An alternative natural cleaning solution is warm water and dish soap (1/4 cup of dish washing liquid for a bucket of warm water). For spot cleaning needs, sprinkle baking soda on the affected area and scrub with a sponge. To ensure the area is thoroughly clean, rinse with warm water and dry.
Dish soap is a gentle cleaner that won't damage the natural wood, and it's perfect for light jobs and daily upkeep alike. In a large bucket, mix two to three tablespoons of dish soap with one gallon of warm water. Dip your mop and wring it over the bucket, then gently mop the surface of your floors.
Floor Mopping
Mild dish soap is a surprisingly good floor cleaner. All you need is 1 to 2 tablespoons of dish soap mixed in with a bucket of water. Floors will be clean and shiny in no time. Dish soap is very effective on resilient floorings, such as linoleum and vinyl, and also works well on ceramic tile.
Avoid using water and vinegar, soap-based cleaners, wax or steam cleaners on hardwood floors. Vinegar and water can dull the floor's finish over time, while soap and wax leave a residue. Steam cleaners put heat and excessive water on your floor, which can lead to cupping and long-term damage.
You can use a commercial wood-cleaning product, like Bona or Murphy Oil Soap. Be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions. You can also make your own cleaner by mixing one part vinegar to 10 parts warm water. Add a few drops of liquid Castile soap.
To clean wood floors naturally, use a common kitchen staple: vinegar. Learning how to clean hardwood floors with vinegar will save you money on top of providing a safe cleaning method for your floors. Clean wood floors with vinegar by adding 1/2 cup white vinegar to a gallon of lukewarm water.
Ammonia. Ammonia is a pungent chemical that has many cleaning uses in your home, but it should never be used on hardwood floors. “The ingredient damages the surface and dissolves the lignin in the wood,” explains Leanne Stapf, chief operating officer at The Cleaning Authority.
Whether you're cleaning one area or all of your flooring, Murphy® Oil Soap is safe to use on hardwood floors.
Water You Using to Clean Your Floors? You can safely use Swiffer products on hardwood floors. For a quick clean, try Swiffer WetJet Wood Starter Kit. With just the right amount of solution, it breaks up tough, sticky messes, brings out the natural beauty of your floors and won't damage them.
Pine-Sol is safe on hardwood floors and can be used to clean and disinfect them. What is essential is to use the right concentration and correctly follow the instructions: Sweep or vacuum the floor to remove loose dirt and debris. Take ¼ cup of Pine-Sol and mix with a gallon of water in a bucket.
Spray a small amount of hardwood cleaner onto the floor, and then wipe the floor down with a dry terry cloth mop or dust mop. If your floor is riddled with spots, stains, scuff marks, or debris, remove them with mineral spirits and then mop the area thoroughly.
Hydrogen peroxide is an effective cleaning solution that is safe for humans and pets and won't damage hardwood floors when used properly. With its antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-fungal properties, it goes beyond eliminating dirt and debris to sanitize your home.
For deep cleaning and disinfecting wood floors, you should give the surface a more thorough clean every 1-2 weeks. To disinfect your floor, use Lysol® Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner at full-strength (or dilute 1 oz to 5 oz of warm water in a bucket) and be sure to pre-clean the surface.
Floor Cleaning Tips
For small spills, try Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes. They even work on wood floors! For a deeper clean, vacuum or sweep the floor before mopping to remove the excess dirt, crumbs and other floor-dwelling particles.
When you're doing a DIY woodworking project, it's a good idea to start with a fresh, clean surface. But whatever you do, if you're working with untreated wood, don't use a Clorox wipe to clear off dust and dirt. Because untreated or unpainted wood is porous, disinfectant wipes can leave it with a big, ugly stain.
Generally, Clorox® Regular Bleach2 is suitable for disinfecting floors made of hard surfaces like ceramic tile, vinyl, and linoleum—not marble or other porous surfaces that aren't safe for bleach. Wood is porous, and generally we only recommend bleaching exterior finished wood surfaces, not interior hardwood floors.
Don't use OxiClean on finished wood, teak wood or painted floors. OxiClean is a versatile cleaning product made from sodium percarbonate. When mixed with water, the solution forms oxygen bubbles that penetrate into stains and dissolve them without harsh fumes.
Mix one cup of vinegar into a warm water-filled bucket and the add some drops of grapefruit oil to the solution to get rid of the odor. Scrub the floor with this safe cleaning solution, concentrating on the most prominent spots. As you scrub, the odor and stains should be disappearing.
Vinegar is an acid and hardwood floors need a pH neutral or close to it cleaner. When mixed with water, the solution's acidity is drastically lowered and it becomes an effective method to wash hardwood floors. The vinegar and water mixture cuts through dirt and grime, leaving a streak-free and naturally clean floor.
Just squirt Reviver on the floor in an "S" pattern and spread a thin, even coat using a damp painter's pad or a synthetic applicator attached to a long handle. Work in small sections, moving in the direction of the floorboards using a back-and-forth motion, until the entire floor is coated. Even the cleanup is easy.
Once a week, wood floors should be cleaned in high traffic areas with a damp mop. Low traffic areas can be done less frequently, like once a month or once a quarter. Unsealed wood floors are more susceptible to water, so make sure that the mop is just slightly damp.
The good thing about the fabuloso cleaner is that it can be generally used for all the wood floor surfaces. It is a good multi-purpose cleaner of which you can practically use to effectively clean the floor surfaces around your home.
Homemade dish & hand sanitizer / 3 parts dawn , 1 part fabuloso 1/2 part bleach. Cleans, smells great, and disinfects.
What is this? Pine-Sol is more acidic than Fabuloso, which gives it an advantage in breaking down stubborn stains and complex messes caused by grease. Pine-Sol Original is the only liquid cleaning solution that disinfects.