Cleaning is no one’s favourite job, but it is essential to keeping your floors well-maintained and your home healthy. If you’re ready to jump into your spring cleaning, follow our guide for the basics of achieving a spotless floor.
Carpet
When it comes to cleaning carpet, you can’t get by without a vacuum cleaner. To ensure you’re getting an effective clean for your hard work, make sure your vacuum bag doesn’t have a full or dirty filter or bag as this can seriously affect your vacuum’s suction power. For longer pile carpets, vacuum against the direction of the pile first to expose the dirt. For soiled or high traffic areas, do multiple passes over the area to extract as much dirt as possible. Use crevice tools or attachments to get into hard to reach places for the most thorough clean. After vacuuming, use water to remove stains, or use a recommended cleaning solution if water proves ineffective.
Vinyl
Vinyl flooring is a breeze to clean. After sweeping up the dust with a soft broom, simply damp mop with the manufacturer’s recommended cleaning solution. However, DO NOT use caustic ammonia, solvent-based cleaners, or wax polishes on vinyl as they can make your floors slippery or even cause discolouration.
Timber
When vacuuming timber floors, make sure you use the floor brush attachment or setting on your vacuum head to prevent scratching your floors. As hardy as timber floors can be, they can be damaged by excess water. A microfibre mop is a superior choice when compared to a string mop as it will hold less water. To mop your timber floors, use a barely damp mop alongside the recommended floor cleaner for your boards. Soak up any remaining water from the surface afterwards. For a deeper clean, use a manufacturer-recommended liquid cleaner with a rag.
Bamboo
Many of the rules for cleaning timber flooring apply to bamboo flooring, too. Use a brush vacuum head and make sure it’s free of embedded grit. Never wet mop your bamboo floor, and if you are damp mopping, make sure the mop has been completely wrung out, as bamboo can also warp if subjected to excess moisture. To remove any marks or stains, use a Ph neutral cleaner. DO NOT use oil soaps, wax liquid, or other household products to clean your floor, or use abrasive pads to scrub it.
Tiles
Tile is a highly durable floor covering, and usually, water is a sufficient cleaning solution for day-to-day cleaning – simply wet mop. Vacuuming regularly will keep dirt from scratching and dulling your tile. As tile grout is porous, it can become dirty and stained over time. To clean your tile grout, you can use a grout cleaning solution and let it soak for a few minutes before scrubbing with a toothbrush to remove stubborn stains. Applying a grout sealer after the clean can protect your grout so it stays cleaner for longer.
Cork
Vacuum or sweep your cork floor with a clean, soft-bristled broom to remove any grit or dirt. Cork flooring can swell and even grow mold when exposed to water, so use a barely damp mop and a recommended floor cleaner to wash. And remember, NEVER steam clean your cork floor.
Laminate
Like timber and bamboo, laminate can be scratched so vacuum with the brush vacuum head on. As laminate is not real wood, DO NOT wax or polish it. Also, never steam clean your laminate flooring or use soaps, oils, or detergents on it. Laminate can be cleaned by simply damp mopping and spraying an appropriate cleaning solution onto either your mop or rag. Be wary of applying cleaning liquids directly onto laminate as this can cause staining.
Andersens offers a professional carpet cleaning service to take the stress out of your spring cleaning. Contact us for more information and see how we can help you.