Cleaning Hardwood floors???

Question

What can I clean my hardwood floors with? I have pinesol and murphy's cleaner it all makes my floors soooo sticky! Any ideas?

Answer 1

Most wood floors can be kept clean by first sweeping or vacuuming with a floor nozzle to remove most of the surface dust and dirt, then damp mopping with clear water (dip a sponge in clear water, squeezing it out so that the mop is barely damp, almost dry). Use very little water and rinse your mop thoroughly after each use since excess water can dissolve protective coatings, alter the color of the wood and raise the grain to roughen the surface.

If your floors are not dirty enough to need mopping every week, then you should not do it, as it will wear the floors faster, not to mention waste your time. Simply sweeping is often all they need.

If need to restore the shine to your wood floor after you get it clean, try damp mopping it with 1/2 cup vinegar and 2 tablespoons furniture polish in a gallon of warm water. Vinegar is also useful for removing any soap residue or build-up, but should not be necessary every week...

Answer 2

Mopping your floors with plain water is not good for them.

I work for a housecleaning company and we NEVER mop floors with plain water. We actually have a mixture that we make in our office that's got vinegar and orange oil. Some of our clients don't like the orange scent (silly, I know), so we just use vinegar. A lot of experts say that plain white vinegar is the best thing you can use on hardwood floors.

What we do is we put the vinegar in spray bottles and on a vacuumed floor, we mist on the vinegar and wipe it with the mop, not allowing it to be sopping wet.

Hope that helped!