If you are living in a hall of residence, you mayfind that cleaners very kindly clean your kitchen floor once a week. But you may also notice that a mop and bucket are included in the cleaning items provided. Why is that? It's because cleaners are there to clean the corridors and stairs, and to check that your flat is generally kept in a reasonably clean condition, but they arenot there to clean up after you. Kitchen floors in shared accommodation quickly get very dirty and may need to be cleaned more than once a week.

In private accommodation you and the people you share with are probably responsible for cleaning your kitchen floor, and obviously so if you are sharing a house. If you have an en suite shower room you will be responsible for cleaning it yourself, and you will probably have noticed that it has got a floor. The floor needs cleaning as well as the shower, toilet and basin.

So, how do you go about doing it?

This is what you need:
A mop and bucket
Hot water
Multi purpose liquid cleaner (not a spray)
A floor cloth or sponge (optional - see notes about mops)
Kitchen paper
Spray cleaner
Rubber or disposable gloves
A sweeping brush
Dustpan and brush

Some notes about mops

There are 2 main types of mop and if one is provided in your accommodation, the most sensible thing would be to use that one.

A rag mop needs to be used with a special kind of bucket that has a wringer attached to the top. You dip the mop into water in the bucket and then put it into the wringer where you twist and press to get rid of excess water before washing the floor. Some rag mops have a piece attached to the mop which slides up and down and will squeeze out the excess water without the need for a bucket attachment.

A sponge mop has a flat surface and replacement sponges can be bought. You can exert more pressure onto the flat surface than you can with a rag mop. You dip the sponge into the water and then use a lever on the side of the mop to squeeze out excess water.

But there is a better way! If you have a sponge mop it is easier and more hygienic to use a separate floor cloth or sponge (available from supermarkets, Wilko, Poundland etc). Using gloves,dip the cloth or sponge into the hot water, squeeze to remove excess water and place on the floor. Now use the flat surface of the mop to push the cloth over the floor. You can rinse out your cloth well at the end of the cleaning process and replace it when it gets grubby.

This is what you do:

1.     Remove as much furniture and other objects as you can from the floor to give yourself space to clean.

2.     Sweep the floor with the long handled brush and collect up all the bits with the dustpan (or you could use a vacuum cleaner). For your en suite shower room floor the dustpan and brush/vacuum cleaner will be sufficient.

3.     Measure an appropriate amount of cleaning liquid into the bucket. Half a bucket is about 5 litres so you will probably need 1 or 2 cap fulls of liquid (that's the bottle cap, not cup!)

4.     Half fill the bucket with hot water, the hotter the better, but don't burn your hands!

5.     Starting in a corner of the room furthest from the door,use either your mop or a floor cloth and mop to clean the floor (see notes above). Apply pressure to the mop to remove the dirt. Rinse out the mop or cloth frequently in the hot water.

6.     If there are any especially dirty or sticky patches, use a spray cleaner and kitchen paper first to remove them and then mop afterwards.

7.     Leave the floor to dry and then replace furniture.

8.     If you are cleaning your en suite shower room, you may find it easier to dispense with the mop and just use a floor cloth and the bucket of water. This is a "down on your knees"  job, so use a folded towel to kneel on. While you are down there, use your spray cleaner to spray well around the base of the toilet and up the sides and wash it all down well with the cloth.

9.     Tip the dirty water down the toilet (not the kitchen sink). Rinse out the floor cloth if you used one and hang it up to dry. Put away the mop and bucket.