Floor cleaning is an unavoidable fact of life for most of us, whether it's carpets, tiles or wood floors they all need to be washed at some point, some more often than others.  It is a tedious job at the best of times, so making sure you go about floor cleaning in the most effective way is always a good idea.

The first thing to consider is the type of floor you are about to clean. There is no point in approaching carpet with a bucket and mop, likewise trying to clean tiles with a carpet cleaner. Each type of flooring has a specific type of cleaner that works best on it and to get great results it is advisable to use the right cleaner.

Carpets should be hoovered regularly, and maybe once a year given a thorough deep clean with specialist carpet cleaning equipment to help prolong it's life and keep it in great condition.  Wooden floors should be washed very carefully as using too much water can lead to damage.  There are specialist wood cleaners for wood flooring, and also for laminate flooring, which also needs to be washed very carefully as too much water can cause the top layers to peel back and will eventually lead to panels needing replacement. The cleaners that are designed for these floors are gentle enough to clean them but won't attack their surface.  Then there are tiled floors, which can be washed using multi-purpose cleaner as they are hard-wearing.  There are now many great floor cleaners out there that don't require you to rinse the floor after you have washed it which saves a great amount of time. Providing you follow the dilution instructions carefully you can have shiny clean floors in one mopping.

General hints that can be applied to all types of washable flooring, are things such as making sure your mop and bucket are clean before you start out, there is no point washing a floor with a dirty mop. This should also be applied while washing the floors - regularly changing the water if you are washing a large surface area avoids streaks and dirty lines appearing when the floor dries.  Always start washing from the corner of the room furthest away from the door, making your way back to the door as you wash, this way you won't find yourself stuck in a corner with your mop and bucket surrounded by freshly washed and wet floor.  Using hot water, especially on tiles means that they will dry quicker meaning they can be walked on sooner, be careful of using very hot water on wood or laminate flooring though as they can absorb it easier and this may lead to water damage.

Using these few handy hints can help make floor cleaning easier and quicker, and will hopefully mean you don't dread the floor wash quite as much next time it comes round.