Having problems figuring how to clean your hardwood floor? You put so much effort yet you only get spreadout dirt and nasty stripes? No matter what you do it only comes to dried-out dirt and soap scum everywhere? Then maybe you should consider few words of advice:
1. Get to know your floor! It may sound mundane but actually have you ever thought what your floor is made of? It’s true that you have a general idea for the answer of this question – you can tell the difference between wood and tiles, right? But do you know precisely what the wood you have in your home is or even much more important – what finish it has and when was the last time you finished it? Maybe you have a nice linoleum covering the entry. Then, do you know what covers it? Have you any idea how this material will react if you sprinkle it with water or sip a few drops of lemon juice in the bucket. It may be the great difference you hope for! Get to know them and you will never go wrong. Your floor will always be shinning and your surfaces lusting! You just have to make your research first.
2. Vacuum regularly! No matter how much effort you put washing your floor all can be ruined by dust and grit if you let it accumulate. Just washing with a dusty floor won’t remove the dust but rather spread it. It’s natural for water to solve and remove spills and small particles but if you try to just wash away the big dust particles with water or even a solution of a powerful detergent you may end up only spreading the dust all around your floor. The result will be a mixture of big pieces of dust and soap scum sticking for your floor sometimes even damaging the finish. The secret for a deep quality cleaning (especially when it comes to wood) is to vacuum or at least groom often so no big layer of dust can accumulate. If your floor is clear of any big particles when you get the mop you will already be half-way there and a good mop will give you a shine, not only a clean.
3. Don’t overwater! Wetting a floor is essential for that polish which only a well-cleaned floor could have but if you overdo the watering you will end up leaving small drying spots behind. You can even damage some types of wood! Wood can soak in water and if the floor doesn’t dry up quickly and your finish isn’t water-proofed you will end up destroying your floor. That’s why you should always get to know your floor first. Using the wrong products the wrong way can sometimes cause more damage than the dirt itself. The same goes for water. It’s marvelous cleaning product when it comes for removing fine dust and grease and can give you that gleam you dreamed of, but sometimes too much is too bad. Water is a hard-to-dry liquid and if you overdo it you might have to clean all over again only to fix the effects of the first cleaning. That’s why you should try to just moist rather than wet the mop and rinse rather than water the floor. In this case more water doesn’t mean cleaner floor but just messier!
4. Steam carefully! One of the greatest discoveries in the modern cleaning era is steampower! Since the discovery of the first steam cleaners it became obvious that concentrated hot water jet can eat through and disperse almost any dirt or grease. However it comes with a price. Although it looks like the perfect solution for almost everything steam is still just that – steam – a hot water jet under high pressure. This combination might damage some materials like oil finishes, some plastics and cardboard. Then you will have ruined them. The same thin cover that gives the shine of your line cover might be irreversibly destroyed by steam. That’s why you should first inform yourself which are the materials resistant to steam and use the cleaner only when you are absolutely sure it will do the job fine. Otherwise you should stick only to the mob and the bucket.
5. Try using only all natural cleaning solutions. There may be a huge temptation to use those modern high-chemistry do-it-all fancy special cleaning products that sellers in any cleaning products shop will try to offer you, but you should resist. First, you don’t know exactly what is in the bottle. It may clean well but are you sure it doesn’t also cause cancer or any other health issues the producer just “forgot” to mention? Or, maybe you just want to save time and effort and buy something that you know will work? Both cases Mother Nature have already found something for you centuries ago. Just search for recipes for the floor you have and surely you will find both cheaper and more effective solutions for your problems than dangerous household chemistry.
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