Cleaning your cleaning supplies may sound silly, but when you stop and think about it, it makes a lot of sense. The tools you use to clean your home get the brunt of the mess.
If not appropriately kept clean, mops can be one of the dirtiest things in your home. Mops come into contact with much more bacteria-infested water than any other cleaning tool, so it makes sense to take the extra steps needed to keep your mop clean.
Here's how you make sure your mop is clean and sanitized after every use.
Soak and Rise
If you only do one thing to keep your mop clean, let it be a good rinse. After every cleaning session, you should, at the very least, be rinsing off your mop to remove visible dirt.
To take it a step further, you can soak your mop in a mixture of 2 gallons of hot water to 1 cup of bleach.
Let your mop head soak in this mixture for around 10 minutes, then give it another rise before hanging it up to dry.
If you do intend on following through with the bleach soak, make sure your pre-rinse of the mop head is thorough. Mixing chemicals can be dangerous, even in small quantities.
Removable Mop Head? Throw It In The Wash
If you have a removable mop head, most of the time, these can simply be thrown in either the dishwasher or the laundry machine. Check the instructions from the mop manufacturer to see which is best.
If you put it in the dishwasher, make sure there are no dishes in there with it, and add 1 cup of vinegar to the top rack. The water jets will disperse the vinegar once the machine starts running.
If you're going to use the laundry machine instead, make sure you use high heat or a steam setting if you have it. You can use regular laundry soap and bleach if needed.
Once the mop head is clean, wring out all excess water and hang it out to dry.
Things To Be Cautious About
Cleaning your mop is a reasonably straightforward task, but there are still some things that you should be wary of.
First, mold/mildew. Whenever you're dealing with anything wet, you're going to have to consider mold. When you're cleaning your mop head, always make sure it is 100% dry before you put it away into storage. If you hang it up while it's still damp, it can grow mold.
Second, chemical mixing. As we mentioned before, you always need to be careful when mixing chemicals. When you're cleaning your cleaning supplies, the chance of accidentally mixing chemicals is higher than you think. Always rinse your mop thoroughly before adding additional chemicals.
Wrapping It All Up
When it comes to keeping your home clean, the first step is to make sure you have the right cleaning supplies, and that those cleaning supplies are themselves, clean.
You wouldn't wash your dishes with a filthy sponge? You shouldn't clean your floors with a dirty mop either.
Let us know if you have any other methods of keeping your cleaning supplies sanitized int he comments section below!
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