When we were younger it seemed that summer holidays from school were the hottest days of the year with little or no rain. Today, on the other hand it seems like we’re lucky to have a solid week of nice weather during the school holidays, and the changing between hot and dry to wet and windy days during the holidays often takes its toll on the state of the house.

Keeping on top of housework during the holidays can be an uphill battle; but with the children back at school, there’s nothing from stopping you from getting your house back into shape, and in our second part of our “Deep Clean Your House Now the Kids Are Back at School” series, we’re going to give you a helping hand, with tips and advice on floor cleaning.

The floors in your home handle a lot of traffic, not to mention wear and tear; and during the school holidays, with the children running in and out of the house, playing various games and maybe even doing bits of craft work, the wear and tear on your floors can intensify.

You may have noticed, now that the children are back at school, that some of your floors have become stained or that crayon, clay and food has been trodden in, leaving the surface looking less than perfect.

Thankfully cleaning your floor no longer requires a vast array of cleaning chemicals; instead there are a few essentials which you should have in your armoury, which will make the sprucing up of your floor a walk in the park.

Carpets:

Cleaning carpets is never an easy task, especially if you’re looking to return the carpet to its just new look. Obviously the best way to achieve this is to regularly clean carpets and not wait until a stain appears, or they look dirty from everyday use.

But if you’re in the 90% of people who don’t provide their carpets with a deep clean on a weekly basis, it’s still possible to bring your carpets back to their former glory.

One of the best ways to provide a deep clean of your carpets, whether they’re short or long carpets is with the help of a steam cleaner, such as the Morphy Richards upright steam cleaner or the Karcher steam cleaner.

Before we look at how best to clean your carpets with a steam cleaner, lets look at some of the benefits, such as steam cleaning can help prolong the life of the carpet, whilst the heat provided by the steam can help to kill allergens and dust mites which have made your carpets their home, providing a healthier environment for you and your family.

When it comes to cleaning the carpets with the steam cleaner, firstly you should opt for a cleaning solution which has a pH of less than 10 to prevent discolouration of the carpet, and whether you opt for the Wellco Professional Blossom Fresh Steam Cleaner Detergent or Vax Steam Detergent you should opt for a small amount of the cleaning solution.

Once this has been done, you can begin with the cleaning by filling the water container of your steam cleaner with hot water and the small amount of cleaning solution, before going over the carpet in much the same way as you would when running an everyday vacuum cleaner over the carpet.

For best results, it is recommended to go over the carpet several times as this will enable you to lift out as much of the dirt as possible; and then leave the carpet to completely dry.

For those who’ve got a relatively new carpet which is in good condition minus a small stain, a steam cleaner may not be necessary to remove the mark, instead a cleaning product such as the Bissell Stomp ‘n Go stain lifting pads could do the job just as adequately.

The pads permanently remove tough stains, whether fresh or set-in, without the need for any scrubbing. Simply place the pad over the stain, stomp on it, leave the formula to work its magic before lifting the pad up to see the stain disappear.

Hard Floors:

Hard floors are great for cleaning as they do not harbour germs or dirt within fibres; but they can also be a cleaning nightmare as they show every sign of dirt, such as muddy foot and paw prints. Running a mop or floor wipe over the surface may remove the top layer of dirt, but if you’re after a deeper clean, consider using a steam mop.

As with using a steam cleaner on your carpets, steam mopping your floor brings about many benefits, including the health benefits associated with steam cleaning without the need for chemicals, whilst the heat also removes many allergens.

So how do you use a steam mop?

The very first thing you need to do, before using a steam mop on your floor is to run the vacuum over the area, as this will pick up a lot of the debris which will be making your floors dirty. Once the vacuum has been used, you can use the steam mop.

However, take care not to plug in the mop before you’ve attached the mop head, as a steam mop heats up very quickly; so before the mop is plugged in you’ll need to attach the mop head, fill the mop with water and unwind the cord.

Mop head on, water in the container and the mop heated, begin mopping; and to get the best clean, move the mop forwards to release steam which will clean the floor, and pull the mop backwards to pick up any dust or dirt.

Once you’ve cleaned the floor and the mop has cooled, remove the mop head, empty the water and store the mop away until next time – also remember, that once your mop head becomes dirty, it’ll need replacing.

Using steam for floor cleaning will provide a deeper clean, helping your house to look much cleaner, and removing any sign of the mischief and mess your children made during their summer holidays; whilst it’ll also help make your home that little bit healthier.

Tags: Cleaning Tips, floor cleaning, home improvement