3 Tips for Maintaining Your Floors in the Southern States

When owning or even renting a home, it can be hard to maintain the cleanliness of the floors. All kinds of things can stain your hardwood or carpeted floors, from mud, grass, pets, food and drink—especially here in the South where outdoor life is often brought in and no one is a stranger.

Carpets are incredibly susceptible to stains, which isn’t ideal when you have pets, small children or work outside and tend to bring dirt in on your shoes and clothes. Plus, since carpet is fabric, there is a good chance that some odors can cling to the fibers of the floor. 

However, there’s no need to lose hope or switch to cement. Here are some tips to help you get your floors as clean as possible.

Homemade Carpet Solutions

There is an endless amount of carpet cleaners on the market, but that does not mean they are the most effective cleaning substance. Homemade solutions from services like alldryus.com, who operate in Texas, North Carolina, Florida and further, can rid your carpet of nasty smells forever. 

If your home suffers from stubborn mold or mildew odors in the carpet, a mixture of white vinegar, warm water and baking soda in a spray bottle are all that you need. This solution is handy, but you should only use it after thoroughly scrubbing the area and removing all the mold mildew.

For pet stains and odors, dish soap is the top-recommended choice. This method is especially useful for pet urine. After scrubbing the area clean with dish soap, applying baking soda can absorb the dampness and soap. After spraying the stain with a white vinegar mixture, your carpet should be good to go.

You want to treat deep smells first by blocking off the area of the stain, covering the spot with isopropyl alcohol and allowing it to soak in for at least 15 minutes. After a good few minutes of drying with the fan, your carpet should be spotless and odor-free.

Develop a Schedule

If you want to keep your floors clean on a regular basis, then it may be time to develop a schedule for maintenance.

You want to perform activities like dusting and sweeping daily or every other day since dust and pet fur can build up quickly. You should vacuum and mop every week in order to remove a week’s worth of dirt and spills.

Polishing, although not essential for every floor type, is a task you can do monthly to get your floors looking shiny. Consider investing in a floor polisher, which will help you to make your floor clean and shine. Finally, at least once a year, you should be deep cleaning your floors. You can have this done professionally, or if you have the know-how and the time, you can do it yourself.

If your floor has entirely worn out, then you may want to replace it. Refinishing hardwood every three to five years will increase their longevity and ensure your rooms are guest-ready at all times.

Use Mats

When you are afraid of a particular area of your floor getting too dirty, put down a mat. Mats will absorb dirt from muddy boots and paws and can be cleaned regularly. The amount of dirt on your floors will be reduced by putting out some foot mats by your doorways.

For the more high-traffic areas of your home, it may be necessary to place more mats or clean them more often. Also, put down mats or blankets where your pets like to play and sleep to further protect your home.

In your busy schedule, it may be hard to stop and worry about deep cleaning your floors monthly or vacuuming weekly. However, to maintain and extend the life of your hardwood floors or carpet, it is essential to do regular maintenance as well as bigger upkeep jobs.

Dirty feet and muddy footprints are a hazard for home flooring in many households, but don’t panic. A little elbow grease and some protective barriers will prevent you from needing to recover your floors prematurely.