How to wash floors by hand
Why would you need to wash the floors by hand when you have all these great devices that allow you not to have to get down on the floor? The answer is simple….for the thoroughness of doing the job by hand. For the most part, you can get away from doing this on a daily basis, depending upon the traffic in your home. But as a rule of thumb, you should give your floors a good hand wash scrubbing about once per week.
Even though we have many devices that do a good job of cleaning on a day to day basis, sometimes a more hands on approach is needed. When that dried, stuck on food won’t move, a good hand scrub will do the job. Corners get dirty by pushing the dirt into them, that the pad cannot pick up. A sponge mop just pushes the dirt around. A microfiber one picks up the dirt better. But by using your hands and a good cloth, you can make sure that all of the dirt and caked on food gets wiped up.
Begin by having your floors swept. This eliminates the need to pick up so much dirt with your rag. Then grab a bucket filled with warm water and cleaner. I use a microfiber cloth and it eliminates the need to have to use any other tool to “scrub” the floor with.
****A safety tip to remember is to make sure that no one will be walking on the floor If there are little ones in the home, get a fan so that the floor can dry quickly.
Start at your farthest away corner. Dip your rag in the water and wring it out. It doesn’t matter what “pattern” that you use. Just be consistent. Work from left to right, back to forward. Make sure that you pay attention to the kick plate under your cabinets.
As your rag picks up more dirt, wring it out in the bucket and continue wiping. If you have overhead fans, I recommend turning them on. Continue working your way out of the room picking up any dirt in your rag as you go. Don’t just push the dirt, pick it up in the rag. Think of scooping the dirt and grime from the floor into your cupped hand while wiping it.
Any stuck on food that won’t get removed by the microfiber cloth can be done so with a flat spatula. Carefully scrape up the food and pick up with the cloth.
Dump the bucket into the toilet. This will prevent things from getting stuck in your sink drain. Make sure that the floor is thoroughly dry before walking on it.
Here is a video of how to effectively wash the floor by hand.
