How Often Should You Be Cleaning Your Floors?

The condition of your floors often dictates the overall cleanliness of your home. If your rugs and carpets are dirty, chances are that dirt will eventually get kicked up into the air, onto your couches, and between your sheets. The same goes for hardwood floors—getting them spotless will go a long way toward fighting the airborne irritants that could wreak havoc on your health come allergy season. 

So, how often should you clean your floors to make sure they’re free of dust, dander, and allergens? Every home is different, but Mental Floss and Roborock have teamed up to bring you the universal rules of thumb to follow, no matter what kind of floors you have. 

How Often You Should Clean Carpets and Rugs

Rugs and carpets are notorious for holding onto all sorts of gross particles—and the longer you neglect cleaning, the deeper these microscopic intruders embed themselves into the fabric’s fibers. To prevent things from getting out of hand, you should be vacuuming carpets and rugs twice a week to make sure all that unpleasantness gets sucked up. If a room sees a lot of foot traffic, feel free to vacuum more frequently. No need to worry about carpets being damaged from over-vacuuming—most modern vacuums are designed to prevent that. Plus, the dirt and grime will do a lot more lasting damage to your carpets than vacuuming ever will. 

How Often You Should Clean Hardwood and Tile Floors

The good news about hardwood and tile floors is that they don't trap a mess the same way carpets and rugs do, so in most rooms, you can just vacuum them once a week. But that doesn’t mean it’s a simple job: It’s important to make sure you’re being thorough and paying close attention to the crumbs that get caught in between floorboards and in tight corners. 

There are caveats to this once-a-week rule, however. With a busy room like a kitchen, you should increase that amount to two or three times a week. And if you or a loved one suffers from allergies, you could also boost your frequency a bit to make sure your floors are as spotless as they can be. 

Conversely, for rooms that don't see many feet (like a formal dining room or guest room), you can cut back to vacuuming once every two weeks. The same rules apply for mopping: At least once a week in high-traffic rooms, and dial it back a bit for the others. 

Whether you’re cleaning hardwood or carpet, the important thing is to be consistent—if you’re using a robot vacuum capable of automated cleanings, set it to a fixed schedule to ensure your floors will always get done on specific days and at specific times to help keep your home dust- and allergen-free. 

What if You Have Pets?

You probably guessed the answer to this question already: You're going to need to vacuum more often. Some experts even think you should vacuum every single day if you have a pet because of all the hair and dander they leave behind. And be aware that dogs and outdoor cats often track extra mud and other unwelcome dirt back into the house, so make sure to pay extra attention to any spots they like to hang out on. 

Don't Forget to Clean the Vacuum 

Yes, your vacuum needs attention, too. Most importantly, you should empty your vacuum’s dustbin after every use to prevent it from filling up in the middle of a job. This is also the best time to make sure the brushes are free of tangled hair. Then, every month or so, clear out the vacuum’s filters (and consult the instruction manual to determine when they need to be replaced). That might sound like a lot of work, but a clean vacuum is the first step to a clean home. 

Roborock has a line of robot vacuums designed to meet any of your cleaning needs. If you want to eliminate the stray dirt, dust, and pet hair that lurk in your home, there’s the Roborock Q5 robot vacuum. In addition to its 2700Pa of suction power, this model allows you to customize your cleaning routine, targeting specific rooms at specific times in order to take care of problem areas whenever they’re in need of a clean. Next is the Roborock Q5+, which includes all of those features as well as an Auto-Empty Dock Pure function that empties the vacuum’s dustbin all on its own. And if you need a robot vacuum that also mops your floors, check out the Roborock Q7+ and the Roborock Q7 Max+, the latter of which comes with an auto-emptying function.