How to sweeps

How to Sweep a Floor

Sarah Aguirre

Sarah Aguirre is a housekeeping expert with over 20 years of experience cleaning residentially and commercially. Over that time, she has been writing about tips and tricks for housekeeping and organizing a home for national publications.

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Updated on 08/16/22

Reviewed by

Rhea Mehta

Reviewed by Rhea Mehta

Rhea Mehta, PhD, is an award-winning healthcare innovator and toxicologist who for the past decade has worked to empower people to lead healthier lives, starting in their homes. Rhea holds a PhD in Toxicology, with over 15 scientific publications, and a certificate in integrative health coaching.

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The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

We've got all kinds of nifty gadgets that have tried to replace our brooms, but the truth is that every home still needs to have a classic broom. A broom is a great tool for a quick pickup or an intense floor cleaning. Find out how to make sweeping your floors a more effective and efficient way of cleaning your home. Although the time required will vary depending on the room and size of the floor, sweeping is a fairly easy task to take on. Luckily, you only need three items to get started: a broom, a dustpan, and a trash can.

How You Start Sweeping Floors Like a Pro

Choose a Broom: Find a broom that fits with your floor type. Smoother floors can get by with synthetic brooms, while rougher floors may need natural fiber brooms to be just as effective. Choose a broom with an angled edge for cleaning under cabinets and in tight spaces and make sure your broom is at a comfortable height, and not too heavy to manage. While there are over 200+ types of brooms out there, you can find one of the 14 brooms recommended by The Sweethome researchers.
Find a Starting Place: When sweeping a room, there are a couple of different methods to consider. Some people like to walk the perimeter of a room, sweeping from the edges into a pile in the center. Others prefer to begin at one end of the room and move to the other, pulling the dirt pile along with them, or eliminating the pile in sections. Choose a method and starting point that works best for you.
Start Sweeping: Sweeping isn't a difficult motion to master, but you want to try to keep continuous contact with the floor without pressing the broom strands down into the floor. Begin on a section of the floor that is away from your body and gently drag the broom toward your body. You can use short quick motions or long sweeping motions to get the job done. Choose a sweeping style that best fits your personal preference.
Sweep Up Your Dirt Pile: Next, you want to sweep dirt into a pile. After all the dirt is in a pile, sweep the dirt pile into a dustpan and then deposit it in the trash. Be careful not to dump the dirt too quickly, as this may cause dust and dirt to billow back into your face, or onto your clean floor.
Put Away Supplies: After you are done sweeping, put away all of your sweeping supplies and be sure to clean your broom as needed. Hang your broom to prevent the bristles from becoming bent or damaged, or sit the broom upside down for storage.

The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

Tips for Sweeping With Your Broom

Avoid getting your broom wet. It damages the broom and shortens its lifespan.
When washing a broom, make sure that it dries thoroughly upside down, to prevent bristles from being bent or damaged.
Sweep as needed on a daily basis. There is no set schedule for sweeping.

Types and How They Work

Table of Contents

What Is a Sweep Account?
Understanding Sweep Accounts
Personal Sweeps vs. Business Sweeps
How Do Sweep Accounts Work?
What Is the Difference Between Personal and Business Sweeps?
Why Are Sweep Accounts Useful?

James Chen

Full Bio

James Chen, CMT is an expert trader, investment adviser, and global market strategist. He has authored books on technical analysis and foreign exchange trading published by John Wiley and Sons and served as a guest expert on CNBC, BloombergTV, Forbes, and Reuters among other financial media.

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Updated February 07, 2022

Reviewed by

Khadija Khartit

Reviewed by Khadija Khartit

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Khadija Khartit is a strategy, investment, and funding expert, and an educator of fintech and strategic finance in top universities. She has been an investor, entrepreneur, and advisor for more than 25 years. She is a FINRA Series 7, 63, and 66 license holder.

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Fact checked by

Skylar Clarine

Fact checked by Skylar Clarine

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Skylar Clarine is a fact-checker and expert in personal finance with a range of experience including veterinary technology and film studies.

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What Is a Sweep Account?

A sweep account is a bank or brokerage account that automatically transfers amounts that exceed, or fall short of, a certain level into a higher interest-earning investment option at the close of each business day. Commonly, the excess cash is swept into a money market fund.

Key Takeaways

A sweep account automatically transfers cash funds into a safe but higher interest-earning investment option at the close of each business day, e. g., into a money market fund.
Sweep accounts try to minimize cash drag by capitalizing on the immediate availability of higher-interest accounts.
A sweep account service may not always be free and you might have to pay fees to your broker that might make the sweep less attractive on a net basis.

Sweep Account

Understanding Sweep Accounts

Using a sweep vehicle like a sweep fund works by providing the customer with the greatest amount of interest with the minimum amount of personal intervention by transferring money at the end of the day into a high-interest account. In a sweep program, a bank's computers analyze customer use of checkable deposits and sweep funds into money market deposit accounts.

Some brokerage accounts have similar features that enable investors to gain some additional return for unused cash. Sweep accounts are simple mechanisms that allow any money above or below a set threshold in a checking account to be swept into a better investment vehicle. Sweep accounts were needed historically because federal banking regulations prohibited interest on checking accounts.

Sweep accounts were originally devised to get around a government regulation that limited banks from offering interest on commercial checking accounts.

Sweep accounts, whether for business or personal use, provide a way to ensure money is not sitting idly in a low-interest account when it could be earning higher interest rates in better liquid cash investment vehicles. These investment vehicles that provide higher interest rates while still offering liquidity include money market mutual funds, high-interest investment or savings accounts, and even short-term certificates with 30-, 60- or 90-day maturities for known layovers in investments.

Businesses and individuals need to keep an eye on the costs of sweep accounts, as the benefit from higher returns from investment vehicles outside the checking account can be offset by the fees charged for the account. Many brokerages or banking institutions charge flat fees, while others charge a percentage of the yield.

Sweep accounts may not be free, and broker fees may make the account less attractive on a net basis.

Personal Sweeps vs. Business Sweeps

Sweep accounts for individual investors are typically used by brokerages to park money waiting to be reinvested such as dividends, incoming cash deposits, and money from sell orders. These funds are typically swept into high-interest holding accounts or into money market funds until an investor makes a decision on future investments or until the broker can execute already standing orders within the portfolio.

Sweep accounts are a typical business tool, especially for small businesses that rely on daily cash flow but want to maximize earning potential on sitting cash reserves. A business sets a minimum balance for its main checking account, over which any funds are swept into a higher-interest investment product. If the balance ever dips below the threshold, the funds are swept back into the checking account from the investment account.

Depending on the institution and investment vehicle, the sweep process is generally set daily from the checking account, while the return of funds can possibly experience delays. With the changes of regulations on checking accounts, some banking institutions also offer high-interest rates on amounts over certain balances.

How Do Sweep Accounts Work?

A sweep account is a type of bank or brokerage account that is linked to an investment account, and automatically transfers funds when the balance is above or below a preset minimum. Typically, this is used to sweep excess cash into a money market fund, where it will earn more interest than an ordinary bank account. Sweep accounts can also work the other way around, moving funds from an investment account to a checking account when the owner's balance falls below a set threshold.

What Is the Difference Between Personal and Business Sweeps?

Individual sweeps are typically used by brokerages to store client funds until the owner decides how to invest the money. For example, a sweep account might move excess cash to a money market fund, where it will earn greater returns than an ordinary checking account. Business sweep accounts are often used by small companies with large cash flows. They allow the company to earn interest on excess cash reserves while ensuring that they have enough cash on hand to pay for business expenses.

Why Are Sweep Accounts Useful?

Sweep accounts, whether for business or personal use, are an easy way to ensure that money is earning a return rather than sitting in a low-interest bank account. Some institutions offer an auto-sweep feature whereby the sweep account is linked to the non-sweep account and the transfers are initiated automatically when the defined thresholds (upper and lower) are crossed.

Article Sources

Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "INVESTOR BULLETIN: Bank Sweep Programs." Accessed Feb. 7, 2022.
Altabank. "Altabanking, What Are Sweep Accounts?" Accessed Feb. 7, 2022.

How to wash and sweep the floors and throw out the trash: signs about cleaning

We decided to collect the most interesting signs and superstitions. It turns out that you need to wipe the dust with a rag of a certain color.

Anna Zalesskaya

Shutterstock

There are a lot of signs associated with house cleaning, which we know from grandmothers. Some of them have long been outdated, and no one even remembers about them, but some signs are still observed. Believe in them or not - it's up to you. We decided to collect the most common signs, but still we remind you that it is always useful to be guided by common sense.

Contents of the article

Cleaning and road signs

Do not sweep, wash and vacuum floors, move furniture or throw something away until the person who left home has reached their destination. Call, make sure everything is in order, and only then start cleaning the apartment or house. The fact is that by starting cleaning earlier, you can thus “spoil” the road for loved ones.

If you start sweeping (vacuuming) the floors immediately after one of the guests left, you are thus sweeping the way back. In other words, if you want to see guests in your house more often, do not mark the floor after they leave. And if, on the contrary, the person is unpleasant to you, and you want him not to return again, you can immediately sweep the floor.

Signs about a broom

A broom is a mystical object and, according to ancient signs, is associated with the well-being of the house. It is considered a symbol of prosperity, so it must be clean and not shabby. If the broom (broom) needs to be replaced, then you need to buy it only on your own, best before Christmas or on the growing moon.

Buying a new broom? Make a wish. It is believed that it will definitely come true. Place the broom with the handle down. This helps to attract money, maintain wealth and protect yourself from trouble. And don't forget that you can't sweep garbage across the threshold, because you're sweeping money away.

About the days of the week

According to folk signs, you can even make a whole cleaning calendar. In short, bad days on which it is not recommended to clean your home: Monday, Friday, Sunday . These days you can "sweep" money out of the house and fix problems. Bed linen is not advised to be changed on Friday and Sunday. There are four good days left for cleaning: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and best of all - Saturday.

Garbage marks

According to popular beliefs, after sunset nothing can be done at all. You should not take out the garbage either - folk wisdom says that this leads to quarrels and failures. Well, there is also an opinion that if you throw out garbage at night, there will be no money in the house, this version also coincides with the version of feng shui. You can also become the subject of neighbors gossip. Indeed, what was it that you carried to the trash heap there at night?

About dust

It has long been believed that if you do wet cleaning at home with a red rag, you can attract money. Ancestors believed that red cloth works like a money magnet, and if you wipe the dust with a rag of the right color, it will contribute to good luck in all matters and material well-being. Just do not wipe the dust with old towels, T-shirts or T-shirts, old things just scare away luck. It is better to buy a napkin or sponge in any supermarket.

About washing floors

As we have already understood, the floors cannot be washed after sunset. And as for the rag, it's better to buy a new one, and not use old T-shirts, T-shirts, pajamas and other things that you were going to throw away to clean the floors. To make rags out of them means to reduce material wealth in the house. You can’t wash the floors with an old towel, in this case, the sign portends scandals, loneliness and betrayal.

It is necessary to wash the floor from the threshold, and not to the threshold, so as not to sweep the good out of the house. Previously, they believed that it was not worth washing the floors in someone else's house. This is bad both for the one who washes and for the residents themselves. Even if you wipe a small speck from someone else's floor, you can pick up diseases and troubles of the residents. On the other hand, the owners of the house will also lose their protective energy, so it’s better to wash them yourself.

About washing

Our ancestors considered Wednesday to be the most successful day for washing. Again, they didn’t wash at night, on important holidays and on New Year’s Eve. It was considered bad luck to wash blankets in May, a sure way to “wash” a family member out of the house. It was also forbidden to dry clothes at night under the moon. It was believed that clothes dried under the moonlight would attract illness and bad luck, but dried in the sun, on the contrary, would warm and heal the soul and body.

Do you believe in folk omens?

When cleaning is not allowed, general rules for signs

Late in the evening or at night, after sunset, there will be no prosperity in the house. By the way, a good reason to relax after work without feeling remorse.
After the viewing of the bride or groom, the wedding may not take place.
On church holidays, in any religious tradition there are days forbidden for cleaning.
During cooking. It is believed that if you clean the house in parallel with cooking, it will not be enough.

From the threshold or to the threshold: how to actually sweep the floor in the house

Even those who believe in omens have different opinions about how to sweep the floor: to the threshold or from the threshold. What did our ancestors think? And were there days when cleaning was generally forbidden?

Rules for handling a broom

In Russia, house cleaning has always been given special importance. No wonder the Russians had a huge number of customs, rituals and signs associated, for example, with sweeping the floor. So yes. Baranov, in his encyclopedia "Russian Hut", mentions that after the wedding night, the young wife had to sweep the floor in the presence of her husband's relatives, thereby demonstrating her involvement in the new home and new relatives. The broom used for this, a woman who had just married, passed on to her sister-in-law "for good luck" so that she would also get married as soon as possible.

Russians also used brooms to drive away evil spirits. As indicated in the Dictionary of Russian Miracles and Superstitions (compiled by Elena Arsenyeva), after a person who had an evil eye, it was customary to throw a broom. In order to protect the wedding procession from damage, the road was carefully swept. Many prohibitions were associated with the broom. For example, a broom could not be thrown away near the house, where it could be accidentally stepped on: this threatened with diseases (scabies, insomnia) and other troubles. The outdated broom was forbidden to be burned in the oven, otherwise one could expect a storm, an invasion of lice and cockroaches, and strife in the family.

From threshold or to threshold?

Precisely because cleaning in the house was taken seriously in Russia, there were strict rules among Russians that had to be observed when handling a broom. So, women always swept the floor from the threshold to the red corner. At least, so says I. I. Shangina, the author of the encyclopedia "Russian Traditional Life". As proof of her words, Shangina writes that the peasants said: "Do not sweep the hut to the threshold - you will sweep the good, sweep from the threshold to the corner - you will sweep the good into the hut." Yes, and the girls who gathered in the winter for conversations swept the hut from the threshold, saying: "Sweep from the threshold, sweep the suitors."

Surprisingly, P.E. Bardina, author of The Life of Russian Siberians of the Tomsk Territory, states that opposite customs were practiced in Siberia. So, according to Bardina, the Siberians washed, swept the floor, whitewashed the walls, on the contrary, from the front corner to the exit, that is, along the floorboards, which were just laid in that direction. And this despite the fact that only the dead were laid along the floorboards, while the bed was always placed across the floorboards. But N.A. Yudina in her "Encyclopedia of Russian Customs", like Shangina, mentions that the Russians believed that "you need to sweep from the threshold, and not to the threshold, so that you do not sweep the good out of the house."

Prohibited cleaning days

However, sometimes the direction in which, according to the rules, the floor of the house was to be swept did not matter. The fact is that in Russia there were days when cleaning was generally prohibited. For example, S.Z. Agranovich and E.E. Stefansky in his essays on mytholinguistics "The Myth of the Word" write that it was impossible to sweep in the hut if the bread was planted in the oven. Also, Ivan Pankeev, the author of the publication “Russian Rites and Superstitions”, claims that it was not allowed to clean up even when there was a dead person in the hut: “Sweep out the rubbish from the house where the dead man lies, before he is taken out, then sweep all the living out of the house.”

In addition, as indicated in the publication "Traditions of the Russian House" (author V.