Chester's Clean House: Mop

It doesn’t matter how often that you clean your floors, if you are not using a clean mop, all you’re doing is spreading the same dirt around. Most people don’t look forward to mopping their floors, but we all know that for large areas, there is still no substitute for the old mop and bucket! Don’t worry; we have a couple of great tricks to help you clean faster and better with that old mop.

Without a clean mop, you’re just spreading dirt around!

First of all, mops have gotten a lot better over the last decade. I recommend getting a mop with a self-wringing head, like the Lipman Twist mop. Besides keeping your hands cleaner, these mops have a removable heads that are machine washable. This makes keeping the mop head clean a snap and lets you replace it with a new one as needed. When you are done cleaning your floors with them, just throw them in the washing machine. Use the delicate setting with the water as hot as possible. Use minimal detergent and no fabric softener. Do not use any bleach as bleach can destroy the cleaning fibers, shortening the mop head's life! Some mop heads can also be thrown directly in your dryer. Just check the label and follow the directions. Do not use any dryer sheets, as they may reduce the cleaning power of the mop.

While you are mopping, make sure that you keep cleaning the dirt from the mop. If you can, rinse the mop often in a sink or washbasin before dipping in your detergent solution. This will make your cleaning solution stay clean throughout the mopping. If you do not have the ability to rinse the mop, get a second bucket filled with warm, clean water and use it as a pre-rinse before putting the mop back in your cleaning solution. This sounds like more work, but the increased cleaning power of a clean mop will reduce the overall time required to get great results! This also will allow you to use the same bucket of cleaning solution for a larger area, reducing the amount of cleaning products that you use.

If you do not have a machine washable mop, rinse and wring out the mop until the rinse water comes out clean. Use the hottest water that you can to kill off any bacteria. Store your mop with the mop head up and away from the wall. This will help it dry better and will reduce the chances of mold. You can always sanitize the mop head with a rinse of water and hydrogen peroxide after each use. Just make sure that you rinse it out completely when you are done.

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Floors in high traffic areas can quickly become dirty. Leaving the dirt for extended periods of time only leads to a bigger headache when you have to mop. One of the best ways to keep your tile, wood, or laminate floors cleaner is to use area rugs in the key high traffic areas.

Where the dirty dog lies

My dog, or small horse as some call her, always likes to lay in the same spot. Tracking in all of the dirt she collects outside into a small concentrated area. By the end of the week it is really dirty there, maybe even disgusting. We were mopping the area every other day to keep it clean, so to cut down on the mopping we placed an area rug to keep the dirt off of our laminate floors. We also put down some runners in our entryway which has also cut down the amount of dirt that collects throughout the downstairs floors. We vacuum the area rugs at least once a week to extend their life.

Keep Your Area Rugs In Place

Some of the runners were moving all about so to keep the rugs in place I glued a rubber jar lid opener to each corner. You can find the rubber jar openers cheaply at the dollar store. I got a bunch of the them at a local community business fair for free. Just use some super glue or double sided tape to fasten the lid openers to the underside of the rug.

Related Links:

Chester's Clean House

How to Clean a Mop

Use Area Rugs To Cut Down On Mopping