Oil-Based Solution Now pour two tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of distilled white vinegar, 10-15 drops of essential oil like lemongrass or orange and two cups of warm water in it. Shake the concoction well and spray it on the floor. Now use a mop cloth to wipe it and restore the lost shine.
Use a Sealant Every Few Years
“A sealant coupled with a hardwood finish can make your wooden floors shine and look brand new, and it is the default choice for most homeowners who want to bring their hardwood floor back to life without spending too much money,” says Bucur.
Avoid using soap-based and oil-based cleaners, as this can cause your floors to warp over time. If you can't find any laminate cleaners in your area, you can make your own laminate flooring cleaner using a water solution by mixing equal parts of water, white vinegar, and rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle.
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.
If your hardwood floors are looking tired and dull, there's an easy way to bring them back to life. A revitalizer, such as Rejuvenate's wood floor restorer, fills in scratches and restores the glossy shine of your hardwood floors, while also protecting them from everyday wear and tear.
You can buff using what's called a chemical abrasion kit. It works similarly to the liquid sander that you find in a hardwood floor refinishing kit, but it works slightly differently. You'll need a buffer for this project, so rent one in advance and move all of your furniture out of the room you want to refinish.
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.
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.
Best Overall
Trusted for over 100 years by homeowners to take care of their hardwood floors, Murphy's Original Formula Oil Soap is our pick for its plant-based ingredients, natural citronella fragrance, and ability to be used on other wood fixtures in the home.
We recommend using soap specially developed for such floors. If it is very dirty, we recommend using a heavy-duty cleaning product to strip the surface. Then wipe the floor with a damp mop and apply a matt or satin metallizing varnish to restore the surface.
Clean and shine your floors in ONE STEP with Wash 'N Shine Floor Cleaner! Benefits of Using Wash 'N Shine: Cleans as it shines in just 1 step! Removes the dirt and leaves a tough, hard gloss.
Wood Floor Cleaning Method: Vinegar
For this method, you mix 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar with a gallon of lukewarm water in a bucket. To save time (and to avoid carrying a heavy load), I decided to try making my cleaning solution directly in a spray bottle with 1 part vinegar and 16 parts water.
Final Thoughts. In conclusion, you can use Windex on wooden floors in order to remove any oily film or residue left by furniture/wood waxes. That being said, you shouldn't do it too frequently. Ammonia-based products might just damage your flooring by stripping away the finish.
To clean your floors with this DIY mixture, combine equal parts olive oil and white vinegar, a few teaspoons of lemon juice, and five parts hot water. Dip your mop or rag into the solution, wring gently, and then wipe down your hardwood floors with this homemade wood floor cleaner that shines.
Homemade Wood Floor Cleaning Solution
A good ratio is 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar to 1 gallon of warm water. To leave a pleasant scent behind as you clean, you can add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the cleaning solution.
Vinegar and Ammonia: Cleaning products that have a base of vinegar or ammonia eat away at the dirt on your floor - and also the floor's finish itself. Over time, the acid will wear down your hardwood, leaving you with splotchy patches that are difficult to revive.
Only use water and a pH neutral cleaning product that is suitable for timber floors. Avoid using household detergents or methylated spirits as these can remove the varnish that protects the surface of the floors. It's also recommended not to use polish or wax products as these can make the floor surface very slippery.
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.
Although natural cleaners like distilled white vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda are safe and effective all over the house, they aren't safe for hardwood floors. The same goes for too much moisture. You should never steam clean your hardwood floors or use too much water with any wood floor cleaner.
Olive oil added to your hardwood floor cleaner helps naturally hydrate and polishes without leaving behind any film or sticky residue. Using a homemade cleaner with olive oil, you can get two jobs done at once: cleaning and polishing!
A quick wipe down with a damp microfiber towel and a drop of dish soap, or even a scrub down with Clean-A-Finish for the worst pieces, will ensure that you are enhancing the brightest, cleanest version of your wood finish possible. Just clean, dry, then buff in a little polish to shine!
Mix 1 cup Olive Oil and 1/2 cup white vinegar . Pour this home made polish on a soft piece of cloth and gently rub it on the furniture in circular motion. If the wood looks dry, let the mix set on the surface and then pour some more polish on the cloth and rub the dull surface to shiny one.