Fall Cleaning Week: Floors and other lowly places

Okay, let's talk floors.  Obviously, I clean my floors more than just during my Fall cleaning. But today, I want to show you how I clean and disinfect my floors AND get into the deeper cleaning I do during this time.  

Every Spring and Fall, I will steam clean the carpets which I already did and blogged about here.  After I have cleaned the carpet, I give the rooms a thorough vacuum. This means pulling out all the furniture, and using the attachments to clean along the baseboards. Then I follow-up the baseboards with a good wipe-down using Basic H.  This gets off any leftover dust and grime.

Now, its time for the hard floors. I should start by telling you I don't have hardwood floors.  I really, really wish I did, but I don't. I have vinyl. So the process I am about to tell you works best on vinyl or tile floors.  If you want tips on cleaning hardwoods, this is a great post using Basic H. 

With dogs, cats, kids, and country living to boot, I am lucky if my floors stay clean for more than 5 minutes.  This means I am cleaning my floors at least once a week.  I should also tell you that I HATE mopping.  HATE.  I was constantly looking for a better way to mop.  So I used to use just a Swiffer wet mop for most days, and once every few weeks break out the regular old fashioned mop.  But it killed my back.  The leaning and scrubbing just took its toll and would wear me out.  So when I was pregnant with Maise last year, I couldn't take it anymore and had to find a better way.  

Enter my new floor cleaning love, the steam mop.  This has completely changed my life.  I no longer kill my back cleaning my floors and it is so easy! No bending, no scrubbing, no wringing.  Just fill, turn on, and go.  And the best part is it cleans AND disinfects my floors 100% naturally because the hot steam kills all bacteria. 

Ok, so let's move on.  Now that I'm finally at peace with my mop, here are my tools of choice for cleaning my floors.  A broom, a dry Swiffer, and my steam mop.

                    

 
I begin by sweeping the big stuff with a plain old broom.  Then I follow it up with my dry Swiffer.  I do this because I have animals and brooms don't pick up animal hair worth a darn.  And, you will be shocked at how much dirt is left after sweeping with a broom.

After I Swiffer, its time to steam mop.  I just fill the mop with water and let it do its magic.  If my floor is extra dirty, I will spray Basic H on the floor in front of the mop while I work and it helps get the gunk up quickly.

So here is a peek at my dirty floors.  It is amazing how fast they get this way after I clean. I swear it's only minutes. Maybe a little longer than that. 

But the steam mop gets it up lickity split, and I don't have to break my back scrubbing.  I just glide the mop back and forth a couple of times and....

Viola!  

 I also love this particular steam mop because it gets under cabinets and into tight spots easily.

Ahh....much better.  I love having clean floors.

But, since it is Fall Cleaning Week, I am not done here.  After my floors are clean I will go around with my microfiber cloth and Basic H, and all give the trim a good cleaning.  I do this in the kitchen and bathrooms.   

While I am down there, I usually get a good look at how bad my cabinets have become since my Spring cleaning.  But that is a whole other animal and another post altogether. Stay tuned!

So there you have it!  While I clean my floors and carpets, I am also tackling a few items on my Fall Cleaning Checklist.   

Tomorrow we take on dust with a fabulous Guest Blogger! See you then! 

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