You can also use boiling water and two teabags to clean hardwood floors.
Water may seem so harmless, but if allowed to sit on a hardwood floor, it can cause warping or discoloration or even ruin your beautiful hardwood floor and make it both difficult and costly to repair or replace.
Many people think you need to mop with boiling water to thoroughly clean your floors. This, however, is a myth – rather than always giving you a better clean, the temperature of the water can actually have a negative effect.
In most homes, the best wood floor cleaner is plain old soap and water, and the only tools you need are a broom, vacuum, and mop. The best mop for wood floors is a microfiber flat-head or string mop you can easily wring out.
Pour a little bit of boiling water on the dirtiest spots on your floor. Let it stand for a few minutes. I use this method and then mop with just hot tap water mixed with dishwashing detergent.
It is preferable to use cold water instead of hot water when mopping. The reason is that it does not damage the flooring and it retains floor shine. It also helps in eradicating germs and bacteria. Additionally, cold water saves a lot of electricity and leaves off a cooling effect later after cleaning.
When water heats up, its molecules move faster and bounce off each other more. This creates more space between the molecules that can be filled with dissolved solvents. As a result, hot water can dissolve much more material than cold water.
Don't use straight ammonia, alkaline products or abrasive cleaners. They'll dull or scratch the finish. Don't rely on lemon juice or a vinegar-and-water solution to clean hardwood floors. "I don't recommend using vinegar or lemon juice, at least not in large quantities, as these can damage the floor's seal," said Wise.
Whether you're cleaning one area or all of your flooring, Murphy® Oil Soap is safe to use on hardwood floors.
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.
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.
LPT: When mopping the floor, use very hot water. It evaporates and dries quicker.
But, you can still remove watermarks through some other alternative methods. Some alternatives to remove watermarks on wood include rubbing either a baking soda mixed with water, a mixture of vinegar and olive oil, dissolved salt on water, or toothpaste on the spot in a circular motion until the stain disappears.
When wood gets wet, the wood absorbs the water and begins to expand and eventually cup (or warp). This is when the sides of the wood flooring swell and rise higher than the center of the boards, creating an uneven surface.
For many water-damaged wood floors, the best way to repair the damage is to eliminate and replace the affected boards and then to refinish the entire floor. The proper way to replace planks in a wood floor takes time and the expertise of a craftsman.
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.
Do NOT clean your floors with Murphy's Oil Soap, Mop and Glo, Orange Glo, Swiffer Wet Mop, furniture polish such as Pledge, vinegar, ammonia, or any pine cleaners! All of these cleaners, over time, will dull and damage the finish.
Vegetable Oil & White Vinegar: Mix equal parts vegetable oil and white vinegar together to make a simple, yet effective, cleaner for your hardwood floor. Vinegar is a natural polish that is perfect for cleaning. It's acidity will help break down dirt and grime.
Do not wet mop wood flooring.
Excess water will lead to damage of the floor, and even the subfloor.
Wet mopping can cause your wood floors to swell
The rule of thumb here is that water and wood do not mix. Wood can act like a sponge when it's around water. Too much, and it will start to swell up. Too little, and it the boards can shrink as they dry out.
Use a damp-mop with a flat-head mop and microfiber pad or a microfiber string mop that has been thoroughly wrung out when it looks dingy. Move with the grain, and control the amount of cleaning solution by using a spray bottle, aiming for a heavy mist or gentle squirt of about a half teaspoon per 2 square feet.
The reason is that hot water dissolves contaminants more quickly than cold water, and many pipes in homes contain lead that can leach into water. And lead can damage the brain and nervous system, especially in young children.
A hotter water temperature of 130–140°F can kill many harmful germs, but also increases the risk of scalding. If you set the water heater above 120°F, make sure you take extra precautions to mix cold and hot water (using thermostatic valves) at the faucet or shower to avoid scalding.
Pro: Hot Water Gets the Job Done
It's not the most gentle temperature, but it powers through dirt and odors. Hot water has the most cleaning power because it speeds up the chemical reaction of the detergent. This means decreased wash times and less detergent.
When it comes to cleaning, deionized water is much more efficient than tap water. It's environmentally friendly, due to its purity, making it one of the most note-worthy new trends in green cleaning.