Using too much can leave behind a residue, which will make floors look dull.
But as a rule of thumb, you should mop your floors at least once a week—especially in areas that are more likely to get stains from drips and spills, like the kitchen and bathroom. “Of course, you need to vacuum or sweep the floor before mopping,” explains Leiva.
Over-mopping
For best results, mop your high-traffic areas no more than once a week. Other areas that see less foot traffic can be cleaned once a month, or (prepare to put your feet up) even once a quarter. Too much mopping can wear down the seal on your floors or oversaturate them with water.
Any high-traffic areas in your home should be wet mopped once a week. Rooms in your home that are not frequently used—such as a guest room—do not need to be mopped weekly. Mopping every other week or monthly should be sufficient.
Not Sweeping or Dust Mopping First
It is not intended to be used on loose dirt and debris. That's what brooms and dust mops are for. Before you fill the mop bucket with water, take a broom or dust mop to your floor. Get up all the loose dirt and debris so you're not pushing them around with the wet mop.
The wipe test
Jill Kushinksy, chief cleaning officer at MaidPro, suggests putting on white socks and walking across the floor. “If the bottom of the white sock is dirty, then it's probably time to give those floor a sweeping and cleaning, especially for high-traffic areas of the home,” says Kushinksy.
Yes, you should keep cleaning the carpet until the water is clear. This will ensure that your carpets are clean and free of dirt, dust, and other allergens. However, you should be careful not to scrub too hard or use too much water. Doing so can damage the carpet and lead to more stains in the future.
To ensure there is not film build-up left behind the floors should be followed with a quick plain water rinse and a quick-drying to eliminate the chance of filmy residue left on the floors.
Should you dry mop before you wet mop? Yes, always Dry Mop first! It may seem redundant to clean something you're about to clean, but wet mops are not great at picking up crumbs, dust, hair, and other solid debris. If you mop an unswept floor, you are likely to end up pushing debris around.
Like bleach, using hot water can deactivate certain compounds and therefore, make the products less aggressive in removing dirt. For this reason, cold or room temperature water is advised when diluting the cleaning product to clean kitchen surfaces.
Mopping with dirty water usually causes that buildup and dirty appearance, even though it was just mopped. Dirt is added to a mop bucket each time the mop is dunked into the water, if you don't change the water you are just transferring the dirt and grime around the floors through the dirty water.
Avoid Using Too Much Soap
Soap only lifts dirt and oil into water, making them suspend in water. Therefore, the more soap you use, the more your mop gets saturated with dirt. So, if you do not remove all the soapy water from the floor, the dirt remains, forming streaks on the floor.
Sweeping at night is bad luck
Nitish, a lifestyle and fitness blogger and personal trainer from India, says sweeping at night can bring bad luck.
Apply a heavy concentrated solution of floor soap and hot tap water. After soaking, scrub up dirt with your motorized scrubbing tool. Remove dirt-filled water with wet vacuum or mop. Mop floor again with fresh hot tap water to rinse residual soil and soap.
Vacuum, dust or wipe with a lightly dampened mop – never use soap-based detergents, as they can leave a dull film on the floor, and avoid over-wetting. Don't use wax polish either, as this will make the floor slippery. To remove marks and stains, use a dilute solution of water and vinegar.
When debris builds up on the floor over time, they accumulate and can cause tiny scratches in your floor, which might become permanent and eventually become an ugly blemish.
Healthcare | 4/01/2020. Water in a mop bucket can quickly become dirty. Infrequent bucket changes can reduce the effectiveness of the mop and actually cause contaminants to spread. In healthcare and hospitality settings, mop water should be changed frequently.
Air It Out
Wait 10 minutes, then rinse and wring out the excess water. Never leave your mop sitting in the bucket to dry, or you'll risk the formation of bacteria and mold in the leftover moisture.
Black mop water does not mean it is time to change the water, it means the floor is filthy. In order to offset the damage done by mopping, scrubbing the floor must be performed on a regular basis.
If it's not too dirty, you can just use dish soap and hot water. For your mopping solution, mild dish detergents are best – even just a few drops of dish soap and hot water will do for linoleum. Also, any combo of apple cider vinegar and water or even a baking soda scrub for tough stains is fine for linoleum.
A steam cleaner does to stubborn dirt which a regular mop can never do without cleaning products. Since a steam mop uses water, it makes the grime and dirt loosen before the mop head absorbs it. Also, steam dries quicker than water, so you don't have to worry about mold regrowth after you clean.
One to two weeks.
Give floors a good wash or steam once every couple of weeks, says Tetro. You might want to wash your kitchen floors a little more often, due to food bacteria that can spread around.