Cleaning your space is crucial to having a pleasing and healthy home, but maintaining your floors—especially if your property has a range of various flooring that each demands its own form of maintenance—can feel like an impossible undertaking. However, regular floor cleaning is required. With our advice, you’ll discover that your weekly cleaning doesn’t have to be something you dread. Whether your home is primarily hardwood, carpet, tile, or stone—or a combination of the four—we’ll show you how to clean it properly. Furthermore, we’re sharing professional-approved items for every activity.
To eliminate dirt and dust accumulated on nearly all floor types, sweep, vacuum, and mop your floors. Cleaning your floors every one to two weeks is ideal. Sweep your floors frequently, especially if you cook a lot, to prevent food and other debris from being tossed around and scratching up the floors. Sweeping is also better for all types of flooring, whereas water can damage them, especially waxed wood floors.
However, how you clean your floors and how regularly you wash them depends on various things, including the type of floor you have. Some cleaning mediums are more difficult to clean than others. When cleaning hardwood, extreme caution is required. To avoid scratches, avoid using abrasive cleaning materials such as scrubbing pads or stiff bristle brushes.
Before washing their floors, consumers should read the labels. Did you know manufacturers are not obligated to list the ingredients on consumer goods? Yes, you should be surprised! Check the Environmental Protection Agency’s requirements before washing your floors to ensure you maintain a clean house free of hazardous chemicals. Our experts offer the best cleaning methods and solutions for every bed in your home, including carpet, tile, hardwood, and laminate.
Hardwood Floor Cleaning
The amount of foot traffic and pets in your home affects how frequently you clean your hardwood floors. To maintain clean hardwood floors, sweep, vacuum, or mop weekly. The frequency should increase with foot traffic. Dirt and dirt, in particular, can diminish the appearance of your hardwood floors. Deep-clean hardwood floors every two to four weeks if this is the case.
Best Hardwood Floor Cleaning Products
Clorox Disinfecting Wet Mopping Cloths clean and disinfect your hardwood floors in a single step. These are ultra-textured to help trap particles, grime, and hair, and they’re suitable for use on various surfaces, including finished wood. Use Pine-Sol Multi-Surface Cleaner to deep clean.
Cleaning Tile Floors
Cleaning tile floors is pretty straightforward, which is good news given that this is a weekly duty.
All you need is a broom or vacuum cleaner, as well as a clean cloth. Once you’ve gathered your supplies, sweep or vacuum any dry debris, such as grit, dirt, sand, or crumbs. Then, using the cloth, clean up any spillage. Area rugs or mats in high-traffic areas can also assist in keeping tile floors from becoming dirty as quickly. This ensures that dirt adheres to the carpets and is not tracked across the tile.
Best Tile Floor Cleaning Products
Avoid sponge mops while looking for the best cleaning tools for tile flooring. A chamois mop, sponge, or towel can be used—but not a sponge mop, which can force unclean water into the grout.
For tiled floors, use a steam mop in conjunction with Clean Republic.
Carpet Cleaning Instructions
Always use a carpet-specific product, especially when doing spot treatment. Use stain-removing laundry products on carpets sparingly because they require much too much water for thorough rinsing, and any cleaning agents left behind might act as dirt magnets. For the most significant results, use carpet-specific cleaning chemicals.
It’s important to remove shoes at the door to prevent bacteria and dirt from tracking across the carpet. A buildup of dirt and grime not only damages carpet fibers but also poses health risks due to toxins. Vacuum at least twice a week to eradicate any accumulated bacteria on the surface. To properly permeate the carpet, schedule a complete steam cleaning every six months or, at the very least, once a year.
Blot stubborn stains with a paper towel or a washcloth. This will absorb any remaining liquid rather than scraping it deeper into the fabric.
Best Carpet Cleaning Products
With so many vacuums on the market, researching is essential for determining the best one for your floor type.
A vacuum is one of the most influential pieces of equipment for removing dirt stains. Vacuum at least five times over the dirt markings to dislodge the particles from the pile. It is also critical to walk over the contaminated area in various directions.
Cleaning Stone Floors
Stone flooring, like tile floors, requires caution when cleaning. Stone floors should be cleaned every one to two weeks. Sweep your floors frequently, especially if you cook a lot, to prevent food and other debris from being tossed around and scratching up the floors.
Best Stone Floor Cleaning Products
On this floor, you can use Pine-Sol Original Squirt ‘N Mop. It is suitable for hard, nonporous surfaces such as ceramic and porcelain tiles, as well as sealed granite. Start mopping after applying this product directly from the bottle over a 3 foot × 3 foot space. Then, one section at a time, navigate the entire tile floor. Finally, wipe the floor clean with a clean, moist mop.
Cleaning Laminate Floors
Do you want to know how to clean laminate floors? This synthetic material, which looks like hardwood, is sensitive and should be cleaned carefully. Cleanings should be done at least every two weeks, but more frequently in high-traffic areas. Take care of spills, filth, or stains as soon as you notice them, and only use laminate-safe products. No bleach here!
If necessary, dust daily with a dry dust mop; these tools are preferable because more abrasive cleaners, such as brooms, might leave scratches or dings. This floor type should also stay dry, so limit the water and product you use; too much moisture can deform the material over time.
Best Laminate Floor Cleaning Products
To begin, use a dust or dry strip mop to remove any hair or dirt from the laminate floors.
Then, carefully mop the floor. Use a laminate-specific cleaning solution, such as Bona Hard-Surface Floor Cleaner, or prepare your own by combining one part rubbing alcohol, gentle dish soap, and three parts water. Mop the entire area with a well-wrung-out mop and your preferred cleaning solution, being careful not to over-saturate. Allow to air dry or dry with a gentle cloth.
The Most Effective Product for Removing Pet Stains From Floors
When dealing with a pet-related stain, you want to use the correct type of product, whether you’re cleaning carpet, wood, or tile. Clorox Pet Solutions Stain & Odor Remover Spray dissolves pet stains with hydrogen peroxide instead of just masking them. Just ensure you test for safety in a low-traffic region of your floor first.