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How to Clean Floors Less Often – Yes it’s Possible!

When you come to think of it, the floors inside your house take a real beating throughout the year. For example, during the summer heat waves, which get nasty in places like Australia and parts of the US, wood floors dry and expand. Then during the cooler seasons, they become soiled with mud or snow. 

Add the constant trudging upon them and you get a surface inside the house that has to withstand the incessant heavy battering. This is where regular and proper floor maintenance comes into play.

By adjusting the cleaners you use to the various types of flooring and by using a few floor cleaning tips, you can help prolong their life. 

What is more, using natural cleaning solutions will help save the environment and cut down on costs. Needless to say, proper upkeep will keep a lot of money inside your pockets you would otherwise spend on repairs.

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5 Tips to Keep Floors Clean Longer

#1 Covering the Floors

A neat solution that helps you decrease the amount of maintenance is covering the floors with mats, rugs, and carpets. In rooms like the kitchen and the bathroom that have tiles, an anti-slip mat is an ideal solution, while carpets are more suited for the living room and the bedroom. 

This way, you won’t have to clean or take care of the flooring but merely upkeep the carpets.

Mix up a batch of my favorite Lemon Myrtle Carpet Refresher to keep your rugs, mats, and carpet cleaner longer. Sprinkle it over the area and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before vacuuming to reduce odors and release the fresh clean scent of lemon myrtle essential oil.

Related To: 6 CLEANERS I STOPPED BUYING

Related To: LAZY TOILET CLEANER

#2 Bathroom Floor Cleaning Solutions

If you are motivated enough to clean the house flooring on your own, the bathroom is the room where you’ll face the biggest uphill battle against muck and germs. 

First, you have to create a bathroom cleaning guide and checklist that will list the floors last. The thing is, while you dust the top shelves and the vanity unit, all the muck will wash down to the floor. 

But, once the walls and the fixtures are “spot on”, your battle begins. 

How to Clean Ceramic Tile Floors:

1. Start by sweeping or vacuuming the ceramic tile floor to remove loose debris. 
2. Next, make a homemade grout cleaner to remove stains. Spray it on the tile and grout and let stand for a good five minutes. 
3. Then use a grout and tile scrub brush to remove build up.
4. After, rinse with a wet sponge. Never use a mop on tile, as it will just push the dirt into the grout.  

#3 Water Is Wood Flooring’s Worst Enemy

The worst thing that can happen to a tiled floor is a heavy item dropping and breaking or chipping away individual tiles. In general, water does virtually no harm to ceramic floor tiles but it has the potential to devastate hardwood flooring. 

The first and the most important rule you must learn is to never let hardwood floors come into direct contact with water.

This might seem like an obvious thing to conclude but most homeowners are lenient if they spill a glass of juice or other beverage on the living room floor. You see, wood absorbs liquids fast and not only does it get damaged in the process but the water can penetrate underneath the floorboards. 

And that is why the smallest puddle of water atop a wooden floor needs to be instantaneously mopped. Also, never leave wet shoewear, such as shoes and boots on the floor to drip and dry – use a mat.

What is the best thing to use to clean wood floors?

How to care for wood floors correctly, starts by using the right tools and a good homemade wood floor cleaner. 

Using a broom can pick up food crumbles or lost cheerios, but it dirt other small particles just get pushed around. Inside use one of our modern floor cleaning victories a wet/dry microfiber mop. 

I got one after Christmas this year and it is a dream! I feel like a witch with the latest model. The microfiber cleaning pads use static electricity to trap dirt, allergens, and all the tiny particles on dirty floors. Just remember to glide the microfiber mop, instead of lifting it up like a broom.

The microfiber floor cleaning pads are scratch proof and washable, which makes my heart for zero waste smile. And when it comes to mopping, all you need it a light misting with a homemade wood floor cleaner, like this one. Because a gallon of mop water and wood don’t mix! 

#4 Inexpensive Natural Floor Cleaners

Your local supermarket probably features a whole aisle of floor cleaning products. However, these chemicals are more than often too potent and can damage our environment. That is why it is much wiser to make your own cleaners that will cost less money as an additional perk.

Most cleaning solutions are based on mixing a natural cleaning agent with different scents, like lemon or orange. These citrus juices and oils actually add to the solution potency and leave a pleasant smell after cleaning. 

The best thing about such natural cleaners is their universality of use, so you can apply them in seasonal cleaning as part of a natural DIY cleaning kit that every household ought to have.

#5 Normal Floor Repairs

While you’re busy cleaning the floor, you are more likely to spot minor damage to the floorboards. The most common issue that occurs after several decades of use is the appearance of cracks and crevices between individual boards. These gaps aren’t that bad in themselves but once dust, dirt and food leftovers (yuck!) get accumulated inside them, the real trouble begins.

They have the potential to undermine the structure of the floor from within, making the floor swell. Intervention on your part is necessary but this can be a fairly easy task if your handy around the house. 

How to Repair Wood Floor Cracks:

1. Use a high-pressure air blower to clean the holes or pry out the debris with a rod. 
2. After the cracks and gaps are nice and clean, apply wood fillers that you use a putty knife to spread evenly across the entire length of the board.
3. Once the area dries, stain the filled sections, sand it a little bit and apply a new coat of protective polish.

And if you uncover some hidden surprises in your carpet or rugs while cleaning.  Mix together a bottle of this easy natural carpet stain remover. Spray it on and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Then scrub away to lift stains from carpet floors and rugs.

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When to Hire an Expert

The methods listed here apply to different types of flooring but they all have one thing in common: regularity. Taking care of the floors inside your house is a year-round activity that should be carried out regardless of the season. But, when should you hire an expert? 

However, caring and cleaning flooring on your own using only natural ingredients can prove to be a challenge at times. Especially if you have pets, a growing family, or just moved into a new home with dirty floors! 

That is why many homeowners turn to house cleaning services that professionally clean the flooring in all the rooms of the house. Cleaning services have room by room cleaning roundups that allow them to sweep and mop the floorboard and tiles alike. Presuming they use green cleaning techniques, it might be wise to let professionals clean the entire house while they’re at it! 

Cleaning the floors and caring for all their needs can seem like taking care of a “high maintenance” teenager. But, using these five tips to keep floors clean longer and establishing a cleaning routine, like this one for each room or season can make it much less difficult. Do you have any tips for cleaning the floors? Share it in the comments below. 

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