How do you clean your wood floors?

[elektra]

So I am basically clueless when it comes to cleaning. Last year I did buy Clean House Clean Planet though, and have been using Merlin's Magic (dr. bronner's soap, water, tea tree oil) for cleaning countertops, high chair, random surfaces. And I have been using the Momma's Earth Mop (vinegar,water, lavender oil) for stuff I would usually use Windex for like mirrors and then also spot cleaning floors.
But I really don't know what I am doing. Not counting my college years, for the most part I have always had hired help to clean, even growing up since both DH and I work full time, and both my parents also worked full time. It just worked out better for everyone to hire someone.

So we just bought a house with all wood floors and I don't know how to clean them. A mop? What cleaners? What stuff should I stay away from? When my cleaning lady came 2 weeks ago all she did was sweep I think (?).
The house did come with some Windex looking spray that says "Hardwood floor cleaner" on the label (and nothing else) and there is also a sort of flat swifferish looking thing that I guess you would call a mop.

Anyway, I'm just concerned about those wood floors- I want them clean but not damaged basically.

[theCAS]

I'll be curious to see waht others say to this, as cleaning wood floors were new to me when I bought my house.

What I was told by several people was to use a basic white vinegar and water solution. I try and stay away from "hardwood floor cleaners" because I really don't know if ours are treated, sealed, etc. and I don't want to damage the finish.

[MontrealMum]

I have lived in homes with wood floors my entire life, and they usually don't need anything special, depending on what type you have, and how they're sealed/treated.

In the house I grew up in (which was very old) the upstairs floors were stained, and not sealed (sorry, I don't know all the *correct* terms here, they may have been waxed?) - therefore, if you ever spilled even a drop of water coming out of the shower, or left a drink on the floor - you created a permanent stain/mark that could only be fixed by sanding. Not good. When my parents redid the downstairs they varnished the floors with something (I'm sure there are many more options, and more eco/chemical-free options nowadays, so I won't ask what it was). This varnish sealed the wood and getting wet was not a problem. There were area rugs, but we basically kept the wood clean with a dust mop, broom, or vacuum depending on the type of mess.

As an adult all my homes have had wood (sealed) as well, and we don't "clean" the floors per se. I vacuum for the dust, and anything sticky or spot-like can be cleaned with water, or soap-and-water - probably whatever you're using on your counters (nothing abasive though, just a mild solution). Wood (except the unsealed type) doesn't need any special treatment and is very easy to take care of. For a super-good clean I use the brushes and hose on the vacuum, rather than the regular push setting, then I can do the walls too since I have severe dust allergies.

[pb&j]

We swiffer regularly, and spot clean w/ a cloth and vinegar/water spray.

For deep cleaning, it's hands and knees w/the spray bottle and a bunch of cloths. Nothing else gets it as clean. I do that maybe once per month.

[StantonHyde]

I have always used Murphy's oil soap for wood. Check out Don Aslett (sp?) on the web--he has stuff that cleans anything and writes some good books too.

[BillK]

http://www.bona.com/en/US/Country_Start_page/

That's what I use - LOVE it.

[ThreeofUs]

Use swiffers or a non-rotating, brush head vacuum attachment to get up big particles of dirt and pet hair, then use either vinegar in water or murphy's oil soap in water (highly dilute, both of them!) to wash. Use a broad-head, no-scratch mop - and don't do anything that will abrade the floor!

ITA with Ry, btw. If the floor gets really dirty, put the everyone in sock and play floor games with water. It's the only way to get wood really clean, in part because it's often hard to see dirt on a wood floor unless you're near it.

[niccig]

http://www.bona.com/en/US/Country_Start_page/

That's what I use - LOVE it.

I use this now too. A friend got me on to it. I also put their mop with the microfiber cloth. I use it with their wood cleaner for the wood floors, and then put a clean cloth on and spray vinegar/water on the kitchen floor and clean that. I'm tempted to try just vinegar and water for the wood, but our floors are old and scratched - need to have them refinished.

[hellokitty]

We swiffer regularly, and spot clean w/ a cloth and vinegar/water spray.

For deep cleaning, it's hands and knees w/the spray bottle and a bunch of cloths. Nothing else gets it as clean. I do that maybe once per month.

That's exactly what we do. We swiffer with microfiber towels though, so we don't have to buy and waste the disposable ones.

[maylips]

When you guys talk about swiffering, you don't use the spray that's attached to the mop, right? Because I don't think that's good for wood floors (although can be used for Pergo and other laminates)...

We use the Bona stuff too and I like it. Lots of times, I just use a damp mop - but nothing too wet, as that's bad for wood floors.

[BillK]

Depending on what you read - lot's of places also say that vinegar is not good for hardwood either. Supposedly vinegar is slightly acidic and over time - using it on your hardwood - will etch the finish.

[trales]

On my hands and knees with vinegar and water, a sponge and a soft scrub brush, sometimes a little dish soap if there are sticky messes from the dogs or DD. The floors are so much cleaner now than when I was using Murphy's oil soap and other cleaners. I like the way it smells after, clean and not chemical. I have been doing this on new wood floors that we installed and were pre-finished and 60 year old southern yellow pine floors. Both look great.

[MontrealMum]

Yes, I think you want to watch what you scrub with depending on the finish and the type of wood. Ours are very hard, but I've seen some (laminates maybe? ) that dent with shoe heels. I usually use a sponge or rag.

[mytwoboys]

I too use Bona. At times when it's really dirty I'll use water and vinegar first and then Bona (about once a month).

[dcmom2b3]

I vaccum, sweep and swiffer to try to keep the cheerios, dust, cat hair and mama hair down to a dull roar. Unsucessfully, usually. Li'l mama loves the swiffer, so I let her have at it a couple of times a week.

But when I really clean, I sponge mop with a mild ammonia and water solution, scrub any sticky spots lightly with a brush, and use my Hoover Floor Mate to rinse and suck up the dirty water.

I'm one of those who's skeptical of "special use" household equipment, usually it's just junk. And I'm nobody's June Cleaver. But I love my Floor Mate. Loooooove it. Because it sucks up the dirty water and makes me feel like my mopping isn't just spreading the same ole dirt around, only thinner.

Have I mentioned that it sucks up the dirty water? Yeah, okay, thought so. I'll stop now.

[bubbaray]

1cup white vinegar to 1gallon of hot water. That is what our hardwood installer told us to use.

Possibly it etches the wood. Far less than our 85lb yellow lab, though.

[khm]

We have Brazilian Cherry floors with a glossy sealed finish. My research said to use a windex / water solution. I believe it was like 4 parts water to 1 part windex? Not sure.

I drilled a hole in the bottom of the bottle that came with the Swiffer Wet. When it comes time to do floors I put water in there and top with a smidge of windex. I use the Swiffer Wet with a microfiber pad (it originally came with a Orange something refinishing kit). It drys super fast and super shiny. The floors are "wet" for about 60 seconds, max.

It works really well for our floors and costs next to nothing.

OP, what type of wood do you have? That matters a lot, I think. I had a different routine when we had oak flooring. I never saw this solution recommended for when I was researching oak, anyways.

[amldaley]

Vaccuum, Swiffer (dry), sweep, and use a Hoover Floormate with the Olde English hardwood floor cleaner that is made especially for it and sold at Lowes and Home Depot.

This is our third house with wood floors (bamboo, then an older home with stained and sealed but not factory sealed oak, and now fully sealed white oak floors).

I LOVE the Floormate, but I am tempted to try one of those new steam cleaners that cleans with steam alone.

[erosenst]

We have Brazilian cherry as well. A lot of it. I use a combination:

* For a quick sweep, a microfiber rag under one of the big flat floor "mops" that look like an oversize Swiffer.

* For a better job (a couple times a week) - a canister vacuum cleaner with a hardwood attachment.

* To spot clean - vinegar and water (about 20% vinegar) with a microfiber rag.

* To mop the floors - Bona spray (used VERY sparingly), with a terry (not microfiber - becomes impossible to push) cover on the flat mop thing.

And I've been repeatedly told to NEVER use Murphy's oil soap on it...

HTH -

Emily

[SammyeGail]

Another microfiber user here, got the advice on this board a few weeks ago! We have a wonderbroom (you can google it, they don't sell in the USA anymore : (, we bought ours about 8 years ago at a home show, they are awesome) to sweep.

I put the microfiber cloth as snuggly as I can in the swiffer (the cloth is alot larger than the swiffer pad) and have a spray bottle mixture of vinegar/water (1 part V, 3 part W).

I spray the cloth on the swiffer first to get it moist, so it will glide better. I then use the squirt bottle to spray the solution and mop it up, I would start with a small area first, like the size of a ottoman. Its cheap, fast and the floors look so great, so shiney ; )! You could follow yourself and dry it up with a towel, but I've never had any streaks or lines from just letting it dry.

FYI, our floors are oak, the house is 15 months old, the hardwood is not sealed with polyurathane (I can't spell), something else thats starts with 'poly', it is supposed to be 'greener' per the builder.

I don't worry about using vinegar on my hardwood. I have 2.5 year old twin boys, I'm suprised the floors look as good as they do now.

Samantha