Why replace something when you don’t have to? With some simple care, you can make almost anything last longer and save money. Here are some great tips on taking care of your broom to make it last longer.
Have you read my earlier article, Frugal Lessons from The Amish: Giving Up Your Vacuum? Boy did I get a lot of feedback on that one. It seems that no one really wants to give up their vacuums! Well, I don’t either, but I am scaling back on its use in order to save money on electricity, replacement bags and repairs. In order to do that, I have been relying more and more on my brooms for daily (and who are we kidding here, thrice-or-more daily) maintenance in the kitchen and dining room. I also use brooms on a twice-weekly basis to sweep our front porch and our driveway. I do find that the brooms do very well in these areas of the house, making the vacuum get less use.
Hmm, but now my brooms will be getting more use, and therefore more wear and tear. So I thought I would share with you some of my tips for keeping brooms in good condition.
The number one mistake most people make is to store their brooms standing or leaning up on the bristles. A better idea is to hang them upside down on a rack or a couple of nails.
Never use your broom to try to sweep up wet messes. You’ll still have most of a wet mess, and the broom will break down if it get wet often enough.
Another hazard to your broom is the sun. Don’t leave that broom outside or the sun will do a number on the bristles, even if they are synthetic.
Clean your broom regularly, if you use it to sweep up more than dust. Caked on dirt will contribute to a matted, unusable broom. All of that dirt isn’t any good for the bristles, either. Just use a bucket of warm sudsy water to dip and swish your broom. Rinse well, and then hang your broom to dry.
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