The cleaning enzymes in laundry detergent work great at pulling away dirt from floors. Fill your mop bucket up with hot water, then add one teaspoon of laundry detergent (a little goes a long way).
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.
Mild dish soap can work well as a floor cleaner, and since it is so mild, it can be used on most floor types without leaving a residue.
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.
According to the Go Clean Co pros, Tide is safe and effective to use on hardwood, engineered hardwood, tile, laminate, vinyl plans and linoleum 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.
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.
A large bottle of liquid laundry detergent fulfills most of your cleaning needs. Its many uses include mopping your tile or vinyl floors. With two buckets, a mop, and a little elbow grease, even the worst spills are easily cleaned with only 1/4 cup of laundry detergent.
Add one teaspoon of Tide detergent. (Notice we said only a teaspoon. A little bit goes a long way.) Use the Tide and water solution to mop away all that dirt.
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.
If the scratches don't go all the way through to the wood, you can scuff-sand your floors with a buffer and apply a fresh coat or two of finish. The hardwood floor refinishing process is easier and less expensive than sanding down to bare wood and takes less time. In a few hours, your floors will look as good as new.
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.
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.
Bona's mop distributes cleaning solution more evenly than the Swiffer WetJet. Bona's mop head is significantly wider (15 inches) than Swiffer's (9 inches), which makes it easier to clean large rooms but more difficult to navigate in small spaces. Bona's spray mop comes with a reusable microfiber mop pad.
Ultimately, traditional mops are still the best option for deep cleaning. You can put more pressure on the head, and you can use any cleaning solution (rather than the Swiffer-only options) and as much of it as you need.
A Swiffer mop can make your floors sticky because of the following reasons: You have overused the cleaner in the Swiffer mop, and it's causing a build-up. You are spraying a relatively large area, and the cleaner from the Swiffer mop is drying before you mop it up, leading to sticky spots on your floor.
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.
In high-traffic areas, like the dining room and kitchen, sweep or vacuum daily if possible and mop hardwood floors once or twice a week. Mop less-trafficked areas once a month or once a season.
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.
They differ in their additives. Dish soap typically contains additives that are designed to keep your hands soft while you wash dishes, while laundry detergent contains softeners to keep clothing wrinkle- and static-free.