your hands on knees and scrub it with a sponge.
Rinse the mopped area
Once the floor has been thoroughly scrubbed, rinse your mop in the bucket of clean water and dunk it 3 or 4 times before wringing it out to remove the dirty water from the mop head.
Continue mopping
Repeat the process above until every floor you want to clean, has been mopped. If your bucket if rinsing water becomes too grey and dirty looking, simply swap it for clean water.
Do a final rinse
Mop over every area that you’ve previously cleaned, one final time, to get rid of any last residue, and be sure to do so with clean, hot water.
Let the floor clean completely before stepping on it or moving any furniture and other items back into place.
Mopping isn’t a task we all enjoying doing, and if you’re finding it too much, or are simply fed up with grubby floors no matter how often you clean them, ask a local cleaning service to visit your home on designated days to get them shiny and spotlessly clean.
