Who does not want to have the neat and clean look of his house? Who does not like the germ-free and disinfected environment without any dust and dirt over it? Contaminated and dirty floors make your house look not only ugly but also very unhealthy for you. In this era of pandemic and Covid-19, cleaning and disinfecting your floors has become the topmost priority when it comes in terms to taking care of yourself and your surroundings while focusing on your family members. Proper cleaning and disinfecting of your home can offer various benefits for you and your family. Especially proper and careful decontamination of high-touch surfaces can give you and your family a healthy, happy, and germ-free living.
How to Disinfect Floors?
Cleaning and Disinfecting
Cleaning and disinfecting are the essential parts of our daily life. Proper floor care is a significant factor that plays a vital role in your family’s health care aspects, especially in this quarantined situation when you are spending time with your family. Do keep in mind that there is a difference between cleaning and disinfecting.
Cleaning is something that helps you to remove germs. It does help in decreasing the ratio of illnesses but doesn’t kill the germs. You need to thoroughly clean your house once a day at least but do keep in kind to sweep the dirt and dust regularly. It mainly focuses on the food particles that often spill on the ground and are the most welcoming objects for germs and insects.
Whereas disinfecting means killing the germs. This means disinfecting requires all unique products and specific ways to kill the germs and make your environment germ-free. It uses chemicals to kill germs. Disinfecting completes the process of cleaning the home and making it healthier to live in. This does not remove the germs but kills them. Make sure to clean the hardwood and then apply disinfection to them appropriately.
Why is it Important to Properly Disinfect Your Floors?
If you are wondering why it is essential to clean your home and make it germ-free, then you are at the right place. It is highly recommended to clean all the areas of your home to make sure you and your family are living in a healthy environment. Some of the most important reasons for making your home floors clean and uncontaminated are mentioned below.
1. Good First Impression
The first and foremost thing one can ever notice while entering the house is its floors. If the feet are neat and clean, they make your overall look admirable. You would be confident being a representative of your home.
2. Healthy and Fresh Environment
The high foot traffic, spills of liquids, grains of foods, and dust and dirt from the air make your floors a reception for germs, bacterias, and insects: these automatically welcome illnesses and diseases. Make sure to keep your feet clean and sanitized to ensure your family members are healthy and happy.
3. Safety of The Floors
Cleaning and disinfecting floors not only look and give good, but it makes sure that your floor life is enhanced.
When you focus on your floors, make them clean, work on them and treat them with care, you will have long-lasting and durable floors.
Types of Floors
There are several types of floors in the house that need specific treatments and cleaning procedures. Every floor has different cleaning ways. If you do not focus on types of bed, you are most probably harming your feet instead of making them palpable and clean.
How Can You Disinfect Your Floors?
Cleaning and disinfecting is not a difficult task. It is not a massive task you can’t perform. Make sure all floors do not need the same type of cleaning procedures. If you are using the exact cleaning procedure on every flooring surface, you are probably doing more damage than good.
From cleaning to disinfecting, it is not a massive hard work or effort that you need to put on for the desired results. It includes the best possible ways to make sure you are living in a healthy germ-free environment.
Some of the easy and simple, stress-free, natural, and artificial disinfection methods are described below for complete flooring throughout your home.
1. Hardwood Flooring (Hardwood, Laminate & Vinyl)
Cleaning of the Hard Flooring
You can clean your hard floors with simple mopping by following this guide we shared earlier. You can also go with microfiber brushes or soft-bristled brushes to keep your foot clean. They will help you in deep cleaning the hard surfaces. Also, this guide we shared earlier will show you how to get rid of discolored stains on your floors.
Disinfecting Hard Floors
Disinfecting is killing germs. Make sure to clean before disinfecting. It will serve your purpose of disinfecting correctly. You can use any disinfecting product that comes in the market or can easily make one at home. If you are looking to buy the product, make sure to go with the one which has antibacterial properties. While disinfecting, make sure your hands stay away from the direct contact of chemicals by wearing personal protective equipment.
And remember to keep your hardwood floors dry and not in contact with water for a long time.
The procedure of Disinfecting Hardwood Floors
After cleaning, makes sure your surface is free from any visible dust and debris; you can now use a bit of wet mop for further processing. Whatever solution you are using, focus on the mop. It should not be dripping wet. Slightly move the damp mop over the surface once or twice as needed. If you’re using market products, go with anti-bacterial ones.
Suppose you are willing to disinfect naturally. You can go with mixing 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of baking soda in warm water. This mixture will help you disinfect the floor. The natural component acetic acid in the vinegar helps in killing various bacterias and germs on your surface. Make sure to use EPA-approved disinfectants if you’re going with market products and clean your hands thoroughly after use.
2. Soft Flooring (Carpets and Rugs)
Cleaning of Soft Flooring
The soft floor includes carpets and rugs etc. These have a soft top on them. They require the cleaning depending upon their use. The more foot traffic is there, the more cleaning it needs. While vacuuming, make sure you are moving slowly to suck every dirt and debris you have on the carpets. These slow motions can pick up every mess, including tiny particles of dirt and debris.
Before disinfecting, make sure you have taken away all the dust, dirt, and small messes that are visibly placed on the carpets.
Disinfecting Soft Floors
Disinfecting means killing germs. Disinfecting carpets and rugs is a bit more complicated task than disinfecting hard surfaces. The most appropriate method that is said to use while disinfecting the soft surfaces is with the use of soap and water. Or, if you want to buy some market product, you should go with the products that are made explicitly for the carpets and rugs. Disinfecting the soft floors is quite a lengthy process as compared to the hard surfaces.
The procedure of Disinfecting Soft Floors
After cleaning the carpet through vacuuming, you need to have the spray bottle to spray carpet cleaner directly to the carpet’s surface. Alkaline cleaners are excellent for the use of disinfection in carpets. If you want to use homemade cleaners, you can mix 1/4 cup of chlorine bleach in lukewarm water and make a spray.
Spray the natural mixture or the market product all over the surface of the carpet. Let it stay for a while. You may need to let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes or as written on the instructions on the product. You need to have a carpet extractor if you want to give thorough disinfecting. Add extraction rinse in the carpet extractor’s tank. It is acidic and will neutralize or remove any soap present on the carpet’s surface. Make sure the rug is completely dry before replacing furniture.
Things You Should Be Careful About
- Do not use stiff bristle brushes on your floor.
- Do not use a mop that will drip access water on the floor.
- Do not use harsh chemicals or detergents on your floors.
- Never pour cleaning liquid or soap directly on the floors.
- Make sure to not use any waxed substance for cleaning purposes.
FAQs
How can I disinfect my floor without bleaching?
Hydrogen peroxide can be used as an alternative for bleaching; you can use these hydrogen peroxides as a stable disinfectant. Make sure to use the 3% commercially available hydrogen peroxide for your cleaning purposes.
How can I disinfect my floors naturally?
You are mixing 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of baking soda and one tablespoon dishwasher liquid in 2 gallons of hot water. Mix it thoroughly and dip the mop in it. Use this mop to clean your floor surface.
Does vinegar disinfect floors?
Acetic acid is present in vinegar. It helps you in disinfecting floors because it can destroy bacterias and viruses. This vinegar, when mixed with baking soda and dishwasher, is highly effective against bacterias and viruses (see also ‘How to Clean Tile Floors with Vinegar‘).
Related Floor Guides: Best Cleaners for Floors | How often should the floors be mopped
Concluding Remarks
Frequent and scheduled cleaning is highly suggested in today’s environment to make sure you and your family are living in a highly healthy and germ-free environment. It would help if you cleaned your home thoroughly with proper attention and caring tips and tricks to get properly disinfected floors and surfaces. Cleaning and then disinfecting are the two different and complete procedures needed for the complete removal of the germs. Working on daily sweeping and weekly mopping will help you in getting clean and neat floors. This would not only make you confident about your home and health but also gives you a healthy and happy living. Following the procedures mentioned above attentively for the cleaning of your home would be very effective and efficient in making your home environment clean.
