Best Way to Clean Wood Floors

Murphy's oil soap is the best! It doesn't leave a residue and your floors will shine. It also smells great.

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I do vinegar and hot water too

1 mom found this helpful

I have used a solution from ACME Floor company for years - I love it! It comes in a squirt bottle or a larger bottle that you can dilute yourself. But the squirt bottle is onl y $5, so it's worth it to me to just buy it already dilluted. The first time you buy it, you should get the kit - which comes with a "shmop" that you use to actually wipe down the floor...it's great!!

when you find out about the way to do it let me know please. I have been asking and asking; so far no one seems to have any good ideas. thanks

you don't want to steam clean hard wood because it can warp it! a simple soution of regular dish soap and hot water with the mop rung out really good has worked for me. If I have some odor since i have a lot of pets then I go with mean green and hot water. pinesol (sp?) can work really well and doesn't have a harsh odor. Just remember not to get the floor to wet.

I'm not sure about your floors but ours are older and loosing their finish. so to much moisture and they will swell a bit.

Hi M.,
I also use vinegar and water, really I use that to clean about everything in the house(windows, bathrooms, floors, dusting)! It seems to really clean well and is not expensive at all. Plus, I don't worry about my children who are 2 and 18months getting into it or being harmed by the fumes. I used Murphy's oil soap for years before and that is what my mom used our whole lives too and it does smell awesome compared to vinegar. I decided to switch to vinegar because I was using it to clean everything else already.

M.-
We used to use vinegar and water, but now use Bona. It comes in a spray bottle and you use a dry mop with it. It makes the floors so shiny. And is is environmentally friendly. I think the vinegar cleans it, but it doesn't leave it shiny.
Here is their website:
http://www.mybonahome.com/Home.aspx
I also like the idea of not having a wet mop to wring out and dry and the dirty sink. You can take the cover off your dry mop and wash it in the washing machine.

Good luck!

Vinegar & water! I put mine in a spray bottle, and I use a micro-fiber mop that I bought at The Mop Bucket (in North Kansas City, right across from the community center). I like the mop because you can wash the mop heads in the washing machine and use them over and over. I cleaned homes & businesses for five years (I stopped almost four years ago) and I still use the same mop heads at home. They last forever!!

I used very hot water with a sponge mop to clean my hardwood floors, and then I went over it with an old towel and dried it. I rarely used any type of cleaner on the floor and I liked that I could get fresh clean water from the tap rather than needing a bucket. Now I have lanolium floors and I use the same, hot water, but sometimes (now that I do have kids messing it up) I use Mr. Clean about every second or third time I mop the floor.

Hot water! If you want to add vinegar you can. This is what the people who re-did our hardwoods said. Don't use any chemicals. It's not good for the wood & it's not safe for your baby. Check out the book Healthy Child Healthy World By Christopher Gavigan.

The simplest safest ways to clean your floor are:
vinegar and water, or windex and water, or dishsoap and water. Less than a cup of any of those for a bucket of warm water. Get your mop wet and then wring it out as much as you can. The less water the better.

Good luck!

I've been after advice on this for ages myself, and I'll second the vote for Bona wood cleaner. It's safe, environmentally friendly, and does not have a scent. I don't get shine from it, but that's probably because the poly sealant on our floors seems to have worn off and I don't think anything can shine it w/o a refinish. I may try the vinegar + water suggestion just to see if there is a difference. It would be cheap and easy! Thanks all.

Vinegar and warm water- Just get the mop damp and mop your floors.
After that has dried use a micro fiber mop and spray it lightly with windex and go over the wood floors.

I use 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 1 gallon of cold water. It's what they use on HGTV and I LOVE it. I have used every product out there. Not only are you not using harsh chemicals, but your floors will shine. It doesn't wear down the sealant on your floors either like a lot of the other cleaners do :) And it doesn't smell up your house like the regular white vinegar does.

I use 'Wood for Good' Method brand floor cleaner. It's quick and smells good. It is supposed to be safe (for animals and kids) and environmentally friendly. I've found it at Target and my local grocery store.
After reading the other posts, I am going to try vinegar and water - how easy and inexpensive is that?!?!?
Good luck! (and thanks to the other moms who posted their responses!)

I have a shark steam cleaner, and I love mine. I clean for the elderly an was introduced to it from a customer. It really does work well, we have alot of traffic coming through our house in an out with teenager niece an nephew that think this is also their home. Also have a 4 year boy that is constantly on the floor also. Kohls carries them as well as best buy. If you purchase from kohls you tell them that your friend just bought for 119.00 instead of their price of 129.00 which is what I did. As best buy wants 129 I do believe. You can get more info. on it from the sharksteamspecial.com that is the site advertised on tv. even for hardwood floor.

I was told to use vineger and water on my hardwood floors. It should not be harmful to your daughter!

C.

I use the Orange Glo 4 in 1 Hardwood Floor cleaner. It came in a kit with a mop handle, washable floor pad, and a bottle of cleaner. I got it at Target. They also sell the cleaner seperately if you already have some kind of mop that you want to use. It works great, takes only a short time to dry and doesn't leave the floor sticky. Hope this helps!

From working at Merry Maids I will tell you honestly all they used was hot water and vinegar and the floors always looked great. = )
B.