But as a rule of thumb, you should mop your floors at least once a week—especially in areas that are more likely to get stains from drips and spills, like the kitchen and bathroom. “Of course, you need to vacuum or sweep the floor before mopping,” explains Leiva.
High-traffic areas, like kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, and entryways, require weekly mopping. Infrequently used rooms, such as formal living areas or guest rooms, can be mopped every other week, or even once a month, so long as they're vacuumed once every seven days to remove dust and grit.
Mopping Sanitizes Your Floor
As such, the germs accumulate and build up quickly, especially during hot weather and flu seasons. Thus, regular mopping is crucial in keeping your home sanitized. A clean floor translates into a cleaner house, and a clean house means a healthier and happier home.
Mopping your entire floor too frequently
Weekly mopping should be enough for high-traffic areas of your home like the kitchen, entryway, and bathrooms. However, if a floor has low traffic, you can let a month pass between each cleaning!
Wet clean: Plan to mop the tile floor in your kitchen once every two weeks and your bathroom tile floor once a week (germs tend to build up in bathrooms). Take the time to spot-clean your grout once every few months or whenever it's looking dingy.
Many people think you need to mop with boiling water to thoroughly clean your floors. This, however, is a myth – rather than always giving you a better clean, the temperature of the water can actually have a negative effect.
If you wet mop before cleaning up loose dirt, you'll end up with a trail of wet sludge following every sweep of your mop. Furthermore, if you don't dry mop before wet mopping, you will end up rubbing all that tiny abrasive debris over your floor and could damage the floors inadvertently while you're cleaning them.
2 REASONS YOUR FLOORS ARE STILL DIRTY AFTER CLEANING
Thinking that wet equals clean, they then forget to rinse out their mop pad, resulting in a mop pad that is fully saturated with dirty water. Continuing to use the mop pad on the floor leads to smearing dirt, not lifting it.
But as a rule of thumb, you should mop your floors at least once a week—especially in areas that are more likely to get stains from drips and spills, like the kitchen and bathroom. “Of course, you need to vacuum or sweep the floor before mopping,” explains Leiva.
Rinse the mixture from the mop until the water runs completely clear. Allow the mop to completely dry. To prevent bacteria growth make sure the mophead is dry before storing it away. To do this, start by wringing the mop out as much as you can.
Sweeping at night is bad luck
Nitish, a lifestyle and fitness blogger and personal trainer from India, says sweeping at night can bring bad luck.
Vacuum, dust or wipe with a lightly dampened mop – never use soap-based detergents, as they can leave a dull film on the floor, and avoid over-wetting. Don't use wax polish either, as this will make the floor slippery. To remove marks and stains, use a dilute solution of water and vinegar.
To do this, start by wringing the mop out as much as you can. Then place the mop head outside on a clothesline; sunshine will naturally kill bacteria and mould. If that's not possible, stand the mop upright in a bathtub or other well ventilated and dry area.
Over-mopping
For best results, mop your high-traffic areas no more than once a week. Other areas that see less foot traffic can be cleaned once a month, or (prepare to put your feet up) even once a quarter. Too much mopping can wear down the seal on your floors or oversaturate them with water.
Once a week at least.
coli can be found within six feet of the toilet and in the sink. To keep it at bay, disinfect the toilet and sink at least once weekly, and the bathtub every two weeks — more if you shower often.
You should mop every couple of days to remove exterior dirt tracked in, along with mud, pesticides, and harmful pathogens, such as viruses, that shoes carry on them. However, the rooms where shoes aren't worn can be mopped once a week.
Air It Out
Wait 10 minutes, then rinse and wring out the excess water. Never leave your mop sitting in the bucket to dry, or you'll risk the formation of bacteria and mold in the leftover moisture.
You should clean your mop, removing dirt and grime, after every use. Additionally, we recommend that you disinfect your mop after every three to four uses. If it starts to smell before that, it should be disinfected immediately.
Floors can look or feel dirty for a number of reasons. Dirty hard surface floors are usually caused by the environment, an overuse of chemicals, and a large volume of traffic. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to keep your floor looking and feeling cleaner for longer.
When doing your thorough cleaning, dust the room before vacuuming so you can vacuum up the particles that float into the air as you work and settle on the floor.
A steam cleaner does to stubborn dirt which a regular mop can never do without cleaning products. Since a steam mop uses water, it makes the grime and dirt loosen before the mop head absorbs it. Also, steam dries quicker than water, so you don't have to worry about mold regrowth after you clean.
However, when mops are used in multiple areas, there is an increased risk of cross contamination. Mop fibers are designed to trap dirt and germs. This becomes an issue because instead of cleaning they can actually spread dirt and germs throughout your facility.
It is important to hang the mop rather than laying it on the floor or toss it in a corner, says Griffin. If janitors do this, or leave it in a bucket or in a mop sink, the mop will stay wet, giving it more of a chance to grow bacteria and odors.