So, you want to clean your hardwood floors? No Problemo – with a little bit of elbow grease, it’s actually pretty easy to maintain hardwood floors.
There are many different types of hardwood floors
- Polyurethane coating makes the floors look clean and shiny
- Hardwood finished wood has a waxy or oily coating which repels water or liquid
- Unfinished hardwood CANNOT be mopped since it will damage the floors
To test if you can mop your floors, drop a few drops of water in a discreet area and if it beads, you have a floor coating.
What you need
1) Hardwood floors
2) Vinegar
3) Dishwashing liquid
4) Wringer bucket
5) Microfiber twist mop
6) Microfiber cloth
7) Rubbing alcohol
8) Warm water
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How to clean your hardwood floors
- Put half a pinky nails worth of dishwashing liquid into a wringer bucket. Dishwashing liquid is a neutral cleaner and will help to remove dirt well without leaving a residue.
- Add a cap full of vinegar and fill with hot water. Vinegar is a mild disinfectant and will help to cut grease without leaving streaks.
- Soak the mop head in the bucket for a few minutes to soften. The mop has to be almost dry before mopping hardwood floor.
- When you mop, clean in an S-shaped pattern. This ensures you get all areas of the floor cleaned. Keep your bucket around you and try not to step into areas you’ve already cleaned.
- To be extra diligent, you can take a microfiber cloth and do a quick wipe down so no water is left behind.
Best practice
- Sweep and vacuum once or twice a week and mop once every one or two weeks.
Here’s a video that explains more!
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[…] drops of Murphy Oil Soap diluted in warm water to mop your engineered hardwood floor. Another great DIY alternative is a cap full of vinegar and a few drops of dish soap (half a pinky nail worth) mixed in with a […]
Nice article, enjoyed it thoroughly. Keep up the great work! Cheers
Thanks for reading!
These are really great tips and resources. I’ll have to give them a try next time I need to clean my floors.
[…] as a few drops of (Murphy Oil Soap) diluted in warm water to mop your hardwood floor. Another great DIY alternative is a cap full of vinegar and a few drops of dish soap (half a pinky nail worth) mixed in with a […]
I really need this kind of information and must share it with my circle. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Cleaning hard wood floors in weird way reminds me of cleaning my car.
Good stuff Melissa
To protect your floor, you should place coverings such as soft cotton rugs on high traffic areas like front of the sink of the kitchen and entryways. Rugs should also be vacuumed regularly to avoid it from scratching the floor.
Thank you for a wonderful overview about how to clean hardwood floors! I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. Jenny
These are fantastic tips! Hardwood floors are such a pain to maintain but the video makes it more fun.
Here is the answer for all of you alcohol-curious friends…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZoL56oHZxA
I too am curious as to what the rubbing alcohol is for…
How can I get wax off my hardwood floors?
I just watched your video on cleaning your hardwood floors – you had vinegar, dish soap, and rubbing alcohol – but you never used the alcohol. When and how do you use this in the cleaning process?
I’ve heard that vinegar will take the polish off of hard wood floors, is that true?
What about laminate wood floors?
but when you are trying to re-establish
good credit, making a large purchase is never a good idea. therefore, it would be better to charge a tank of gas or small grocery bill and half to two thirds of the balance for a few months. once your credit
Good article also is good to say, dont need to be to agressive at the time cleaning your hardwood floors can be scrached so easy.
I hardwood but there is a residue I don’t know how to remove. I can see the mop streaks . Any suggestions ?
Love the tips, would love to see you do one on tile and grout cleaning. As the owners of a carpet cleaning business that does a lot of tile and grout cleaning we see many floors that have been made worse from improper cleaning.
Oops, never mind. I just found your video on it. Here it is for anyone looking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZoL56oHZxA
I’m also curious about the rubbing alcohal. 🙂
Melissa, what is the rubbing alcohol for?
Wow! it amazed me! from now on I ill never pay a lot of money to help me out the stain on my wooden floor. Thanks for sharing those tips and it really can help me.
Melissa – can you please explain how/when to you the rubbing alcohol? You mention it in the text and show the bottle in the video, but don’t explain you use it!! Thank you!
I have a shark stream mop, but it leaves my prefinished (not laminated ) floors streaked, what solution would you recommend?
Hi, you should use the Shark Steam Mop for your wood floors. I always do.
Leaves floors almost dry and does a great job.