I’ve just swept and mopped. Once the floor dries, I could easily go sweep again and turn up more dust and dirt. If I were to mop again, I’m almost certain the water in my bucket would be filthy. It feels like it’s never actually clean.
Beyond that, there’s dusting, cleaning windows, sinks, countertops, bathrooms, and probably things I don’t even consider. How do you all stay on top of these things?
Of all the items you’ve listed, I personally rank floors as the most important to clean, followed by bathrooms, countertops, sinks, windows, and finally dusting. These are in order of which are used more frequently and how easily they’d be noticed. A dirty window (on the outside) is rarely dirty enough to outright block the sunlight, but grime on the floor will be tracked into other rooms, worsening the issue. Bathrooms are used daily, so would bother me if they’re not at least reasonably seemly.
For keep floor clean, the zeroth step is to prevent dirt and grime from coming in at the onset. A shoes-off policy in the home is probably the most substantial in this effort. That’s not to say you have to go barefoot – although I do think it’s quite nice – since indoor slippers or shoes are an option. The next step would be to rip out all wall-to-wall carpet, if possible. I have a full rant about the drawbacks of carpet, but it will suffice to say that carpet traps dust and dirt whereas hard surfaces like tile or laminate do not.
After that, you may need to identify what exactly is dirtying your floors. If it’s loose particulate (eg food crumbs), that’s going to need a different solution than if it’s loose hairs, which is different than dust or clothes threads. Crumbs or hair might suggest localized sweeping in the kitchen or bathroom will be most effective, while dust or threads suggest you need to adjust your clothes dryer settings, or your central air system needs a new/different filter.
The thing to keep in mind with all this is that grime does not come from nowhere: there is always a source, and the evidence will lead you to what’s most effective to keep your home maintained. Even if you conclude that the dust is fallout from the nearby coal-burning power station, there will still be things you can do, such as
campaigning for a fossil-fuel free worldelectrostatic air filters or keeping doors closed when not needed.Also, carpets wear, and generate dust themselves. Think of all the lint you find in a dryer, and compare the area of your clothing to the area of carpet.
I didn’t include it in my original comment because it’s kind of tangential, but carpets also trap rusty staples and – very strangely – rusty finish nails. Over six years, my feet have found dozens of these staples and nails twisted within my house’s carpet, each of a shape which I have never owned.
I honestly don’t know what the previous owners of this place did, but I recently had every shred of carpet ripped out and replaced with wood-look tile. I bought myself some indoor slippers for winter and haven’t looked back since.
I use the concept of “vectors”, but it’s basically what you’re saying. Floors are a primary vector, clean floors will help keep other things clean. Another example, you can think of say e-coli on your kitchen counter and see your cat as a vector for the e-coli to get from the litter box to the counter. Oh, dirty hands are another huge one.