Hardwood floors are gorgeous! They add an attractive rustic charm to your space, and can be pretty durable if cared for correctly. However, there’s often a lot of confusion around cleaning hardwood floors.
In fact, one of the questions I frequently get asked is, “How do I clean my hardwood floors?” Today, I’ll be answering this popular question, and I’ll also cover all the important do’s and don’ts to preserve your wood flooring. Apply my tips and you’ll have clean, shiny wooden flooring that lasts the test of time!
First and foremost, before you start cleaning, you must know which type of flooring you have. There are several types of hardwood flooring namely solid wood flooring, pre-engineered, luxury vinyl, and laminate.
The four cleaners I use for hardwood floor cleaning are lemon Pine Sol, Bona, ammonia-free Windex, and vinegar. Let’s discuss each type of flooring, and the products you should (and shouldn’t) be using on them.
Solid Wood Flooring
This is my favorite type of flooring, and by far the easiest to keep clean! These are the floors in my daughter’s Blake’s room, and they are original to the house. I am a firm believer in restoring as much of a house as possible, so we were able to save 2 bedrooms of our home’s original hardwood flooring. It is the most difficult to keep from warping and getting destroyed and isn’t the most durable. When I moved into my home, we were not expecting to replace any of the hardwood flooring, but when the homeowner lifted her large area rugs, the floors were buckled underneath from water damage, due to watering plants and dog urine. If you have solid wood flooring, I highly recommend that you look under your stationary area rugs occasionally to make sure water hasn’t gotten trapped underneath.
Solid wood floors are the easiest to clean. I use a bucket of water, two caps of lemon Pine Sol, and ¼ cup of vinegar to mop the floor.
You want the mop to be slightly damp, not wet. Excess water can damage your wood flooring, so be sure to wring out the mop well. Spin mops are great for this as you can easily wring out any excess water with the bucket attachment.
You can also use Bona or Murphy’s Oil for cleaning, but I find them unnecessary when vinegar and Pine Sol are so much more affordable.
Pre-Engineered Flooring
This is the most durable of all hardwood flooring because it’s not easily subject to damage and warping. There is a thin layer of “real wood” wrapped around plywood on each plank. It is also coated in the factory, making that top protective layer more durable. With that being said, that top protective layer can also leave footprints and streaks when you clean your floor. I love the way my floors look, but I hate how easily they lose their shine!
For these floors, you need a terry cloth sponge or a stick mop, and a spray bottle filled with a mix of half vinegar and half water plus a capful of Pine Sol. The key to getting these floors clean and streak-free is the drying process. If you mop them with a regular mop, they will dry streaky. The terry cloth sponge with small amounts of this solution will clean and dry with your back and forth motion.
You may also use Bona hardwood floor cleaner on these types of floors. I’m not a huge Bona fan, but I must use them on my floors because everything else leaves streaks. I have pre-engineered Brazilian Tiger wood, and boy do they show EVERYTHING! Even if a fly lands on them, you can see their tiny footprints!
So I clean them first with vinegar and water to remove all the dirt, and then follow up with Bona for the shine. I don’t recommend using Murphy’s Oil, Orange Glow, or any other type of wood flooring product. Those products are meant for solid wood flooring only.
Luxury Vinyl
This is probably the other easiest floor to clean, and requires the least ‘arm strength’. You can use a terry cloth mop, a regular string mop, or any other mop that gets the job done. You can use water, lemon Pine Sol, and vinegar or ammonia-free Windex as well. On the plus side, you don’t have to towel dry these floors, nor do you have to worry about damaging them with too much water.
Luxury vinyl is the most resistant flooring out there today, and it’s no surprise that most people opt to have this in their home because of its durability.
Laminate
These floors are the most sensitive. As such, you must be careful to only use the recommended cleaner for these types of floors, or you will ruin them. One of the cheapest and safest cleaners is a home-made solution of dish soap and hot water. One teaspoon of dish soap mixed with hot water in a spray bottle is good enough for these floors. If you need to remove build-up, vinegar and ammonia-free Windex are the only things you should use.
And be sure to always wring your mop to almost dry! If you are spraying solution on the floor and cleaning with a dry cloth, use the spray solution sparingly. Too much water and oil based products are a big no-no for laminate flooring.
General Care Tips For Your Hardwood Flooring
In addition to choosing the right cleaning solutions and tools for you hardwood flooring, there are also some general care practices that should be followed to take care of your flooring and prevent any damage to them.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Sweep your floors often to get rid of any grit or abrasive materials. Avoid using stiff-bristle brooms to sweep as they may cause scratches on your flooring. Use soft-bristle brooms instead.
- Take your shoes off at home. Dirt and grit often get stuck to the base of our shoes. Sometimes even the odd nail! Walking inside with your shoes on could bring these abrasive materials into your home and damage your flooring.
- If you have pets, trim their nails regularly to prevent scratch marks on the floor.
- Always lift and carry your furniture, don’t drag! To further protect your floors from scratches or damage, you can buy felt pads for the bottom of your furniture.
Taking care of hardwood flooring can seem daunting at times, but don’t worry! Follow these cleaning and general care tips, and you’ll be well on your way to having shiny, durable hardwood floors that give your home an added ‘wow’ factor!
Sending you squeeky clean thoughts,
Michelle M
The Squeeky Clean Method 