Healthy Living, Home Care

The Care and Keeping of your Cleaning Supplies

by angelasays

I’ve written about the care and keeping of your home, but what about the care and keeping of your actual cleaning supplies?

Your cleaning supplies scrub out the stains, pick up the debris, and kill all the germs, so it’s important that you also keep your tools as clean as possible. Dirty mop heads, brooms, or scrub brushes can often get filthy, and need to be stored and cleaned correctly in order to effectively clean up your home.

Today I’m going to give you just a few tips to keep your cleaning tools safe and effective at their job.

The mop: The mop is one of the most obvious places that mold can easily grow. Your mop is wet and full of the dirt or debris that you just eliminated from your floors, which can get pretty gross if you let it. If you’re using a traditional mop, the best thing to do is to thoroughly rinse it out once you’re done cleaning, and place it in an old pillow case to put in the washing machine. A pillow case will prevent your mop head from wrapping around other clothes or the washing machine itself. Once the wash cycle is done, pop the pillow case into the dryer and take it out of the pillow case. Place the mop head back on its handle and place in a safe, dry place with the mop head facing up.

The broom: When you notice a build-up of dust and hair on the edges of your broom,  it’s probably not doing a good job of picking up anything off the floor. To clean your broom, vacuum or pull out all debris and hair from the strands. Then, fill a bucket with warm water and soap (if using a straw broom) or bleach (if using a vinyl broom.) Soak the broom for two hours and dry over night with the broom head facing up. When your broom is completely dry, trim off  any frayed edges.

The vacuum cleaner: Although vacuum cleaners don’t require much maintenance, it’s important to change the bags or empty the canisters regularly. Vacuum bags must be changed when they are 1/3 to 1/2 full of dirt in order to work efficiently. Check the beater bar to look for anything that’s wrapped around and remove with your fingers or some scissors. Make sure to check your manufacturer’s guide to ensure a long appliance life.

These are just a few tips to keep your most-used tools from wearing out on you!