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 need the most frequent mopping. For most families, high-traffic areas include the entrance, kitchen, bathrooms, and hallways. Any high-traffic areas in your home should be wet mopped once a week. Rooms in your home that are not frequently used—such as a guest room—do not need to be mopped weekly.
Mop Frequently
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.
How Often to Wash Your Floors With a Swiffer. Clean floors at least weekly to remove grit and grime that can leave minute scratches. Of course, clean up spills as soon as they happen. If you don't have time to wash the floor, use a dry Swiffer to sweep up loose dirt until you can wash the floor properly.
Overall, microfiber mops have more pros than Swiffer mops. Microfiber mops can be used as a two-in-one to both sweep and mop at the same time. However, a Swiffer mop can typically only clean after the sweeping has already been done.
Avoid Using Too Much Soap
Soap only lifts dirt and oil into water, making them suspend in water. Therefore, the more soap you use, the more your mop gets saturated with dirt. So, if you do not remove all the soapy water from the floor, the dirt remains, forming streaks on the floor.
It's easy to believe that, to make something clean, you need to use chemicals. Surely you can't clean a floor with only water - can you? The answer is yes: it's been proven that water is often enough to clean efficiently when used in conjunction with a good auto scrubber.
Downsides to just using water to mop floors
Will not remove bacteria from floors. Cannot remove stains. If you cannot clean the floor effectively with just water, you might end up just mopping the dirt around the surface. In turn, the entire floor could look grotty and blemished.
Cotton string mops are full of germs.
Microfiber flat mops paired with dual compartment buckets are an effective way to clean for health and sanitation. Together, they prevent surface and mop head re-soiling. The dense microfiber blend promotes deeper penetration for cleaner surfaces.
Make sure the mop is cleaned regularly and kept dry between cleanings. Daily mopping is crucial for keeping surface dirt away; deep cleaning will help to preserve floors from damaging dirt and water.
In general, you should give your bathroom a good clean at least once a week. This includes wiping down the toilet and sink. The floor and bathtub should be cleaned every two weeks or so. It is also important to invest in a deep clean every month or so.
Once a week at least.
Tetro says your bathroom is the ultimate bacteria host; E. 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.
How Often Does The Average Person Clean Their House? Research by the American Cleaning Institute found that Americans spend 6 hours cleaning every week, while a third wonder if they are cleaning enough and correctly. Most homeowners sweep and mop, vacuum, clean the bathroom, and dust furniture once a week.
Regularly sweep or vacuum the kitchen flooring, to prevent the floor from becoming scratched by dirt. Protect the floor by using felt pads under kitchen furniture and remove shoes to reduce the amount of dirt bought in. Avoid soap-based products and polishes, as they can leave the floor looking dull.
Sprinkle baking soda on the floor. Mix one gallon of hot water, one cup of vinegar, and a few drops of dish soap. Mop the floor with the solution, using the scrub brush to remove stubborn dirt, or in high-traffic areas.
Floor Mopping
Mild dish soap is a surprisingly good floor cleaner. All you need is 1 to 2 tablespoons of dish soap mixed in with a bucket of water. Floors will be clean and shiny in no time. Dish soap is very effective on resilient floorings, such as linoleum and vinyl, and also works well on ceramic tile.
Using a dry mop first will make wet mopping easier and ensure a cleaner floor.
Just rinse the mop again, and leave the floor to dry. Try to avoid walking on it for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it's dry to the touch. If you do have to walk on it, wear clean socks. You can also help your floors dry faster by using a floor squeegee.
Different mops and buckets should be used for toilets, kitchens and general areas. At the very least change the water and rinse the mop between cleaning these areas. Using the same mop and bucket throughout these areas may result in bacterial contamination from one area to another.
To clean, simply mix a quarter cup of mild or pH-neutral soap with water in a bucket. Then grab a microfiber mop that makes quick work of the chore, like Libman Wonder Mop. It's easy to wring out, making it ideal for hardwood floors that work best with a barely damp (not soaking) mop.
Wet Swiffers.
Whether it's the wet cloths or the Swiffer Jet, “they're not effective, and floor ends up sticky,” Hoffman said. I've found the same. Instead, if I'm looking for an alternative to the bucket and mop, I love the O-Cedar Microfiber Spray Mop.
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.
While a Swiffer is a great tool for everyday cleaning (especially if you vacuum first), don't use it if there's a lot of dirt or other debris on your floors.