Once upon a time, when a floor needed to be cleaned, the person cleaning (usually Mom) would get down on hands and knees with a bucket and large sponge and spend an hour or more cleaning the whole thing until it sparkled. These days, we have Swiffer Wetjet. Oh how things have changed! But if you talk to some people, the tried-and-true methods are still the best. So we’re going to run you through a quick course on how to mop.

Step 1: Mop the Floor Last

The first step on understanding how to mop is to sweep or vacuum the floor and remove the dry dirt. If you want to get real correct you need to first clean everything else that will deposit dirt on said floor then do the dry mop step. We clean top to bottom for a reason: dust and dirt settle. If you mop and then dust, you’ll end up with a brand-new layer of dirt on your freshly cleaned floor. Save yourself the trouble and clean everything else first. Then vacuum or sweep your floors. Doing both in partnership is probably a better choice, since brooms fit best into tight corners and along floorboards, but vacuums pick up those things you might not see (or be able to catch with your dustpan). Believe us when we say that Step 1 is the most important step. Once you get the floor damp while mopping it is much more difficult to get up the dry items that you may have missed.

Step 2: Choose Your Weapons

No matter what you prefer on how to mop your floor, you’re going to need some essentials: a bucket of water, soap or cleaner, and a cleaning tool. Your water should be warm to hot (not too hot if you’re going to be putting your hands into it, of course). Choose your soap according to your preferences and what type of floor you have. For a wood floor, a wood oil such as Murphy’s Oil Soap works well; for a tile or linoleum floor, Pine Sol or something similar can work. If you’re into green options, you can choose straight water or add a minimal cleaner such as natural soap or even essential oils. You may also want to look at what the manufacturer of your floor suggests.

There is debate on which cleaning weapon is best: a mop or a sponge… and you’ll probably receive some mixed responses when you ask people, even if those people are professional cleaners. And even if you choose a mop over the more labor-intensive sponge, which one should you choose? Your best bet is a corded mop option, as opposed to those noodle-style mops; they just push around water and don’t really clean much. If you get a mop head with a scrubber, that will help you get the tough stains and spots on the floor without having to get on your knees. We personally like twist-style mops like the Rubbermaid Twist Action. They are easy to use and convenient and provide enough “oomph” for those rough spots. The standard commercial grade mop and bucket like these are also a fine choice. While they clean well and cover more area than most mops, they are more expensive and take up more storage space.

If you want to go old school and scrub with your whole body, knee-pads are a great idea. They’ll protect you from the hard floor, which really hurts after about 15 minutes crawling around on it. You’ll also want long gloves. Choose a larger sponge so you can cover more area with less exertion. But our take is to skip the Cinderella reenactments and go with the mops mentioned above.

Keep in mind what floor type you are cleaning. Tile and more sealed up floors can handle more water used on them while floors with seams and cracks like hardwood require more caution and awareness. If you are doing standard mopping (i.e. with a water solution) on hardwood or similar remember to wring out the mop or sponge very well. When you mop on this floor type it should only be damp on the surface with no standing puddles.

Step 3: Deep Cleaning

If you have a wood floor or tiles, you should consider some regular deep cleaning outside of your weekly mopping sessions. By “deep,” we mean hiring someone to come in and use the heavy-duty cleaners to get into the grout between tiles or sand and refinish the wood. Depending on how hard you are on your floors, this extra step might need to be taken every six months or every couple of years.

If even the thought of cleaning floors or learning how to mop in real practice makes you break out into a cold sweat, don’t worry: Moxie Girl has you covered. Let us take the guesswork out of what to use and how to mop by hiring us to come to your home and get rid of the dirt.

Back in the days when many people lived on farms, it was understood that families had children to help plant and sow the crops. Children didn’t argue; it was part of the daily life that chores for kids started before sun up and often didn’t end until the evening. Now, though, with TV, Nintendo, and every other distraction out there, forget about getting kids to take out the garbage, let alone till the backyard garden. So the big question remains: How do you get kids to help with housework? Luckily, Moxie Girl has some ideas!

Start Early

As with any other habit, it’s always good to start children early, and especially when it comes to chores for kids. Two- and three-year-olds enjoy being helpful and will happily put toys in a bin when it’s part of a game. And at that age, it should be. Include your toddler in the cleanup with simple preschool songs, such as “clean up, clean up, everybody clean up.” They’ll be eager to make you happy and continue to play while putting things away.

You can also give younger children one or two steps to clean, such as collecting garbage bins, washing off a window or countertop  or putting clothes in their drawers. Naturally, if you have children involved in using cleaning supplies, be sure you only buy those that are derived from organic and natural ingredients, and supervise the little ones while using them.

School Age and the Onset of Chores

When your younger children get a bit older and start school, they are ready to take on daily or weekly chores. Have them let out or walk the dog, feed the goldfish, and make their bed. Again, keep the activities light and fun and you’ll have more success. You may also tie regular chores to a reward system; this is a good time to start an allowance. Children aged 6–10 are ready to learn about the responsibility of earning, saving, and spending money and how there’s a direct correlation between completing what’s expected of them and receiving compensation.

To get the kids more involved, you can choose chores together and create a chart that they can see so they know what to do. Once your school-age children can read, this will have the added benefit of helping them practice a number of skills.

Teenagers, or the End of Chores

On the farm, teenagers were expected to work as hard as the adults, but good luck with that in the 21^st century! Getting teenage kids to help with housework can be a chore even the toughest parent doesn’t want to take on! A reward system can continue to work with teenagers, especially as they want to be out of the house with their friends more. Tell your 16+ kids that they cannot use the car until their household expectations are completed, or no sleepover until their room and bathroom are spotless. Also, if your older kids don’t have jobs, this is a great time to link chores with allowance, docking their pay when to-do items aren’t completed in a timely manner. Head over to a great post provided by Focus on the Family that lays out a great chore list by the age of your child.

It’s All About Life Expectations

While it’s definitely a benefit to have extra hands to do the dishwashing, toilet scrubbing, and vacuuming, more than anything, you’re setting up your children with life skills by giving them chores from the get go. Once they’re on their own, no one is going to wash, press, and fold their clothes for them. And young adults are often left helpless when they go off to college, especially if they’ve never had to do anything for themselves and aren’t sure where to start. You’re providing them building blocks for a lifetime of self-sufficiency. All by asking them to take out the trash.

Have you ever thought your house was so dirty or disorganized that there was the possibility that you could lose something valuable and not even notice? While that probably won’t happen by missing a few weeks of vacuuming, avoiding dealing with your house cleaning and clutter can be less than ideal. A family in Brazil learned this after losing their pet tortoise 30 years ago—only to recently find him living in their cluttered upstairs thriving on termites. Check out the full story here.

Despite the story’s happy ending, it highlights the long-term impact of avoiding your housework. Eliminate these added stressors by partnering with the Moxie Girl Phoenix house cleaning and organization experts.

Emotional Drain

Losing a pet is heartbreaking, but your loss doesn’t have to be a living thing to qualify as emotional. Whether it’s a piece of heirloom jewelry or tearing through every closet because you can’t remember what’s crammed behind the bursting doors, it’s costing you time and causing you stress. Eliminate the anxiety by enlisting some cleaning and organization experts to conquer your mess. If not Moxie Girl please choose someone as your pets life may be at stake.

Health and Safety

In the case of the tortoise story, a pet lived thanks to the termites feasting on the upstairs clutter. While this is an extreme case, it’s a reminder that cleaning and organization keep your household safe and help eliminate any surprises about who or what is hiding in your house. A regular visit from the Moxie Girl Phoenix house cleaning team will keep your family healthy, plus reduce the safety risk piles of clutter pose.

Burden to Others

It’s one thing to have your own messy or disorganized house to deal with, but what about your friends and family? While the Moxie Girl house cleaning specialists are happy to help make sense of your home, what happens if there’s a need for other family members to become involved with the clean-up process? The volume of work is not only an added stress on your family relationships, but potentially embarrassing for you.

Before you lose your mind in your home’s disorganized state, let house cleaning and organization experts keep you from being buried in physical and emotional clutter. At Moxie Girl, we will construct a plan that meets your project’s needs and keeps your home safely habitable—and all pets accounted for!