The Safest Way to Clean Your Floors

Floors can be notoriously tricky to keep clean—especially in a condo.

Condo dwellers don’t have the benefit of a mudroom where they can take off their shoes or boots and put them away before moving inside the house.

In fact, in many condos, you barely have enough space for a proper entranceway! As a result, they can’t help but track dirt, debris and other substances into their homes, and all of that unwanted refuse eventually ends up on their floors. While this obviously causes a problem for people who want to keep their condo neat and tidy, it also has the potential to create an unhealthy environment by bringing in bacteria.

Because bacteria are invisible to the naked eye, it’s trickier to get rid of than many people think. That’s why it’s important to make sure you use the safest and most effective methods for cleaning your condo floors.

Below are three steps that constitute the safest way to clean your floors. Follow all three steps to make sure your floors — and any bacteria that might be lurking on them — are thoroughly and effectively cleaned.

Remove Stray Dirt and Debris

The first step in removing bacteria from your floors is removing all the substances they cling to.

The little bits of litter, dirt and debris that you inevitably track through your condo from the outdoors may not look all that harmful, but since you don’t know where they came from, you also don’t know what’s on them. Removing them will not only make your place look cleaner and tidier, but it will also significantly improve the healthiness of your home.

The best method for removing surface-level debris depends on what types of floors you have. If your floors are carpeted, a good vacuum cleaner will be the most effective way to pick up stray litter. But for pretty much all other types of floors—including hardwood, laminate and tile—you can sweep up using a broom and dustpan.

When emptying your vacuum cleaner or dustpan into the garbage, it’s best to wear gloves to protect your hands. If the bits of debris you picked up does contain any bacteria, you don’t want to risk transferring that bacteria onto your hand while disposing of it.

Opt for Damp or Dry Mopping

The next step in cleaning your floors safely is also the most surprising. Many people believe that wet mopping with soapy water will be the best way to disinfect their floors, but in fact, this method actually makes the bacteria problem worse.

It may seem counterintuitive, but using a wet mop actually adds to the bacteria on your floors, and not by a small margin either. Studies have shown that wet mopping adds between 35 and 50 percent more bacteria to your floor.

So, if wet mopping is out, what is the best method? Mopping with either a damp or dry cloth, both of which have been shown to be much better at removing bacteria from your floors.

Mopping with a damp cloth is the most effective way to get rid of bacteria; studies have shown it removes about 75 percent of all bacteria. Dry mopping was the second-most effective method: studies show it removes slightly more than half of all bacteria, about 55 percent. Both methods are much better options than adding to your bacteria count by wet mopping!

Use a Wood Conditioner

If you have hardwood floors, you may want to consider using a wood conditioner after you’ve swept and damp mopped. A wood conditioner doesn’t remove bacteria, so it won’t necessarily make your floors immediately safer, the same way that vacuuming and damp- or dry-mopping will.

But a wood conditioner will help make your newly cleaned floor glisten and look spotless—making it easier to spot dirt and debris the next time it pops up. That way, you’ll be able to start the cleaning process earlier, giving bacteria less chance to creep its way back onto your floor.

Wrapping Up

Using the right methods to rid your floors of bacteria is an integral part of keeping your home clean, healthy and safe, and the more often you use the steps laid out above, the cleaner and safer your floors will be. But carving out time for frequent floor cleaning can be a challenge.

To learn more about the safest ways to clean your floors, call Maid4Condos at 647-822-0601 or contact us here.