How To Clean Up A Rangoli?

Everybody makes rangoli on Ugadi, Pongal and other festive occasions. But it is the matriarch of the house who is left with the job to clean up the rangoli later. Rangolis look beautiful when they are freshly made. But it is impossible for something as delicate a rangoli to remain untouched for a long period of time. People walk hurriedly over it, children trample on it and finally, what is left is a distorted version of the original rangoli. That is why, it is better to remove the rangoli immediately after the festival is over.

You might think that it is frightfully easy to clean up a rangoli. But it is not so. Our modern homes were not made for rangolis. We no longer have plain floors which is very easy to clean up a rangoli. What we have are floor tiles and the rangoli powder that sticks to the edges. So, now you need the right procedure for removing rangoli designs from your floors.

Here are some easy but expert tips to clean rangoli after the festival is over.

• The first step would be to take a broom and sweep up the area. Make sure that the fan is switched off because the rangoli powder is very fine. It will get dispersed very easily. And while you remove the rangoli, also sweep up the rest of the room or area; it is bound to have some colour powder dispersed by air.
• Then mop the floor with water and a disinfectant. If you have small children at home, then you must add disinfectant to the water for cleaning the rangoli.
• If you have squared tiles at home, then sweeping and mopping the floor will not be enough. You will also have to clean up the space in between the tiles. Take a clean dry cloth and dip it in petroleum jelly. Now clean the edges of the floor tiles with the cloth. If you have strong nails then cover with the cloth and wipe the narrow space in between the tiles.
• Suppose you made a rangoli on the concrete floor of your porch. It will not be removed any of the above methods. You have to use a hose pipe to clean up the rangoli from the concrete floor. Allow water to fall on the rangoli with full force from a distance so that all the colour powder gets dispersed and cleaned. Then take a scrubber and scrub the floor with some detergent.

These are a few simple ways to clean up rangolis from different types of floors. How you remove rangoli from your floor after the festivities are over?