TOTW: Kitchen sponges & tea -towels

Tip Of The Week:

Sponges, cloths and tea-towels in the kitchen can be a party venue for bacteria.
I don't like scare mongering, and think that a bit of dirt and bacteria is good for us, but apparently one study found that some sponges contain more bacteria than a toilet seat. And a dirty or damp cloth is the perfect environment for bacteria to grow. So here's how to keep your sponges and tea towels from making you or your family ill:

Always rinse a sponge well after use with hot water, then squeeze as much of the water out of the sponge before leaving it to dry. Leaving a sponge to soak in water is a bacteria cocktail... yuk. You can also pop your sponges in the dishwasher if you have one because dishwashers use much hotter water to help sterilise. And then of course, never keep a sponge too long, give it a a good sniff every now and then to make sure it's still useable, and if you want a greener way that throwing your sponges in the bin often, read this article... there are some great tips.

Tea-towels are just as bad, and perhaps even worse because many of us wipe our hands on them as we go along (guilty over here!) spreading the bacteria. I keep a pile of seven tea-towels in the cupboard which I replenish every week with a batch of seven freshly laundered ones, giving me one tea towel to use for every day of the week. That way as soon as a towel has had enough use I can grab a clean one. Some people might think that replacing a tea towel everyday is a bit OTT, but it depends how much you use them, and what for. You can also have separate tea -towels for separate tasks, but that just confuses me, and I'd rather use them one a day... they are only a small item to add to the laundry load after all. And of course make sure that the tea towel you use to dry your plates or cutlery isn't the tea towel you just used to wipe your hands on after working with meat - eek!
Have a great week!
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Cleaning hard floors

Yesterday I had comment on my blog asking me to share how I clean my floors, and soon after Mandy from The Vintage Kitten blog, asked me specifically about slate floors. Mandy, I too have slate kitchen floors, they are not the easiest flooring to keep clean. But I will be dealing with all sorts of flooring in this post, so feel free to skip to the sections that apply to you in this post.

For any type of hard flooring, daily sweeping is essential in keeping the floors dust free, scratch free (stones brought in from outside under shoes are a big culprit), and will mostly avoid a build up of dirt. The important thing is to use the right type of broom. You can see my post about sweeping floors, and different type of brooms here, so I won't be dealing with sweeping n this post but rather the washing of floors... and cleaning carpets... well that's a whole different post, but I'll put it on my posts to-do list.

Lets' get to it then, below are tips on how to mop, different types of flooring and how to clean them followed by the different types of mops you can get, and what they are best for.

Mopping should be done on a weekly basis to avoid the build up of dirt and grime. Easier said than done, I know - especially with an uneven floor surface like slate tiles. Always, sweep the floor thoroughly, followed by dry dust mopping or vacuuming before wet mopping a floor. You can use two buckets of water - one with a cleaning solution, and another with clear hot water to rinse the mop in. Change the rinsing water when the water becomes dirty. When you have finished cleaning the floor, tie a cloth or an old t-shirt over a dry mop and wipe over the floor (thanks Anthea Turner for this tip!) to dry the floor and avoid streaking or cleaning solution deposits.

Types of flooring:

Sealed laminate floors
This is what we have throughout the majority of our downstairs floor. The first time I cleaned laminate flooring I used dish washing liquid, and couldn't understand why the floor looked dull after I cleaned it. That's because a soapy solution will leave a film on the surface making the floor look dull. The best solution to use is 1 cup of vinegar in a bucket of luke warm water, this is what I use, and it works brilliantly. Tough stains can be removed with denatured alcohol and a soft cloth.

Vinyl & linoleum
Use a pH neutral household detergent such as dish washing liquid, but remember to wash away any soap with clear warm water.

Wood
Sealed with polyurethane
Most wood floor boards nowadays are sealed with polyurethane which is durable. But water should never saturate the surface as it can penetrate the cracks and damage flooring. Use 1/4 cup vinegar to a bucket of water. Avoid oil soaps that can leave a residue attracting dust.

Finished with wax
Use only plain tepid water to wash waxed wooden floors, but make sure the mop is only very slightly damp, not wet. Therefor it's best to use a mop that can be rung out easily and sufficiently so as not to saturate floors. Spills must be wiped up immediately, and small surface scratches can be buffed away with a soft cloth.

Tiles
For almost all types of tiles, avoid an acidic cleaning solution (so for once forget the vinegar) as this can etch glazed surfaces and damage grout. Once again, it's best to use a mild detergent such as good old dish washing liquid, removing soap by following up mopping with warm water.
Unglazed tiles such as terracotta or unsealed slate are very porous, and can be damaged with water spills. These tiles should preferably be sealed, and can benefit from an additional layer of protective wax.

Stone tiles especially should not be washed with an acidic solution. Because stone tiles are often uneven, dirt can become trapped in cracks and crevices. Using a hard bristle broom with uneven bristles (such as a natural corn broom) to sweep the floor with regularly followed by a soft bristle broom to remove finer dust particles should prevent these floors from becoming clogged with dirt. But you will most likely find that a once a year scrub with dish washing liquid and a floor brush is necessary. For mopping, use a string mop which withstands uneven floor surfaces better.

Brick and concrete
As with stone floors, indoor brick or concrete floors need to be glazed to protect the porous surface from staining. Use warm water and a pH- neutral all purpouse cleaner along with a rag or string mop.

Cork
Cork floors are generally sealed with a synthetic plastic like finish. Never let water stand on this floor surface as it can seep in around the edges and cause the cork to swell. Use a well wringed mop that is only slightly damp and a pH neutral cleaning solution.

Have I missed out a type of flooring you would like me to write about? Leave me a comment and I will add it on.

Types of mops

Rag or String mop


The old-fashioned kind of mop. They are great for absorbing big spills immediately and can cover a lot of surface area. They are great for withstanding wear and tear from uneven surfaces and are more likely to get into the crevices to clean them. This is my choice for our slate floor kitchen. You do get rag or string mops that are self-wringing attachment, alternatively use a bucket with a wringer attachment. A cotton-rayon blend rag head will dry quicker than an 100% cotton mop, and looped ends will last longer resisting fraying. These mops also now come in synthetic microfibre mop heads, I've not tried these myself, have you?

Sponge mop


These mops tend to come with a wringer lever so that the mops heads aren't saturated with water, so these mops are best for wooden floors, cork floors, and laminate floors. They are best on flat smooth surface floors, as uneven floors can snag and damage them. Look for these mops in your local supermarket where they sell replaceable mop heads separately for when yours need replacing.

All-in-one mop

Wow, personally I've never come across these, they look great for quick touch-ups! They have an attached container for water and a spray nozzle attached to the head eliminating the need for a bucket. Most all-in-one mops come with disposable cleaning pads, and you can easily attach your own cloth instead. Mopping a large floor surface with one of these would be a bit of a pain as the cleaning pads may need to be replaced or rinsed out quite often. But for small smooth surfaced rooms where a quick mop is needed regularly, this is great.

Dust mop

Also known as dry-mops, can be used in place of a vacuum or soft bristled broom. Unlike brooms, they are often pre-treated to attract dust, rather than spread dust. Before using a dust mop, make sure any wet or sticky spills have been cleaned up. When you're done, shake out the dust, or vacuum the mop.


That's it for today on floors. I hope I've covered everything you might like to know about cleaning floors - but if you have any extra tips you'd like me to add, or anything I might have missed or even got wrong do let me know and I'll add it or correct it.

Now that reminds me, I better go clean our floors!

Next up is my monthly post on pests, and this time, I'm on about fleas. So if you have PETS (and as a result PESTS), then this post will be very handy.
Have a lovely Sunday!

PS: Thanks to Melmel from At Home with Memel who alerted me to the fact that Oxfam in the UK are selling bicarbonate of soda cleaning products and big boxes at great prices. And what a great tip to sprinkle bicarb on a mattress before vacuuming to leave it smelling very fresh! Thanks Melmel!

Many tips on this post was written with the help of the book Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook, a wonderful resource for all sorts of home keeping questions.

'She Sweeps with Many-Colored Brooms'

I happen to stumble across this delightful poem by Emily Dickinson;

She sweeps with many-colored brooms,

And leaves the shreds behind;

Oh, housewife in the evening west,

Come back, and dust the pond!

You dropped a purple ravelling in,

You dropped an amber thread;

And now you've littered all the East

With duds of emerald!

And still she plies her spotted brooms,

And still the aprons fly,

Till brooms fade softly into stars -

And then I come away.

Although not literally referring to coloured brooms, it still got me thinking of the different types of brooms there are. I find great satisfaction in sweeping the floors, perhaps it's a really quick way to tidy up a room (I'm afraid I'm drawn to short-cuts). But different brooms have different uses, and we certainly don't need one of each. So here is a list of brooms and what they're good for, so that next time you're out looking for a broom, you'll know which ones will suit your needs best ... and you thought a broom was a broom? So did I!

1. Indoor Push Broom
This is a wide broom which comes either with synthetic or soft natural bristles. These are great for large indoor areas, and as the name suggests, you push it along. Use long smooth strokes keeping the bristles on the floor as much as possible. If you have rough uneven floor, use a natural bristle broom with stiffer bristles, whereas soft synthetic bristles will be better on a smooth floor surface.

2. Corn Broom
Corn brooms are great for rough surfaces, they will gather leaves, gravel and stones, but wont collect finer particles of dirt. Use this broom on rough stone floors, in the garage, on patios or in mud rooms.

3. Angled Broom

A synthetic broom where the bristles are at an angle. Great for tight spaces, and under the table sweep-ups. This is a broom you can use for those quick daily clean ups.

4. Whisk broom
A natural whisk broom is usually a small triangular broom used for whisking away the dirt on upholstery, carpets, and in hard to reach areas. Synthetic whisk brooms are useful for sweeping up piled dirt into a dust pan. I use a course whisk broom to sweep dirt off our carpeted stairs if I'm not in the mood lug the vacuum cleaner with me.

5. Hearth broom

Similar to a whisk broom but a bit longer, and as the name states you clean the fireplace hearth with it. It's best to choose a hearth broom where the bristles are closer together than that of a whisk broom.

6. Rubber broom

You might have seen one of these in a hairdressers because of their static nature, so this is a handy one if you have a moulting pet. They can be used for dry sweeping, wet spills, carpets and as a bonus are easy to clean. I wouldn't use one of these as my only broom, because I'm rather partial to a soft natural bristle broom, but they are very useful.

7. Electric broom
Considered by many as the 'lazy' broom, but really it's very handy in houses with large hard floor surfaces and wonderful for people with bad backs or mobility problems. If you are considering one, a cordless version is best.

8. Outdoor Push Broom
Great for sweeping up on outdoor paths, driveways and patios where pushing the dirt is more effective than gathering it. Look for one with two holes on the base so that the angle of the stick can be switched around for even ware.

And if the basic plastic/wooden broom and accessories just don't do it for you- take a look at this exciting selection of sweeping goods. Goodness, who knew brooms could be exciting!?

Left to right:

Row 1: These spotty brooms will cheer up your housework, from Love Etc; A wonky handled broom from the crookedshoppe, brilliant; A very pretty vintage dustpan from Shopambrosia.

Row 2: Mini whisk brooms from Justamere tree farm; A pretty pink and green broom available from Betterware; A King and Queen dust pan and brush set from the French company Pylones.

Row 3: A cheery dustpan available in different patterns from Decorative Things; Ooh, a 5 slot broom organiser from Organize-It; And finally Palumba on Etsy do these sweet children's brooms, get those kids sweeping up their crumbs

That's it for now. I'll be posting gain in a couple of days time, watch out for my post on how we can clean and organise our refrigerators.

Hope to see you soon

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