How Often Should Mops be Replaced?

Here’s a fact that will surely leave you wanting to know how often mops should be replaced: your mop heads can contain more than eight million bacteria per 100 square centimeters. That’s hundreds of billions of bacteria that are going straight onto your floors – ripe for the spreading and the multiplying – if you are not careful.

Mops are endlessly useful and newer technologies have been applied to make them more efficient cleaning tools – including antibacterial properties. However, improper handling, cleaning, and delayed replacement of mops make them not only inefficient but major contributors to the spread of potentially harmful bacteria.

That’s why, aside from knowing how to properly use them and clean them, it is just as important to know when it’s time to retire your mops.

How Often Should Mops be Replaced? Spotting the Signs

The most basic principle in knowing when mops need replacement is identifying key indicators of ‘wear and tear’.

As a rule of thumb, mop heads should be replaced after 15 to 30 washings for cotton mops and slightly longer – the approximate equivalent of 500 washings– for more modern microfiber mop heads. However, the frequency of use of the mops largely affect these numbers.

A more foolproof way of knowing when to replace the mops is spotting signs of wear. Generally, your mop heads must be replaced when:

– Parts of the mop head are falling off. Watch out for those little bits of the mop head that come off when cleaning floors or laundering your mop heads.

– When the parts are discolored. Sometimes, signs of discoloration or staining on the mop are due to improper cleaning, but more often than not, it means that the mop heads have reached their expiration point.

– When the fibers are worn or disfigured. This is especially true for microfiber wet and dust mop heads. When the fibers look like old toothbrush bristles or bald spots start to appear, it is a clear indicator that the mops have been worn out and their efficacy is maxed out.

Proper Maintenance of Mop Heads

Like most anything, mop heads need to be properly cleaned and maintained. Here are some tips:

– Wash after every use.

– Wring out after washing.

– Use the right kind of detergent appropriate for the mop head fiber.

– Air dry between uses.

– Store upside down, with the mop head on top as opposed to being left slumped against the floor, in a dry place.

Never run out of your stock of clean mop heads!