Early winter is a good time to give your floors a major clean
Winter is here! It is time to give your floors a thorough cleaning.
The summer is over and with the cold Canadian winter season upon us, we will be spending more time indoors. Fall clean-up is done and now people are looking to their home interiors to prepare for the holiday season and do a thorough cleaning, including the floors.
Hardwood or Laminate Flooring
To get rid of built up dirt from the summer months, give your hardwood or laminate floors a good wash. If you don’t have time to do all your floors choose the ones that will be used most often during the season and those where there will be floor decorations, such as the Christmas tree and presents.
Before you start mopping, prepare the surface, dust or sweep to get any dust, pet hair, or loose dander off the floor. There is no need to use harsh chemical solutions, as water is often all that is needed. However, it is always good to refer to and follow the cleaning instructions for your type of floor.
A microfibre mop, such as the Deep Clean Mop by E-Cloth, is easy to use, does not require a bucket and has an adjustable handle for comfort, and swivels to get to hard-to-reach places such as under chairs or sofas.
Carpets
To ensure carpets get a good clean, make sure to first clean out your vacuum canister or filter, and check to see that everything is working. Move your furniture around as necessary to get the whole floor cleaned. Furniture pieces that are too heavy to move, clean around the edges of wall-to-wall carpeting, use the narrow tool attachment to get in close. If a deeper clean or removal of tough spots is required, refer to your carpet’s cleaning instructions.
Stairs
To do a deep cleaning of hardwood or laminate stairs, cleaning them by hand is easier than using a mop as you can get into those difficult areas between bannister posts. A bucket of warm water and microfibre cloth, such as the E-Cloth General Purpose Cloth is all you need. Make sure it’s thoroughly wet, and then wring it out to remove excess water. Starting at the top and working your way down is easiest. Finish off by using a dry cloth to remove any excess water and give your stairs a nice polish. When you are finished cleaning, get rid of the dirty water and rinse out your microfibre cloth. Tip: This chore is a good one to give to younger children!
If your stairs are carpeted, use an extended hose with your vacuum to be able to reach the full set of stairs. Dirt accumulates near the bend in the stairs and the bannister posts and is often missed during general cleaning. Use the small hand tools to get into these difficult areas of the stairs and give them a thorough clean.
Kitchen and Bathroom Floors
Follow the same techniques as the general hardwood or laminate flooring instructions. However, since the kitchen and bathrooms are high-traffic areas and require additional measures to keep these areas clean, you may want to add additional cleaning solutions to the water.
Traditional vs Environmentally friendly floor cleaning solutions
When it comes to cleaning your floors, whether it is tile, laminate, hardwood or carpet, there are a variety of products available on the market. Traditional cleaning brands are popular but often have strong chemicals. Many people are turning to environmentally friendly options for cleaning as more information is being provided on the health concerns of some cleaning products. It is recommended that you first consider the flooring you have and their cleaning recommendations, do some research on the variety of options available, and then do what works best for your family and comfort level.
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