Common home cleaning mistakes

We can hear the exasperated, “It’s just cleaning my house. How hard
can it be?” As simple as cleaning may be, it’s easy to make these common home cleaning mistakes. We understand. We’ve, ahem, even made some of these mistakes ourselves…and we’ve certainly seen the effects of common home cleaning mistakes. There’s the customer who used a steam cleaner to clean her wood floors and was left with water damage. The carpeting that doesn’t need carpet cleaning, it needs fibers back because of an overambitious vacuum cleaner. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of common home cleaning mistakes, so you can learn from some of the most frequent errors made in the name of cleanliness:

1. Scrubbing carpet stains. Do you apply some serious elbow grease into scrubbing those pet stains, spilled juice or muddy footprints? You may be damaging your carpet fibers. Next time you need to clean up carpet stains, blot at your carpet with a moist cloth to remove the spill.

2. Mopping (or steam cleaning) your wood floor with water. Repeat after us: water and wood do not mix. Sitting water is the enemy for wood floors, causing water damage and warped floor boards. To clean your floors, use a cleaner and soft dust mop to clean up spills and give your floors a new shine. Please don’t use a steam cleaner on your floors. If you want to know why, read our recent post on steam cleaners and wood floors.

3. (Sort of ) deep cleaning your carpets. It’s so tempting to rent a cleaner and declare your carpets clean. Unfortunately, very few rent-a-cleaners can get your carpets as clean as a professional carpet cleaning.

5. Being unintentionally abrasive. Is that sponge the right tool for your cleaning? What effect will that cleaner have on the tile you’re cleaning? Don’t go into a cleaning job without knowing if you are going to damage that flooring, countertop, table or other surface you’re cleaning.

6. Using a vacuum cleaner that damages your new carpet. Today’s vacuum cleaners are all about increasing suction, and that’s not always a good thing. Are you unintentionally damaging your carpet with a vacuum cleaner with too much suction—and voiding your warranty? Read our blog post to make sure you’re not making this common cleaning mistake, and getting yourself into hot water with your carpet manufacturer in the process.

If you don’t know how to clean your new flooring, or your new-to-you-flooring, don’t be afraid to ask. Send us a message or post on our Facebook page, send us an email, give us a call or stop in at a Y’s Way Flooring in Watertown, Oconomowoc or Lake Mills. We can help you clean your floor—without causing damage or making an unintentional common cleaning mistake.