10 Expert Tips and Tricks to Keep Your Floors Clean

Floors are one of the most used surfaces in your home. They are constantly walked on and can collect more dust than other surfaces because they have a larger surface area. Regardless of the type of floor you have, carpet, hardwood, or linoleum, you should keep them free of dust and debris to help you and your family live a healthier life.

If you have pets or children, you know that the floor is the landing area for everything from school backpacks to dog toys, and keeping your floors clean can help your home feel fresher and smell better.

Bacteria can live in your carpets and are often too deep for the vacuum to pick up. While it may seem like a burden to move your furniture and clean the floors regularly, it is crucial to do more than a quick vacuum once every other month or in between your housekeeping service calls.

Here are 10 expert tips and tricks to keep your floors clean:

Clean Often:

The simplest of the tips is to clean your floors often. Whether you have hardwood floors or carpet, a quick pass with the vacuum or a floor duster will prevent a large build-up of dirt and allow your vacuum or duster to pick up the debris in one pass.

Going longer than a week without cleaning your floors makes the task more difficult to accomplish quickly, pushing it further down the to-do list. If you’re too busy, you should consider carpet cleaning services to take care of it for you. There are many quite affordable options out there.

Invest in Quality:

If you find that no matter how often you clean, your vacuum cannot pick up the majority of the debris in one or two passes, it may be time to invest in new equipment. Over time, vacuums lose their suction power and can’t reach as deep into the carpet. It is easiest to test on a solid floor such as tile or laminate because everything will be sitting on top.

Before investing in new equipment, check to see if the vacuum is clogged and clean it out if necessary. Many people never think to clean the vacuum because it is supposed to do the cleaning.

Duster/Broom:

There is more to cleaning your floors than vacuuming. Smooth floors, such as laminate or some tiles, are easier to clean with a duster or a broom than a clunky vacuum. If you have these floors in your home, find a solution that works for you and that motivates you to clean your floors more often.

Mop More Than You Think:

Especially in the kitchen, various things are spilled that a simple sweep or duster cannot pick up. Think back to when you last mopped your kitchen, and if it was over a week ago, it might be time to break out the mop.

Spills happen in the kitchen in the middle of cooking dinner. It is inconvenient to get out the mop and clean the tomato sauce that was spilled. Also, in the nooks and crannies that can be missed with a quick swipe of a paper towel, bacteria can thrive.

Robot Vacuums:

Robot Vacuums

These days it is difficult to find a free moment, and no one wants to spend that moment cleaning. If you are short on time, consider investing in a robot vacuum that runs automatically when you are not home. You can set it to run daily and always have fresh, clean floors when you walk in after a day of work.

Robot vacuums do not replace a deep clean with a high powered vacuum or a mop on tile floors, but they are excellent at keeping your floors cleaner in between.

Spot Cleaning:

There are multiple tools you can use to spot clean. Mini cleaners that you set on the stain, and they get to work for you or a good old fashioned scrub brush and some soap. Accidents happen, and whether it’s your pet, your children, or even you that caused a stain, it is your reaction to the stain that makes all the difference.

Clean spots quickly before they have time to dry, and you will be much happier with your results.

Know Your Floors:

It is essential to know what type of floor you have so you can use the proper chemicals to clean it. If you have real stone, you should avoid acidic cleaners as it will damage the floors. If you are unsure of what you have, use a simple cleanser safe for all floors until you determine what material you have.

Cleaning Solutions:

Cleaning Solutions

In conjunction with the previous category, knowing your floors is vital to have the proper chemicals on hand. Always ensure that you have these solutions at the ready in the event of an accident. You won’t get a warning from your kids when they are about to spill a full glass of milk on the rug, so it’s better to be prepared.

Shampoo Your Carpets:

You should deep clean and shampoo your carpets every twelve to eighteen months to keep them at peak performance. If you have the budget and the room to store it, you can purchase a steam cleaner or vacuum that will shampoo carpets.

It is recommended that you hire a professional company to clean your carpets as they have the experience and tools readily available to keep your home as clean as possible.

Rugs are Carpets Too:

When cleaning, many people ignore rugs because they are intended to protect the floors underneath them, so they shouldn’t need to be cleaned as often. Rugs are carpets, too, and they should be cleaned on the same schedule as your regular carpets. Often, rugs will collect more dirt as they are placed in high traffic areas.

Love Your Floors:

Love Your Floors

There is nothing like having friends or family come over unannounced and not needing to apologize for the state of your floors. If you keep up your cleaning regularly, it will feel less like a chore and more like a short activity.

Everyone gets behind on cleaning, so don’t beat yourself up if you can’t remember the last time you vacuumed that one rug in the dining room. Strive to do better for the next week and make yourself a schedule to stick to. By breaking up the cleaning into smaller tasks, it is much more manageable for even the busiest lifestyle.