Manual floor cleaners come in all shapes and sizes from brooms to carpet sweepers to mops. Manual cleaning requires physical effort to get the floors clean.
About Manual Floor Cleaners
The ultimate manual cleaner is you. You can clean your floors on your hands and knees with a bucket and soapy water, with a broom to sweep, with a mop to wash or with a carpet sweeper. You can even clean your carpets using spray foam cleaners, mops and air drying. The standard for cleaning tile floors is to sweep away all the trash, dust and debris followed by a good warm, soapy wash and a rinse with clean water.
The problem with manual floor cleaning is that it takes a lot of time. You can't run through the room in five minutes with a vacuum. If there are heavy duty stains on the floor, it's your effort, not the machine's that gets up the grime. The image of a woman on her hands and knees with the bucket of soapy water and a sponge for cleaning is associated with fairy tale grunt work more than modern day house cleaning.
Ecologically Friendly
Manual floor cleaning is one way to participate in ecologically friendly house cleaning solutions. Ideally, you will use green cleaning products for your carpets and your hard surface area floors (tile, wood, laminate). Manual cleaning uses no electricity and you are going to be more circumspect about the cleaning products and water usage.
Daily Sweeping
Manual floor cleaners require that you sweep the floor every day, this includes carpeted areas. While you may be able to skirt lightly trafficked areas, manual cleaners know that accumulation can lead to grime build up. If you have pets, manual sweeping may already be a part of your daily routine.
Weekly mopping is a must for all high traffic areas, particularly in the kitchen. The floors around your cooking area will be inevitably splashed with food, sauces and any cooking fats or grease. This area can build up tremendously into a caked on mess that requires scraping as well as scrubbing if you don't keep it cleaned regularly.
Quick Tip: Keep a wet sponge at hand while cleaning to wipe up messes as they happen before you need degreasers.
Carpet Cleaners, Vacuums and More
So if you clean your floors manually does that mean you can't use a vacuum or steam cleaner? Of course you can. Manual floor cleaning is ideal for daily cleaning, staying on top of the chores and conserving energy. Pet owners in particular are going to want to vacuum at least once per week (cat hair and dander) as is anyone who owns carpet.Carpet free homes will have more options where the vacuum is concerned, but heavy accumulations of dust, hair and dander can aggravate allergies and leave your floors looking dull, no matter how often you clean them.
More Floor Cleaning Options
Learn more about cleaning specific types of floors:
- Vinegar to Clean Hardwood Floors
- Homemade Hardwood Floor Cleaner
- Mannington Wood Floor Cleaner
- Mannington Ultra Clean
- How to Steam Clean Hardwood Floor
