Ashamed to ask this but.....How do you mop a floor properly?

[JohnCusacksWife]

Cant believe I have to ask this but what is the secret to mopping a floor properly so that it's actually clean? As soon as I put the mop in the bucket the water just turns dirty and then all I seem to do is spread said dirty water around and it never seems really clean. Short of buying a new mop each time whats the secret? Am embarrassed by the colour of my DDs socks by the end of the day!

Disclaimer: I'm not very tidy. For what its worth though try this...

Sweep/hoover floor to get all bits up. Fill bucket with very hot water with suitable detergent (i.e. something that will clean but not make floor slippy - don't use too much). Put mop in - then squeeze it out till mop nearly dry (that's what the sieve thing in the mop bucket is for) then mop floor - empty and refill bucket when water gets manky. If you floor is really muddy this may take a few re-fills. Then chuck mop head in washing machine. Repeat as often as you need to. In my case this is once a fortnight - other people seem to mop 4 times a day....whatever.

I dont know either, I crawl around and use a cloth so I can chuck it in the machine, didn't know you could do that with a mop head.

I do it on my hands and knees. 'Tis the only way to get it sparkling (and yes, you must vacuum first).

I second hands and knees - I scrub it down, and then I dry it with an old terry nappy. It's amazing how much grey dirt is wiped up by the nappy. When I have a naice selection of these minging quietly in a distant corner, I stuff them in a hot wash.

I vacuum first and then mop. It looks clean but yes the water in the bucket looks murky and brown and dc's white socks will still become grimy after walking on it - meh! The only way to get it scrupulously clean is scrubbing on your hands and knees - but frankly, why would you? Life is too short

I suppose you might be more motivated to do this if you have a crawling baby

Depends what kind of flooring you have - if it's porous or non slip a mop doesn't always do the job.

Shoes off in the house. I only mop once a month and my water is never manky, even when I'm finished

Fpr a deep clean, slosh down some hot soapy water and deck scrub the floor with an outdoor broom. Start at one end and scrub really hard across the room. Use a dry mop and an empty bucket to soak up all the dirty water at the end.

Once done, fresh bucket of hot soapy water and mop as someone said above - squeezing out most of the water.

You clearly don't have a dog cardriver

yep brush/hoover for the worst bit.

if the floor is really dirty use 2 buckets: one with hot soapy water (dash of all purpose cleaner) and an empty one. dunk mop in soapy water and squeeze out into empty one when finished mopping.

if not as dirty I do a wet mop first then wring out as dry as possible and mop 'dry'.

caution on wood/laminate floors you should only mop as dry as possible or you can warp the floor.

oh and when finished I put the mop head into washer for a rinse and spin. this way it dries quicker and diesn't start to smell.

You clearly don't have a dog cardriver

No dogs, no cats, no men, no boys

A cleaning company I used to use took great delight in telling me their staff weren't permitted to use mops as they just spread dirt around - the only way to get a floor clean is, apparently, to scrub it on your hands and knees.

I put a bit of bleach in the water, that way I figure even dirty looking water is still killing germs (no idea if that's true but it makes me feel better)

Steam mop. With washable heads.
That's why they're so popular. I love mine!

cardriver

Steam mop, steam mop, steam mop. They're bloody marvellous.

Sweep the floor daily. Mop with hot water and soap. Surely using a cloth and getting on hands and knees also "spreads the dirt"?

Has no one suggested a strict policy of dark socks only?

Shoes off and regular mopping. Mine are done weekly, kitchen sometimes twice a week; with spills and odd marks done straight away and around pet bowls done with antibacterial spray & a microfibre cloth daily. Keep on top of it and you shouldn't have dirty socks.

We have some wood floor which is done less regularly, prob every 3 weeks ish with method wood floor cleaner (again odd spills /marks cleaned as and when).

I use a vileda microfibre flat mop (a thick microfibre cloth with poppers that clips onto the mop head) the cloth goes in the washing machine after each use (bathrooms / loo or kitchen / hall / utility / boot room - I use a different cloth for bathroom floors). If floors are grubby for some reason, I'll run the steam mop over them first to loosen the crud and mop later, again running the microfibre head for the steamer through the washing machine after use. In the mop bucket I generally use, a full kettle of freshly boiled water, a squirt of bleach, a squirt of flash floor cleaner/stardrops or anti bac fairy washing up liquid (depending what I've got in). Yes to hoovering / sweeping first! Always.

Two mop buckets, one clean water, one to squeeze dirty water into.mop in a Figure of eight , dry with a old towel on the end of a broom every other day .

Steam Mop all the way! And sterilises the floor

Out of interest, for those who don't have a utility room sink, do you just empty dirty water into the kitchen sink and then clean the sink?

to dark socks

I thought my floors were immaculate until baby started crawling.

The only way is to have a few spare mop heads and repeat with clean water and mop heads. It's a chore though !