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.
Neutral pH
Vinegar is an acidic substance and over time, can eat away or deteriorate the finish on a hardwood floor. The process may be hastened if vinegar is used in conjunction with very hot water. The result will be cloudy, dull or white patches on your floor.
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.
Vinegar is acidic, and it can strip away all types of finishes, therefore vinegar is not safe on hardwood floors. The same effect is possible when using ammonia, abrasive cleaning agents and alkaline-based products.
Clean wood floors with vinegar by adding 1/2 cup white vinegar to a gallon of lukewarm water. Follow the tips for how to clean hardwood floors with a mop, above, to prevent water damage. Then use vinegar to naturally clean the rest of your home!
While vinegar is safe to use on hardwood, it should be diluted in order to work properly. Using undiluted vinegar can lead to sticky flooring and a strong odor that takes quite a while to dissipate.
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.
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.
Sweep or vacuum, then mop with a commercial wood floor cleaner or solution of a quarter-cup of dish soap and a gallon of warm water to lift any lingering grime. Give the floors a final pass with a clean, water-dampened mop to remove any cleaner residue. Dry completely with a soft, clean towel.
You can also use Pine-Sol® Original Squirt 'N Mop®. It's safe for wood and hard, nonporous surfaces. You can apply it to the floor directly from the bottle.
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.
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.
Murphy Oil Soap is safe to use on all finished hardwood floors, ceramic tile, laminate, and vinyl floors. With It's 98% natural ingredients, it won't harm them but extend their life by using it on regular basis. You just need to rinse your mop thoroughly before cleaning.
Using a two sided bucket method (one side soap, one side rinse) or two buckets, mop with 1/2 cup vinegar with a drop of deter- gent or Murphy's Oil Soap mixed with warm water. The clean vinegar odor will go away shortly after the floor dries.
Do not wet mop wood flooring.
Damp is good. Dripping wet is bad. If you can ring out the mop or pad, you're working with too much water. Excess water will lead to damage of the floor, and even the subfloor.
Beginning at the back of the room, mop your floors using gentle, circular motions. Vinegar does an excellent job of making floors less slippery because it cuts grease and wax buildup, both of which are primary culprits for slipperiness.
Rinse away grime with clean water. To prevent soap scum buildup, wipe shower doors with a sponge soaked in white distilled vinegar. There's no need to rinse.
Sticky floors occur when you leave behind too much cleaning solution, use the wrong floor cleaner, or not rinsing with clean water after mopping. You can clean the residue off tile and wood floors and then rinse using a clean mop and water. Clean with a steam mop to remove the sticky residue easily.
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.
Routine cleaning
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.
You can use shark Steam mop on Wood floors but only if they are sealed! If your floors are not, water from the steamer will be absorbed by the wood and damage your flooring from the inside out. Beside sealed hardwood, Shark steam mop can be used on Bamboo, Marble and Vinyl plank floors as well.