By: Michelle Tran
Last week we talked about the best methods for sweeping floors so that they’re immaculate! This week we’ll discuss what it takes to finish those floors with a mind-blowing mop! Finding a great mop routine that leaves your floors always shining might seem impossible, but just like sweeping, there are some great, easy tricks for keeping your hardwood floors clean.
Now that you’ve properly prepared your floors, it’s time to gear up for the mopping. Both sweeping and mopping take a decent amount of discipline and intention if you want to get them as clean as you possibly can. First off, what about that space underneath the cabinets, in the kitchen and bathroom, that the mop can’t reach? Spills and splotches and leaks like to hide underneath these places, and it can be hard to get them up completely mopping normally. Right before you’re ready to mop, soak a clean rag in your preferred floor solution, and then get down on your hands and knees, scrubbing up the spots and wiping away any stray crumbs that might have been left behind.
Once you’re ready to mop the floor, take your hardwood floor cleaner and really juice it up! Soak it, and don’t hold back. The more solution that you use, the easier it is to get the dirt up. All of the dirt, spots, and splatters that have hardened begin to loosen up while you’re mopping other bits of the floor. Begin the first mop, using the method your mop-brand recommends. But, mop your way out of the room so that you don’t have to go back over and mop up your footprints again. Mop in small sections at a time so that it’s easier for you not to miss anything. Use as much firm pressure as you can, so that the mop-head stays nice and tight against the floors, but don’t use so much pressure so that you’re breaking your mop or hurting your arms. When you come to those spots that just won’t come up no matter how much you go over it with your mop, a handy trick is tossing a scrubbing pad onto the floor, use the toe or heal of your foot to dig in, and scrub it up. This saves you time, since you don’t have to bend over every time to scrub with your hands, and it saves your back! Once you’ve finished the room the first time, see if it needs a second mop. If it does, do it! We call this “double mopping”. It might feel like overkill, but this is how your floors get clean. Clean your mop head, juice up the floor, and mop the room again. The first mop gets most of the dirt up, the second gets the rest of it up.
Sweeping and mopping floors is a big task, but once you’ve got this routine down, cleaning your own floors will seem effortless— and best of all, your floors will be perfect