Mops are the best choice for making your home a clean and tidy place to live in. But, what will you do if your mop gets dirty? It is not so difficult to keep your mop clean.
A dirtier mop will unable to clean your floor but cause more germs and bacteria to spread on your floor that may cause any infection to you and your family. Also, it destroys the natural look and shine of the floor; causing the floor to look like a dusty one.
In this article, our main focus is on guiding you all about the step-by-step process of how to clean a mop? We also emphasize some tips regarding the cleanliness and maintenance of the mop.
Additionally, different ways of cleaning mops and cleaning different types of mops accordingly are also well-focused in this article.
Methods of Cleaning a Mop
Three different methods are mentioned by the users and the experts to clean different kinds of mops. Let’s start discussing each one by one.
- Cleaning a wet mop
- Cleaning a dust mop
- Cleaning a steam mop
Cleaning a Wet Mop
Start cleaning from your mop head by rinsing it properly after use. For this purpose
- Take a bucket of hot water.
- Put your mop in the hot water for a while after use.
- Rinse our mop under hot water until the original color of mop appears.
- Now, take it out and squeeze it properly to remove excess water from it.
- Spread it somewhere to dry properly. Sun is the best option for performing this task.
- Store your mop appropriately so that it will remain clean until next use.
When you have used your mop three to five times, now it’s the time to disinfect your mop entirely in order to remove any kind of germs and bacteria that may cause infectious diseases to you and your family. For the sake of this task, you need to do,
- Again, take a bucket full of hot water.
- Now, add bleach and vinegar in a specific amount in the hot water. Mix the whole mixture suitably.
- Dip your mop in this solution fifteen minutes approximately.
- Now, take it out, dry it out adequately and store.
According to the expert’s advice, you should never use bleach on your synthetic mop directly as it may degrade your mop activity. Thus, your mop is unable to work as it should do. Also, store your mops in a well-off area that would be far away from children and pets.
If you have a mop that contains detachable parts should wash in the washing machine instead of rinsing in the soapy solution. The reason behind it is the cleaning results you can have from the washing machines can never achieve from rinsing. So,
- Separate out the detached part of your mop like the cloth section or the head towel part from your mop.
- Make a solution of hot water, detergent and bleach inside the washing machine and run it for five minutes so that the solution get mixed properly.
- Add your mop in this solution and run your washing machine for fifteen to thirty minutes.
- When the washing machine completes its round, take your mop out, wash it under normal water to remove excess detergent and bleach from your mop.
- Spread it in the sun or some other ventilated area of the home to get dried completely.
- Store your mop carefully.
Clean your mop or detachable parts of your mop in the dishwasher rather than using a washing machine. According to some experts, the dishwasher is way better than a washing machine. For cleaning your mop in a dishwasher, you should,
- You just need to detach your mop parts from mop.
- Put these mop parts in the top section of the dishwasher.
- Add vinegar and small amount of dishwashing liquid in the dishwasher.
- Start running your dishwasher and after completing one cycle, just turn it off.
- Dry out your mop using hands and remove all excess water from our mop in a focused way.
- Now, spread our mop like a sheath in the sun or in some ventilated area of your home.
- Store your mop afterwards for further use in future.
Cleaning a Dust Mop
Dust mops are more prone to germs and bacteria as they carry the maximum amount of dirt and dust in them. So, it is better to clean your dust mop instantly after dusting your home.
It helps to save your health and gives your home a neat and tidy look. In order to clean your dust mop, you should,
- First of all, when you complete your home’s dusting, shake out your mop vigorously o remove excess amount of dust and germs including bacteria from the dust mop.
- Always try to shake your dust mop in a side area of the home that is less frequently exposed to you and more probably children.
- Also, focus on one thing that you are not shaking your mop on some necessary furniture, wall or side by area. If it is so, your area may become dusty after the shaking of your dust mop.
- According to the experts, it is better to use your garage or outdoor places for shaking our dust mop well.
- Try to shake the head part of the mop like towel or synthetic fiber more carefully so that all dust get removed without damaging the mop.
When you have used your dust mop three to four times by shaking only, it’s time to vacuum the dust mop for deep and proper cleaning of the dust mop. In this way, you will be able to remove the dust and germ particles embedded inside the dust mop accurately.
For this purpose, you need two components of the vacuum e.g. hose nozzle for applying pressure on the mop and a brush attachment that can be used for emphasizing the removal of maximum germs and bacteria from the mop.
This vacuum will allow you to remove excess dirt and germs from the mop so gently that it will never leave a negative impact on your mop and the mop will still work for a longer time period.
Related Post: 10 Best Vacuum and Mop Combo
When the working time of a dust mop reaches two weeks, you can use the washing machine for the sake of cleaning the dust mop in a more proficient way than ever before. For this sake, you must have to,
- Detach the head part of your dust mop like the cloth section or the head towel.
- Make a solution of hot water, detergent and bleach inside the washing machine and run it for five minutes so that the solution get mixed properly.
- Now, it’s time to add your dust mop in the solution present inside the washing machine.
- After one round, take your mop out.
- Wash it under normal water to remove excess detergent and bleach from your mop.
- Spread it in the sun or some other ventilated area of the home to get dried completely.
- Store your mop carefully.
What would you do if your mop is dry instead of wet? In such cases, experts do not suggest using a vacuum because the vacuum may damage the head portion of the dry mop. Hence, use the dishwasher and wash it by hand.
- Detach each and every part of your mop to wash properly.
- Add vinegar and small amount of dishwashing liquid in the dishwasher.
- Put your mop parts in the dishwasher containing solution.
- Start running your dishwasher and after completing one cycle, just turn it off.
- Dry out your mop using hands and remove all excess water from our mop in a focused way.
- Now, spread our mop under the sun or in some ventilated area of your home.
- Store your mop for further use in future.
Cleaning a Steam Mop
Basically, steam mops are made up of specific pads that can easily be removed and washed. It is necessary to wash your steam mop regularly after fixed time intervals to get better cleaning results.
You can use a washing machine for washing a steam mop properly. You just have to,
- After use, set the steam mop free for some time so that it can get cool enough to pick up by your hand.
- Add the detergent, bleach and hot water in the washing machine.
- Run the washing machine for at least five minutes to mix the solution appropriately.
- Add the steam mop in the washing machine and run a normal cycle to wash your steam mop conveniently and gently.
- Another advantage of steam mop is that you can wash it with other stuff in the washing machine to save our time and products.
- Steam mop is more environmental friendly than other types of mops.
No doubt, cleaning a steam mop is an easy task but deeply cleaning the reservoir of the steam mop is a complicated and challenging task though. For this purpose, you need a specific towel that you can fix for this cleaning task only.
- Make a solution of vinegar and bleach in hot water and preserve this solution for cleaning our mops or rags timely.
- Dip our cleaning towel in the solution and take it out after removing excess water from it.
- Rub it on your mop from all directions so that every side and corner of the reservoir of steam mop get cleaner.
- Change your towel after doing cleaning task for three to four times. It prevents the improper cleaning of the steam mop.
- Now, dry the mop cloth in the sun or in some ventilated area.
Another noticeable point is that the surface of the mop is more exposed to the environment than any other part thus, getting more dirt and debris in it or embedded in it that must remove on time. Otherwise, this dirt embedded surface may lower down the efficacy of your steam mop.
Storage of the Mop
Washing of your mop is of no use if you are unable to store it properly in some safe and ventilated areas of the home. Some key features you should remember while storing your mop are described below.
- Never store your mop when it is still wet because the wet mop may cause the growth of several kinds of bacteria in it. It is harmful for your precious health.
- Entirely dried mop will be able to store for longer time period without any harm.
- Place your mop properly in such a position that the head of the mop takes stand with the wall while the stick of the mop is touching the floor of the room.
- In case of wet mops, it is better to store the parts of the mop separately instead of storing them as a whole. This helps in protecting the parts of the wet mop from dirt and germs present in the environment and on the floor.
- Never place or store your mop in some wet area or an area that comprises of moisture or humidity because these factors cause the germs to spread or grow on the mop.
- Always watch and smell your mop so to understand when to change or replace your mop with a new one. It entirely depends on the fact that if your mop smells even after disinfecting, then replace it simultaneously.
- It is suggested to spill your mop by covering it up properly so that it may not affect the external environment in any way.
Tips about Cleaning a Mop
We admire that you love to clean your home using mops according to your thoughts and concepts. But, it is always a wise option to listen to the little tricks and tips the experts provide you all so that you can save your energy and time while cleaning your mop.
- Always use two buckets for cleaning your mop. One with a hot water and one with a bleach.
- Rinse your mop in each solution one by one.
- Squeeze your mop properly. Try to dry it thoroughly so that no water left inside the mop. Water inside the mop is not good for you and your health at all.
- If water get soiled, change the water again and again until you get the clear water.
- Always try to keep your mop in more hygienic area of the home.
- Never use the dirty mop on your floor as it may damage the floor tiling and get a worse look of the whole home.
- Never let your mop keep inside the water for long time period, for example, overnight. It may cause defects in the fiber of the mop’s fiber.
- Soaking it water for longer time period may cause mold and bacterial growth in the water and on the mop.
- Choose wisely what kind of mopping you want to do. Then, you will be able to select an appropriate way of cleaning your mop either washing machine or dishwasher.
- It is better to have different mops for different purposes. Have differently colored mops for different tasks so that no mop mixed together.
Conclusion
In this article, we have described to you all the basic types of cleaning processes you can perform in order how to clean a mop properly so that it can work effectively for long-term tasks.
We hope that our article will give you some ease and guidance in cleaning your mop gently and thoroughly to get back the whitish mop as it was earlier.
As a writer, I know the importance of true and original information being delivered to our customers. Thus, we tried our best to facilitate you with the maximum knowledge we can collect for you. If you know something we are unaware of, you can definitely share it with us.
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