Mopping floors without hurting the back is the most-expected way for anyone to relieve the horrible pain. But it may require some techniques. So you may now be eager to learn how to mop floors without hurting your back and those techniques too.
Starting mopping with any handheld tools is an excellent way to get relief from back pain. Regarding this, keeping the entire body straight and driving the mop handle by following the backward-forward motion lets anyone finish the task productively. This is the key to painless and comfortable mopping.
To introduce you to these techniques, I research some blogs, physician advice, and the cleaning experts’ suggestions. So finish this article from top to bottom to become acquainted with many things about this affair.
9 Best Techniques For Mopping Floors Without Hurting Your Back
Back pain is a common physical ailment. You can’t beat this pain without following any techniques. Here are some prominent techniques for mopping floors without hurting your back:
Technique 1: Keep Your Back Straight While Sweeping
The best way to mop the floor without hurting your back is to keep it straight. Do not bend your shoulders too much. Allow both hands to move perpendicularly. Let it move the way you’re allowed the broom to be circulated.
Technique 2: Push The Mop With The Whole Body
This is the second technique to mop the floor without hurting the back. Try to push the mop with your whole body. Hold the mop handle lower as much as possible. Give your whole strength to move the mop and don’t move your back with the motion of the mopping pad.
Technique-3: Use A Lightweight Mop To Sweep The Floor
One of the most significant issues that make your back pain is mopping. Mopping is the only thing where you will need to do a lot of physical feats. While you will go to mop the floor, you need to twist, bend your knees, and reach to clean the critical areas.
Before going to explain the ideas, let me clear you one thing. I am not a professional physiotherapist, but I feel back pain. I used to change my strategy to mop the floor. That’s why I use a long and flattened mopping brush. It may not be overweight. A heavy-duty mop will hold much water so that you need to bend over to wring out the floor.
In this case, you must find something lightweight which does not bear much water. Avoid filling the bucket with a lot of water. Fill it while you’re sure that the water is enough to wet the mop. Excessive water will make the mop over weighty.
Technique-4: Avoid To Bend Your Back At The Mid Of The Work
Do not bend your back in the middle of the work. Try to keep it straight as much as possible. Focus on keeping your hand straight and using shorthand to sweep the floor. In that case, you can use the long handle dust broom or mopping brush.
The length of your brooms will keep your back straight, and you will be able to reach the critical areas too nicely. Meanwhile, you can keep aside the weight of furniture you need to sweep away by bending. It’s because arching your back or shoulder may cause harm to the spinal cord.
Or, it may impact after you’ve finished mopping the floor. Use a microfiber pad to track the small particles from the floor.
Technique-5: Try To Swivel The Vacuum In A Right Way
The vacuum cleaner is the only way to fall into such a dangerous situation. Back pain is a common issue of mopping the floor, no matter how fortified equipment you’re using. When you decide to use a vacuum, you need to drive it quickly. I mean it to make it handy to hold and sweep away the floor.
Meantime, keep the vacuum cleaner in front of you instead of putting it onto the side. Try to vacuum the entire area with one hand, except using them both. Now, pick the vacuum cleaner and drive it straight. Whether doing this job critically, try to keep your posture straight as much as possible.
Operate the cleaner in a way that is compatible with your body. If you have serious sacroiliac joint issues, try to move your hands and legs except for your upper body. Another tip would be to hold the machine with your other leg while putting your other leg between it.
Then drive the machine with your left leg and pull it over surfaces. Thirdly, my cordial suggestion for the severe back muscle patient is to take a rest in-between the mop time. It will reduce the tendency of more extended period shoulder and waist pains.
Technique-6:Use A Sponge Mops Or Battery Powered Scrubber
This time, you can use a sponge mop to reduce your back pain. Mopping is a continuous task that you might not avoid. Otherwise, all of your houses will be filled with foul smells and dirt.
You may need to wring or sponge the floor to omit the stains in many cases.
So my suggestion is to use a sponge mop or battery scrubber. A sponge mop or battery scrubber has a high potential to wring the mop head. Sponges also seem to be much lighter than any string mops. One of the positive sites of using a sponge mop is that it is easy to wring out.
Technique-7: Divided The Entire Area Into A Little Sections
It is not a good idea to mop the entire house at a time. Especially if you’re a patient with severe spinal aches or having any serious injury in your back, at this moment, begin your work from the bedroom. Divided the entire room into a bit of sections.
For instance, if you have a 1500-square-foot apartment, limit your mopping duration to around 4-5 minutes. Divide it into small sections, rest, or stand straight between the mopping times. After finishing cleaning the one room, you can do stretches and take some water. Then prepare to mop the next room.
Technique-8:Bend At The Knees Instead Of Bending The Waist
Always be aware of putting off the bucket once you’re done to end up mopping the floor. Bend your knees when you throw the dusty water into the shower drain or kitchen sink.
Bending at your waist can cause you to lift your back and spinal cord. On the other hand, this act may increase your shoulder pain.
Technique-9: Use Microfiber Flat Mops
A flat microfiber pad is another technique that may relieve you of this pain. A flattened and softened mop bristle will be able to mop the entire floor within a short time. Again, you can use them with less effort.
5 Notable Tips To Avoid Back Pain Before Starting To Mop The Floor
These are some necessary things to remember when you are experiencing back pain. Behind those issues, the following tips will save you from any severe health problems later. So check them as much as possible:
Tip-1: Invest Good On Mop & Ergonomic Handle
This is one of the crucial things you should know before buying any mopping accessories. I always advise my nearest and dearest to invest a good amount while buying any mopping tool.
It gives you guaranteed relief from pain and gives you comfort during the working period. Meanwhile, an ergonomic handle is necessary to hold the mop for longer.
Tip-2: Schedule Your Cleaning Day When You Feel Comfort
You should schedule your cleaning day according to your will. Choose the day when you feel relaxed to do the cleaning projects. To me, Sunday is a great day to schedule the cleaning projects. Otherwise, you can choose any weekend to clean up your living house.
On the contrary, stop doing the job if you feel it will over-pressurize you. Do not try to do the task rapidly or hurriedly. It may increase your body pain later in the day.
Tip-3: Take Help From Bosom One
Take help from your closet or invite your friends to help by mopping the floor at your home. I suggest this to do as I am personally used to doing my mopping task. If you cannot bear the back pain, take help from your partner or your friends.
With the help of your friend or any third hand, your mopping task will be more convenient than before, as long as your body doesn’t feel this extra burden.
Tip-4: Place The Bucket In A Chair Or An Elevated Area
Do not try to fill the bucket with lots of water. It will make the bucket too heavy. A heavy bucket is not suitable for your back if you are currently suffering from such issues. Again, do not put it lower, as it will let you bow down your waist frequently to change the mop water.
To avoid such problems, try to place the bucket in a chair or any elevated area. Alternatively, you can place it on the table.
Tip-5: To Reach High Places, Use Step Ladder
Using your step to reach the high places or standing with ankles raised may bring you a bigger disaster. In most cases, some physicians don’t suggest their patients do so.
Meanwhile, standing with ankles like mopping the windows or ceiling can pressure your feet nerves. So consider making those high places get-at-able to reach there fruitfully.
4 Things You Should Do After Mopping To Reduce Back Pain
Below are some post-mopping concerns that you should do after mopping to reduce back pain.
Things-1: Do Some Gentle Stretches
Gentle stretches and exercise will help you to relieve back pain. After mopping the floor, try to stretch your neck, shoulder, and waist. Do some push-ups and jumping jacks that may help you reduce the pains.
But do not tighten your core or arms, as it may hurt you longer. Take a deep breath and lightly finish the stretches.
Things-2: Take A Hot Shower
If you do not like to stretch your muscles, try to take a hot shower. Although it is a very ancient method, it effectively gives you relaxation from certain muscle afflictions. A hot shower will spread the warmer impacts all over your body, which is significant in decreasing the anguish.
Things-3: Ice Patches
Some people don’t like to take hot showers. That is especially true on a hot, sunny day when you’re mopping. However, you have a solution to such embarrassing situations. Purchase any reusable ice pad and put some ice over the bag.
Keep the pad over the particular parts of your body that give you more distress. Within a few seconds, you will see the distress disappear.
Things-4: Avoid To Being In The Same Position
Constant scrubbing, cleaning, and vacuuming of the low areas let you fall into a panicked situation all the time. There is no guarantee about when you will get an attack from the sore muscles.
So, do not be in the same position for a more extended period. Take a break in the middle of the work. Then return to work again.
Related Question
How Do You Stop Sore Back From Cleaning?
To stop your sore back from cleaning, you must be aware of strengthening your core. Our human muscles will get panic attacks whenever we are fixed to do any particular thing for a more extended period.
For instance, if you’re performing up and down the heavily loaded accessories for a more extended period. Doing such an act may lead you to be a victim of this sort of inconvenience. To avoid being a statue in a particular area for an extended period. Stabilize your balance while you’re moving or cleaning any stubborn stain.
Why Does Your Back Hurt After Mopping?
It is a common question to everyone why my back hurts so much during or after finishing the mop. The reason behind this issue is two. Number one: while you’re mopping the floor, your arms and waist have to raise forward and inward constantly. Both your arms and waist muscles are engaged with the same work for a more extended period. So, they will get sore, and sometimes the ligament will be mutilated on its own.
And, the 2nd reason is that your core back muscles aren’t strong enough to endure such loads. You can strengthen your muscles by doing some stretches, exercises, and yoga.
Can Mopping Cause Lower Back Pain?
Mopping the floor with a continuous level can cause lower back pain. Because you need to push the mop forward and backward continuously. For this reason, your back muscle joints will be irritated.
On the other hand, lower back pain is the main concern for people who have bad posture. You should correct it and take some pre-mopping exercises for this. In the meantime, try to mop the floor by keeping your back as straight as possible.
How Do You Mop With Back Pain?
You can mop the floor with back pain by using any flattened mop brush. The mopping stand with an extra long handle is a good option to get some relaxation from the back pain. Correspondingly, practicing to get a good or strong posture will help you a lot in this regard.
Some physicians advise taking a short break in the middle of the mopping work. By this, you will be able to relieve muscle soreness. And also avoid carrying heavily loaded buckets continuously during the mopping period.
What Are The Best Tools For Mopping The Floor Without Hurting Your Back?
Mopping the floor without back pain requires some strategy. The best tools also help you in this regard most. Using a more miniature handheld mop will not be a good idea to mop the floor when you’ve back pained issues. Meanwhile, you should check the mop handle dimensions and length to get some relief. For instance, you can check the Bissell, Shark, Swiffer wet jet, etc.
Final Word:
Mopping is a valuable thing that we shouldn’t avoid. But if you have muscle or a severe ache on your back, things become more complicated for you to do. For this, you should get some ideas on how to mop floors without hurting your back.
However, a sore back doesn’t mean that you need to quit doing a job like mopping. Pursue my instructions, and I assure you that you will enjoy it.
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