How to Clean a Floor

Co-authored by Ashley Matuska

Last Updated: September 9, 2020 References

Learning how to properly clean a floor will keep it looking spic and span, whether it is carpet, wood, tiles, linoleum, epoxy, or another material. Vacuuming, sweeping, and mopping are all techniques for getting rid of dirt and debris from the floor. Cleaning a floor correctly will save you time and energy, and will give you a great result!

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Sweeping the Floor

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Sweep high traffic areas every day. Floors that get a lot of use, such as a kitchen floor, will need to be swept every 1-2 days to be kept clean. Keep in mind that darker colored flooring will take a bit longer to start looking dirty than lighter flooring.^{[1]
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- Lower traffic areas will need to be swept around twice a week.
EXPERT TIP

"Vacuuming is more efficient than sweeping, but if you do use a broom, opt for one with closely-spaced nylon bristles, rather than straw."

Chris Willatt
House Cleaning Professional
Chris Willatt is the owner and founder of Alpine Maids, a cleaning agency in Denver, Colorado started in 2015. Alpine Maids has received Angie's List Super Service Award for three years in a row since 2016 and has been awarded Colorado's "Top Rated Local House Cleaning" Award in 2018.

Chris Willatt
House Cleaning Professional
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Start in one corner and work toward the exit. Pick the corner that is the longest distance from the exit, and plan how to work your way around any furniture to reach the exit. Start by sweeping that corner, and then move outwards, finishing the room by the doorway.^{[2]
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Sweep each section of the room with small strokes. Divide the room up into 4 sections, and sweep each using short and deliberate strokes. Keep the pile of swept dirt in each section, creating a new dirt pile in each section.^{[3]
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- Don’t move the dirt pile around, as this will make the floor dirtier.
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Use a dustpan at the end to clean it up the dirty piles. Sweep up the dirt pile from each section once you have finished sweeping the room. If the dustpan leaves behind a small line of dirt, use a damp paper towel to wipe it up.^{[4]
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Use a clean broom that’s in good shape. A clean broom is key to making sure that it will actually clean the floor, rather than add more dirt to it. The bristles should all be facing in one direction.^{[5]
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- If the broom bristles are askew, invest in a new one.
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Clean your broom from time to time. Fill up a sink with hot, soapy water and give it a scrub. Make sure that you use a sink strainer so that the dirt doesn’t block up the drain.^{[6]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Vacuuming Floors

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Vacuum high traffic areas at least 3 times per week. Kitchens and living rooms require regular vacuuming, and this will increase as the number of people living in the house rises. Lower traffic areas such as bedrooms should be vacuumed once a week. As a general rule of thumb, vacuum an area as many times per week as the number of people that use that space.^{[7]
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- For example, a 1-person bedroom can be swept weekly. However, a living area with 4 people should be swept 4 times per week.
- You will need to vacuum more often if you have a pet that sheds fur or a child with allergies.
- Move all of the small furniture out of the room once a month, so that you can vacuum the floor beneath it as part of a deeper cleaning routine.
- Move all of the large furniture out of the room to vacuum beneath it once or twice a year.
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Dust the room first. The HEPA filters in modern vacuum cleaners prevent fine debris from being emitted from the vacuum, which means that you don’t have to dust afterward. Use a microfiber cloth to dust objects, surfaces, and furniture.^{[8]
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- Shake out the curtains too while you are dusting. Let the dust from the curtains settle on the ground for a few minutes before your vacuum.
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Move large toys and pet beds off the floor. Any items that are touching the floor which can easily be shifted should be moved at this point. This is so that you can vacuum the room thoroughly.^{[9]
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Clean out the vacuum cleaner. Remove all of the dust and debris from the dust bag or container in the vacuum. This will ensure that the machine has the best suction, and that the floors will be as clean as can be.^{[10]
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- Make sure that the vacuum cleaner brush and head area are clear of hair too.
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Vacuum the edges of the walls and furniture with the crevice attachment. The vacuum cleaner head has a crevice attachment that you can click on to vacuum around the edges of the room. Also go around the edges of furniture that you cannot vacuum beneath, such as couches.^{[11]
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- Although you can use the regular vacuum cleaner head for doing the edges, you will get a much better result using the crevice attachment.
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Vacuum beneath any raised furniture. Change the head attachment to the regular floor brush. Vacuum under tables, bookshelves, beds, and any other furniture that is raised, as dust can build up in these spots too.^{[12]
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Vacuum the rest of the room. Start by vacuuming the whole room in one direction, and then vacuum the space again at a right angle. This will make sure you are cleaning thoroughly, and that the vacuum picks up at much debris as possible.^{[13]
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- Vacuum the whole floor twice if it is a high traffic area.
- Make sure that you area vacuuming slowly so that the machine has a chance to be effective. This will make lifting up pet hair faster, as you won’t need to do as many strokes.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Mopping Tiles, Linoleum, and Wooden Floors

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Check the best way to mop your type of flooring. Mopping is essential for many floor types, and there are specific ways that will clean each type the most thoroughly. Learn what tools and supplies to use for each floor type.
- How to Clean Hardwood Floors
- How to Clean Tile Flooring
- How to Clean Laminate Floors
- How to Clean Vinyl Flooring
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Mop the floors once a week. This helps to keep on top of any grime that is building up, and particularly to keep kitchens and bathrooms clean. Areas that aren't used frequently can be mopped once every two weeks.^{[14]
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Fill up the sink or bucket with hot water and a cleaning solution. A squeeze of dishwashing liquid and a cup of vinegar mixed into the water works well. If you have a favourite floor cleaning solution however, feel free to use that.^{[15]
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- If you are using the kitchen sink, make sure to clean the sink and the countertops out thoroughly after mopping. This is to prevent cross contamination from the floor to the sink.
EXPERT TIP

Ashley Matuska
Professional Cleaner
Ashley Matuska is a Professional Cleaner at the Founder and Owner of Dashing Maids in Denver, Colorado. Ashley has over seven years of experience in the cleaning industry. She and her team specialize in offering sustainable deep cleaning and maintenance cleaning services.

Ashley Matuska
Professional Cleaner

Don't clean your floor with floor polish. Ashley Matuska of Dashing Maids says: "Make sure you're using a pH neutral cleaning solution on your floors, and not a polish. If you use polish instead of floor cleaner, you'll just put a layer over whatever dirt was on the floor, which seals it in. For routine cleaning, you can even use plain water."
4
Get a classic, cotton mop. There are many more high tech and modern style mops out there, but this classic style works best. You can take the head off a cotton mop to put it in the washing machine, whereas a sponge or foamy mop will be much more difficult to clean.^{[16]
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Dip the mop into the water and don’t wring it out. Make sure that the mop head is fully submerged in the hot, soapy water. Left it out gently and let it hang over the sink to drip for 2 seconds.^{[17]
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- This style of mopping is called slop mopping, due to the water that will initially slop onto the floor.
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Brush the mop head along the floor. Spread the soapy water over a small area of your floor. Use only 3-4 mop brushes, as the cleaning solution will start to do the work for you.^{[18]
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- It’s important to stick to only a small floor area. For example, for 12 in (30 cm) tiles, do only 4-6 tiles at one time.
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Wring the water out of the mop and into the sink. Some mops twist into themselves to be wrung out, while others use a special bucket. Either way is fine, as long as the mop is wrung out as best as it can be.^{[19]
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Mop the dirty water off the floor. Using your wrung out mop, brush it 3 times over the wet spot on the floor. If there is still water left on the floor after mopping, wring the mop out again into the sink, and swish it over the floor another 3 times.^{[20]
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- You can repeat this process for as many times as it is necessary to remove the water from that spot on your floor.
- The reason for only swishing the mop 3 times over the floor is because otherwise the dirty water is just being put onto the floor again.
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Repeat this process until the whole floor area is clean. Slop the mop without ringing it out onto the ground, and spread the water over a small area. Wring the water out of the mop, and then mop the dirty water from the floor in 3 brush segments.^{[21]
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- Avoid standing where you have already cleaned. Try not to get "stuck" in a certain area, as you will have to rewash it after you've walked over it. Clean from the far corner of any given room and work towards the door, so that you don't end up doing extra work.

Community Q&A

Question

I just installed a new red oak hardwood floor. Will using a dry Swiffer sweeper take out some of the shiny finish or gloss when doing everyday cleaning

RachTR Chemicals Pvt Ltd

Community Answer

To maintain the shine of your floor, the best option would be cleaners specified for oak hardwood floors.

Warnings

Read the instructions of any harsh chemicals before you use them to make sure that they won’t damage the flooring.

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