How to Clean Floors + 3 DIY Floor Cleaner Recipes!
Mopping your floor may seem like a simple task, but using the right products, tools, and techniques can make a world of difference. In this article, we'll guide you through the essentials of floor cleaning to achieve a spotless and sparkling floor while preserving its longevity and beauty.
The Tools & Techniques
We'll be using the award-winning Maker's Mop for this job, which comes with removable premium microfiber mop pads, so when you're done, you can simply toss them in the laundry and reuse them over and over.
There is more than one way to clean a floor, but here's my favorite method. Fill a spray bottle (we have some good ones here) with your floor cleaning solution of choice—for our favorite DIY options see below—and then find your starting point. Remember, we always recommend working your way out of a room to avoid stepping in a just-cleaned area, so pick the spot farthest from your exit point.
Now, spray the product liberally in your starting section, and then mop this up (with a dry microfiber pad) using the W-pattern (forward, back on an angle, forward, repeat) or the S-pattern (side to side overlapping—this really works well with the 360° swivel head on the Maker's Mop). Continue to move backward toward your exit point. I sometimes like to repeat this with just plain hot water for a second go around, but that's not absolutely necessary.
The other option is to saturate several mop pads ahead of time (with your preferred product) and do the whole space at once, swapping out the pads as necessary based on how dirty the floor is. This is a little faster, but the spray bottle method allows you to let the product dwell in the case you have more serious grime to deal with.
The DIY Floor Cleaning Recipes
These are generally meant to by mixed in a spray bottle based on the volumes we've used, but you can scale up accordingly if you're using a bucket or bowl. Note that we cover all of these (and 47 more!) in our 50 DIY Cleaners e-book, but here are the big three:
General Purpose DIY Floor Cleaner
- 1 1/2 cups Water
- 1/4 cup Vinegar
- 1/8 cup Rubbing Alcohol
- 1/8 tsp Dish Soap
Hardwood Floor DIY Cleaner
- 2 cups Water
- 1/4 cup Vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Dish Soap
Laminate DIY Floor Cleaner
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/2 cup Vinegar
- 1/2 cup Rubbing Alcohol
Mastering the art of floor mopping helps preserve your floors and can save you time by avoiding stubborn streaks and haziness. Happy mopping!