When mopping hardwood floors, make sure to wring most of the water out of the mop so it's damp and not sopping wet. Rinse the mop when necessary. Avoid leaving any standing water on the floor, which can damage the wood. This is especially true for prefinished hardwood floors.
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.
Dry-mop at least twice a week using a microfiber head, focusing on corners. Avoid using water to clean your hardwoods, and never wet-mop, as the moisture can damage the material. To avoid staining and cracking, blot up spills immediately with a dry, clean cloth.
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.
But vinegar should not be used as a hardwood floor cleaner because its acidity can lead to etching in the wood's surface. Avoid ammonia – Ammonia will discolor, deteriorate, and dull the finish. Using ammonia to clean a wood floor will take years off of its life.
Olive Oil, White Vinegar, & Water: Mix all three of these natural ingredients together and you'll know how to make hardwood floors shine naturally.
Avoid harsh detergents, vinegar cleaning solutions, and any other abrasive products. Clean hardwood flooring with steam, a small amount of water, or a cleaning agent purpose-made for hardwood. Mild, ph-neutral soaps also work. Remove hardened mounds of dirt with warm water and a putty knife.
Avoid Using a Steam Mop on Wood
Some steam mop manufacturers, such as Shark and Bissell, may say you can use it on a sealed hardwood floor, but Stocki recommends against it because moisture could still possibly force itself into the joints between the boards and get into the wood and warp it.
Getting Rid of Daily Dirt: A Clean Sweep
If you have pets, ensure that your vacuum has good suction to get up all the fur. 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.
If you do not want to wait for it to air dry, you can dry your floors manually. You can do this by taking a dry mop head, squeegee, sponge, or towel and whipping it across your flooring. If you do this, make sure to go in one direction to prevent lines and missed wet spots.
Just rinse the mop again, and leave the floor to dry. Try to avoid walking on it for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it's dry to the touch. If you do have to walk on it, wear clean socks. You can also help your floors dry faster by using a floor squeegee.
Each coat of an oil-based finish normally takes 24 hours to dry, and if you are staining your wood, this can take 24 hours or longer to dry, too. You should expect refinishing your hardwood flooring to take a minimum of three days. For water-based finishes, it can take about two days to refinish hardwood floors fully.
A dry mop is used dry to pick up dirt, debris and dust. It is used without water. It is also used before a wet mop when a thorough floor cleaning, start to finish is desired. The wet mop is used with water and a cleaning solution.
To tell the difference in a pinch, just rub your finger across the floor. Be sure to do this on a clean floor. If no smudge appears, the floor is surface sealed. If you do create a smudge, the floor has been treated with a penetrating seal, oil finish, shellac, varnish or lacquer, and then waxed.
You can use a mop or a cleaner to swipe the wooden floor. However, beforehand, you should thoroughly wring out the mop or the cleaner to avoid dampening and damaging the floor. If the floor gets too wet, find a dry cloth as soon as possible, and absorb and remove all the remaining water.
Whether you have laminate or real hardwood flooring in your home, steam mopping is not the right method. Steam mopping can cause steam to seep through cracks in your flooring. You might not even be able to see the cracks because they are so small. When the steam enters the cracks, it causes warping and swelling.
Now that your floors are clean and dry, applying a coat of polish is a great way to revive your hardwood floor's finish. A coat of hardwood floor polish can even out a floor's look, filling in any micro scratches and adding a new protective layer on top of your floor.
Shoes, pets, and moving or sliding your furniture around are all things that can scratch up your hardwood floors, making them look extra dull. Even if you start with a well-applied finish and take care of your floors over time with regular maintenance, still your best-cared-for floor will start to show its age.
There are four main ways to refresh a tired-looking wood floor: thorough cleaning, topping up the finish, buffing and polishing, or investing in a full sand and refinish. The method you choose will depend on the severity of your floor's condition.
Olive Oil and Lemon Juice Solution
A combination of olive oil, hot water, and lemon juice does a great job of removing stains from floors while also living them looking rich and shiny.
The finish is the protective layer of your wood floors. Since vinegar is an acid, it will actually break down the finish on the surface of your floor, and over time it will reduce the shine, and leave a dull appearance.
The best means of cleaning hardwood floors is to use a microfiber dust mop or a vacuum cleaner. As an added bonus, you probably only need to clean high-traffic areas — like foyers, living rooms and hallways — throughout the week.
If you wet mop before cleaning up loose dirt, you'll end up with a trail of wet sludge following every sweep of your mop. Furthermore, if you don't dry mop before wet mopping, you will end up rubbing all that tiny abrasive debris over your floor and could damage the floors inadvertently while you're cleaning them.
Should you dry mop before you wet mop? Yes, always Dry Mop first! It may seem redundant to clean something you're about to clean, but wet mops are not great at picking up crumbs, dust, hair, and other solid debris. If you mop an unswept floor, you are likely to end up pushing debris around.