8 Floor Cleaning Hacks You Never Knew Were Missing From Your Life
Cleaning your floors is a chore you do most days. But even though it’s something in which you invest a lot of time, you probably hardly think about it. If you did, you’d become such a floor cleaning whizz that you’d double – nay, triple – your productivity. Take a look at these floor-cleaning hacks you never knew were missing from your life.
Cleaning your floors is a chore you do most days. But even though it’s something in which you invest a lot of time, you probably hardly think about it. If you did, you’d become such a floor cleaning whizz that you’d double – nay, triple – your productivity. Take a look at these floor cleaning hacks you never knew were missing from your life.
Clean Grout With A Toothbrush
Many flooring solutions rely on grout: a kind of paste which hardens and plugs all those small, annoying gaps around your house. The problem with grout is that it seems to provide the perfect habitat for black mold, a type of fungus linked to a range of respiratory conditions. It’s nasty stuff.
You can, however, clean grout easily with the help of a toothbrush and some bleach. Mix one part water to one part bleach in a container (preferably one that isn’t going to fall over), and then dip the toothbrush in the solution, get it wet, and then start scrubbing all those problem areas.
Start Using Entrance Mats All Over Your Home
The reason entrance mats became a thing was because homeowners didn’t want people traipsing in all the dirt and grime from outside all over their beautiful, new carpets. Over time, mats became standard but tragically underutilized.
Put mats both inside and outside your exterior doors and instill a policy of wiping one’s feet and taking off one’s shoes before entering the home.
Use Baking Soda On Carpet Stains
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Did you know that baking soda is a great stain remover? What’s more, the way it works is super simple. If you spill a glass of wine on your brand new carpet, go to the kitchen and pick up a pot of baking soda. Sprinkle the soda over the spill and then wait for it to dry. During the drying process, the baking soda absorbs all of the colorings in the thing you’ve spilled, leaving your carpet surprisingly spotless and bright.
Don’t Drag Your Furniture
Do you want to wreck your flooring? If so, one of the best ways to do so is to dray your furniture, particularly antique furniture with tired old wheels, across your flooring. Furniture is particularly good at tearing up new carpets and permanently scratching tiles.
Use Your Steam Cleaner
Steam cleaning companies like Steamaster recommend that people regularly steam clean their carpets. The reason for this is that regular vacuuming doesn’t remove particles buried in fibers further down in the carpet. Particles become trapped and then start to destroy the quality of the carpet by abrasion every time a person steps on them. Your beautiful, fluffy carpet can be reduced to a patch of lifeless yuck in just a few weeks if you’re not careful. Steam clean once per month to be on the safe side.
Remove Scuffs With A Tennis Ball
Tennis balls aren’t just great for playing tennis: they’re also the ideal scuff remover. If you notice a bunch of black rubber marks from shoes on your hardwood or tile floor, grab a tennis ball and then start rubbing. The dense fibers on the ball are ideal for lifting rubber from surfaces.
Use Bleach On Vinyl Floors
Scientists created vinyl because they wanted a super durable yet cheap flooring solution that the masses could use to rebuild their homes after the second world war. Today, you can buy convincing vinyl flooring solutions which look remarkably similar to tiles, hardwood, and other premium flooring materials. Suffice to say, vinyl has come along enormously from the early days.
Because vinyl is so hardy, it can withstand bleach, even in a highly concentrated form. For tough stains, put on a pair of gloves and then mix one part bleach to two parts water. Rub it over the area with the stain and then leave the bleach to do its magic for about five minutes. Try not to leave the bleach on the vinyl for too long as this may discolor any pigments in your flooring.
Spot Clean Laminate Flooring
Laminate might be a cheap way to include wooden flooring in any room. But it turns out that laminate is an annoyingly temperamental material. Mopping it is, in general, a bad idea because laminate tends to allow water to seep through and get underneath.
Cleaning experts recommend, therefore, that people use a technique for cleaning laminate flooring called “spot cleaning.” Spot cleaning is where you clean the areas that look dirty and leave the rest. A damp floor is a magnet for mold.