There may not always be time to completely sweep and mop floors the good old fashioned way, so I want to teach you some mopping techniques that will greatly lengthen the time between needing to do a full mop job. Learn both what it is to spot mop, and how to spot mop to keep your home looking clean and fresh always.
When I was a kid, my mom kept a home that was pristinely clean… like you could probably safely eat off the floors because it was always so spotless.
Considering that I am one of five children, and my mom always had several other kids in her care at the same time, it was quite the feat to keep it that clean.
Anyway, this is one of her old cleaning tips that she passed down to me that I wanted to share with you all to make your lives a bit better/easier too.
We live in a time where I think we go a little too crazy when it comes to cleaning sometimes, trying to keep things disinfected constantly, and I want to teach you how to cut yourself a little slack when it comes to your cleaning routine.
I used to have this insane daily/ weekly/ monthly chore list of things that I had to keep ultra clean, and I know now that me being that controlling about how clean my house was, was really just me having an insane anxiety level that was being left unchecked.
Now that I have taken the time and the effort to work through my personal issues, and have learned to be more calm about my housekeeping regimen, this cleaning tip actually helps me find balance.
Balance in not having to clean every square inch of my tile/hard floors every single time that I see a few spots or smears.
What is spot mopping?
Whether you go here by googling or searching the social medias things like “what is spot mopping”, “spot mopping meaning”, “how to spot mop”, “spot mopping definition”, “what is spot mop cleaning”.
It’s all the same thing and you’re probably wondering if the name of this cleaning method is as common sense as it may sound and the answer is yes.
By “spot mopping” I am referring to cleaning up the spots of mess so that you are pulling out the whole mop and bucket less and less often by keeping up with any spills on a daily or so basis.
Please keep in mind that as I am sharing some of my cleaning tips.
I try to gear them for some of the young adults/teens out there that don’t have anyone around to show them how to do basic simple chores.
Remember, that what may seem like common sense to you, may very well be the answer to a problem that someone has been seeking, so please keep comments nice on whatever social platform you are viewing this.
Let’s say that you swept and mopped your floors yesterday and you are already seeing signs of little messes here and there.
This can happen whether you have pets, kids, roommates or family members, or are even a bit of a slob yourself.
I even have my days that I don’t care that I’m being messy, they are few and far between, but they do happen.
If you keep up on cleaning those spots up, it will make it so that you only have to do the big task of the “Sweep & Mop” every once in a while instead of on a weekly/biweekly/or monthly basis.
The two methods that I like to use to keep up on this mess are:
A: Using a bucket of slightly soapy water and a cleaning rag.
B: Using a spray bottle of my favorite multipurpose cleaner and a cleaning rag.
Both methods are simple and pretty straight forward, and I use both depending on my mood or how much spot mopping I feel like doing.
How to spot mop:
Below I describe the two best ways to do this type of cleaning of cleaning and there is a video that shows me doing the two cleaning methods in action just under it, but make sure to read it too so that you don’t miss anything that I may have forgotten to put in the video (I’m still learning Youtube).
To do method A:
Fill up a bucket, or your sink, with warm water and add either a few drops or so of dish soap, 1/2 Cup of White Vinegar, or a little bit of a cleaning solution such as Pinesol or Sal Suds.
Read on the packaging to determine how much you will need for however much water you are using.
Just pick one of those options, not all three.
Grab a clean cleaning rag and dip it into the water/soap solution.
Wring out all of the excess water (so that it is not dripping wet) and then go around your hard floors looking for areas that need just a little bit of cleaning.
Wipe up any spots, a circular motion is usually best, and continue looking over your hard floors for any other spots that need attention.
Keep repeating this method of cleaning until your floors are looking nice and clean again and make sure to allow them to dry before walking on them again.
I’m kind of lazy when I clean and I like to actually put the rag on the floor and then use my foot to do all the work so that I don’t have to get down on my hands and knees.
I really only recommend doing it this way if you have good balance and maybe even some shoes on that have good traction.
I have great balance, and my tile is not slick, so I just do it with bare feet and swish the rag around over the dirty spots, pressing harder with my toes.
Make sure that if the water in the bucket/sink is getting murky/dirty looking to start fresh as needed.
To Do Method B:
For this method you will need a spray bottle that is filled with your favorite cleaning solution (such as Clorox Anywhere, or a solution of Pine Sol and Water, or even a solution of water and vinegar) and a clean cleaning rag.
Walk around your hard floors until you come upon a messy spot and gently mist the spots with the cleaning solution in the spray bottle.
Allow it to sit for approximately 30 second (which is around the time it takes for a cleaning solution to kill any germs), and then using the rag scrub the spots, in a circular motion until they are gone.
Repeat spraying any spots and wiping them up until the spots are gone. Use a fresh rag or even a towel any time the rag starts looking very dirty as ” you can’t clean something with something that is dirty”.
Make sure to walk around and check the whole room for any other messes that need attention and take care to spray and wipe them down as well.
Allow floors to dry completely before you resume your regular activities on those hard floor areas.
My kids are little slobs, so you will find me spot mopping nearly every other day trying to keep up with the mess.
Which means that I really only have to do a full on timely “Sweep and Mop” maybe only once a month for my family of five.
Which is a huge improvement over my old rigid/dictator-like cleaning schedule that had me doing the full “sweep & mop” twice a week…learning how to chill out has been so wonderful!
My quality of life is so much more calm and enhanced now and I hope that me telling you that you don’t have to clean on a rigid schedule to always have a moderately clean home, will give you enough assurance to let yourself breathe a little too.
Just take your cleaning a day at a time and clean things “as needed”.
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and supporting my endeavors to make people’s lives a little easier/better/more affordable.
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Here are a few of my other cleaning posts that you’re not going to want to miss:
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*This post was originally shared on this website on 02/06/202, & has since been updated to remain relevant, user friendly, provide fresh images, and be as shareable as possible on the social medias.