Why are My Hardwood Floors Still Dirty After Mopping?

Owning a house seems fun until you realise that it requires constant cleaning. You have to clean the kitchen, the bathroom, the garden – you name it, the cleaning seems endless. But do you know what makes it worse? Cleaning floors that never seem to look clean. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve cleaned it once or a hundred times in a day, it constantly looks dirty. With that in mind, you may be wondering why your hardwood floors are still clean after mopping. Well, here’s your answer.

PS. If you have unsealed floors and are wondering if vinegar safe to use on unfinished hardwood?, we have the answer for you.

Why Is My Hardwood Floor Still Dirty After I Have Mopped It?

The short answer is that there are a number of different reasons. It can be caused by the cleaning chemicals you are using, nature and bad ventilation in the air.

Having a daily cleaning routine can be helpful to make your floors look cleaner, and it’s important to use the right cleaning products that aren’t going to leave residues or films on the floor. Now, here’s the individual reasons in more depth.

Nature

The main problem when it comes to cleaning your floor is that nature has other ideas. You may find that particles of dust and dirt come in from the outside, and then they settle onto the floor in no time. This is made even worse if you leave the doors or the windows open. Particles can come onto your floor much more easily when the doors or windows are open. Then you have the issue that your dust from your skin can linger on the floor. You lose hair and skin on a regular basis, so it’s obvious that it’s going to end up back onto some surface of your home.If you have pets, you can expect your floors to look even messier. Even pets that don’t shed a lot will still leave dirt all over your beautiful hardwood floors.

Certain Cleaning Products

You would think that cleaning products will keep your floors clean, but that’s not always necessarily the case.

In some cases, you can make your floors even dirtier by using the wrong types of cleaning products. This is because some floor cleaners include chemicals and additives, and these can put a lot of residue onto the floor.

The more you use the cleaner, the more layers of the residue will build up onto the floor. This can make your floor lose some of it’s shine, and it’ll just look perpetually dirty. What can you do to avoid this issue? Well, you can make sure that you avoid using cleaning products that have wax or oils in them. These cause residues to build up, which is something that is best avoided.

Air Filters

Dust is going to build up very easily if you have a HVAC system in your home. HVAC systems are useful, but they can also spread dust around your home very easily. For this reason, it’s incredibly important to ensure that the HVAC system is well maintained to ensure that the amount of dust getting into your home is limited. In order to prevent the amount of dust you get in your house thanks to the air filters, you simply need to clean the vents every 2 or 3 years or so. This will also be beneficial for the sake of your breathing.

Lots Of Traffic

If you’re finding that your floors always look dirty, it may be because you get a lot of foot traffic in those specific areas. This means that you’re more likely to get dirt building up in the area in question.

It can be much harder to keep these places clean. Areas like hallways and bathrooms are especially likely to suffer from this problem.

How To Keep Your Hardwood Floors Clean

There are a few things that you can do in order to keep the floors clean.If the area is subject to a lot of foot traffic, then the first thing that you can do is get a runner or a rub to go in the hallways. These will help you to get rid of any debris and dirt that may come from a person’s shoes and feet. It’s less likely to end up on your hardwood floors as a result.You should also try to keep your windows in your house closed. While that breeze in your home may be nice, it’s not doing your hardwood floors any good.You can also take some preventative measures. Having a regular cleaning schedule is one of the best things that you can do in order to avoid your floors getting dirty. First of all, ensure that you regularly sweep the floors.

Once you have done this, you can mop the floor once a week. All you need is a mix of warm water and some vinegar and your floors will be looking as good as new.You will need to mix 2 gallons of water with a cup of vinegar. Just dampen the mop a little bit – there’s no point in putting too much water in the mop. You don’t want the water to get underneath the floorboards because it’s dripped in between the crevices and gaps. This can cause some big and potentially expensive problems later down the line.If you don’t want to sweep the floors every day, a vacuum cleaner can often work just as well. You can even get robot vacuum cleaners that will connect to your phone, helping to keep the house clean without you even needing to lift a finger.Basically, your hardwood floors should be kept clean on a daily basis. Ensure that you are using the right products and you’re not inviting any unnecessary dust into your home. If you do this then you can be sure that your floors will look fantastic and clean all the time.