16 answers

How to Clean Hardwoods?

So today I spilled a large bowl of pasta salad on my nice new hardwood floors. It had an Italian dressing base, so I knew it was going to be an oily mess. Well I cleaned the food up and then cleaned them with soap and water, but the floors are still an oily mess! Do any of you mamas have a tried and true method to cleaning real hardwoods in a mess like this? Thanks in advance for all of your help!

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

Thanks ladies for all of the advice! I will definitely be trying the vinegar and water solution tomorrow once my son is out of the house (thus I know it will be clean for sure). You mamas are the best!

Featured Answers

I don't know about hardwood floors but my Dad always used sand or kitty litter to soak up oil in the garage. Then he would just sweep or vacuum it up. That would probably be too abrasive for wood but maybe some baking soda or powder would work.

1 mom found this helpful

I'm going to suggest vinegar and water. Look it up online to find the exact amounts...I use it for everything so I get confused what parts to use for hardwood.

1 mom found this helpful

More Answers

you could use mean green grease remover. cheap and its pretty good . after that just clean it with what ever you normally use. good luck. southern born and raised. blessings and welcome. mom of 7, R. u.

1 mom found this helpful

I don't know about hardwood floors but my Dad always used sand or kitty litter to soak up oil in the garage. Then he would just sweep or vacuum it up. That would probably be too abrasive for wood but maybe some baking soda or powder would work.

1 mom found this helpful

If its sealed hard wood I knwo they say you can only use water and vinigar Idd go ahead and use something like lysol that you would use on your counter tops to clean it up just in that area. Its better then letting the oil sit there. Just make sure you ribnse it off. I have sealed hard wood floors (meaning they have been polyurathaned) and while I use a steam mop to cleam them and sometimes water and vinigar there are cettain messes that call for something more and oil is one of them. Sometimes in front of the stove you just have to use something to get the grease up like after you cook bacon. It really wont hard to floor as long as you dont use it every time and you rinse it off

1 mom found this helpful

Make sure you use 'detergent' rather than 'soap'. Several washes from a nice hot pan of water with handwashing dish detergent (Dawn, Palmolive, Ajax, Joy, etc) in it and a terry dish/washcloth should do the trick. Rinse with white vinegar and water afterward.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi, we use water mixed with white vinegar to clean all of our hard woods. It gets them squeaky clean, but doesn't give them a shine. So, if you like shiny hardwoods, you may want to try something else.

1 mom found this helpful

I put water & vinegar in my "Floor Mate" by hoover & it works great. I have also used the solution intended for hardwoods in the machine.

I would also think Murphy's oil soap would work fine.

Even mild/diluted dish detergent.

P : )

1 mom found this helpful

I don't have hardwood floors (YET), but a great cleaner that will get up the oils, and not harm the wood is a product called Mox from Conklin. Another product that works well keeping a shine on hardwood (or tiles) is Stay and Shine. One of the best features about these products is that they are safe for your little one, as they work with no harmful chemicals, and they are concenctrated to last longer then store bought products. They also come with a money back guarentee.

The problem with Lysol and other cleaners is that they use chemicals to work. Are you sure you want your son to come in contact with something that is harmful? Murphy's Oil is great for an occasional use, but again, chemicals are in it. And Vinegar, though inexpensive, and natural, STINKS!lol

Here is a video that showcases the cleaners, the hardwood demo starts at around 3.5 minutes into the first video. The second video features a home that is cleaned with Conklin products, along with a 4-H building.

http://homebusinessdm.com/conklin-cleaning-product-overvi...

I'm not sure what happened to the styling of the website, so just overlook the layout, if you go looking around, I'm still trying to fix it. ;)

If you want more info after watching the video, please feel free to email me.

M. Steiner
Conklin Team Leader
http://diamondmenterprise.com
http://homebusinessdm.com

1 mom found this helpful

Hi M.,
My bf actually is in the hardwood flooring business. He lays, sands and finishes. He told me the best way to clean your hardwood floor is to use a capful of vinegar (the one that comes on the bottle) to a gallon of water and damp mop it. HTH!

1 mom found this helpful

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