Comments on: How to Clean Hardwood Floors

By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:50:17 +0000

My wood floor is very slippery in spots. How can I safely rought the spots up?

By: Christy

Christy — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 02:29:47 +0000

Thanks to Orange Glo, it looks like I will be on my Hands and Knees for 3 hrs. However, I hear the results of the ammonia sol. will be well worth my time. Thought I would have to replace my $9000 floors b/c they got so dull.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:22:52 +0000

I only use distilled water on my hardwood floors. I buy a large jug and keep refilling a spray bottle. I use a Vileda mop head that can be used for dry or wet cleaning (the reusable, washable kind). Every six months or so, I use the vinegar/water treatment, followed by a cleaner my hard wood floor company provided (to rehydrate the wood).
For the person who has gummy residue from the chair pads, I use Goo Gone…works like a charm, followed by a spritz of distilled water to clean away the Goo Gone residue.

By: Feli

Feli — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 01:50:29 +0000

My new house has all hard wood floors (Brazilian cherry) except kitchen and bathrooms. The installer recommended “plain water with a little bit of white vinegar, simple as that!” (his words) haha. I have followed his advice and I’m happy with results, been doing it for 10 months now.

After reading all of your posts, I’m a little worried about the footprints, since my floors are dark like some of you that have that problem. I find this forum very helpful, hopefully I’ll never have problems with my beautiful floor (fingers crossed) but if I ever do, I know where to turn.

Good luck to all of you!

By: D

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 01:11:51 +0000

I have beautiful hardwood floors which we laid a few years ago, I love them and yes they do need a little TLC. Because I have pets and the floor is also in an way of our home where we enter daily , I purchased a nice industrial dust mop to remove surface hair and dust regularly , but when it comes to cleaning a good once over with a vac brush attachment works great to get down in the cracks and crevices , than once a month or so A steam Vac (mine is the Shark with a micro fiber washable pad ) does a great job no dirty socks and a shine like it was just laid. be sure the cleaning Pad is freshly washed and there are no chemicals on it just the steam and you should be a happy camper. Oh and by doors that you use for entry be sure you have a rubber backed rug to remove shoes and the moisture wont leak thru..( I use a restaurant grade rug they stay in place and last forever. We live in the snow belt of Pa. and deal with all kinds of weather. Good Luck hope it helps.

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:17:52 +0000

BTW…I am the Laura from the post above only. Not the Laura from above with the older house. My house is 4 years old and we have prefinished hardwood floors.

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:15:14 +0000

Gray film: I called Mop n Glo and they told me to do ammonia/water solution. I did 1 part ammonia, 3 parts water. Let it set for 3 minutes then wiped up with a bath towel. It worked. As I dried it with a towel, I saw a glazed substance accumulating. Be sure make it very wet despite hardwood recommendations. Let it set the full 3-5 minutes without letting it dry. Most importantly, wipe it up. It won’t just disappear with mopping alone. It has to be removed. I only used this product once, so if you are dealing with removing several applications, you may have to repeat. It was a bit of a task, but worth it. I am only using Bona from here on out.

By: LaRae

LaRae — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:47:31 +0000

I had the exact same problem! I had used Pledge commercial wood floor cleaner, which left a great shine, but then, I switched back to Bona and had a horrible residue. I tried everything. Then, I called a wood floor distributer and she gave me the solution. I used a microfiber cloth and denatured alcohol, which you can buy at a local hardware store. I got on my hands and knees and cleaned each plank of wood. I could not believe it! It just cut right through the residue. Now, my floors are back to their beautiful natural color and shine again. I think this will work for you too!

By: jess

jess — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:34:16 +0000

I have used mop n glow, and murphys oil soap On my hardwood floors until I read that its bad for your floors. Just the other day I used vinegar and water to clean them, after I was done and the floors were dry they were really cloudy and felt so gross like kind of sticky and sandy feeling. It felt and looked like I didn’t even clean them. Does anyone know why and what can I do to prevent this? Thank you!

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:57:53 +0000

I’ve clean my 85 year old red oak floors that have recently been refinished with Bona products. In the past I’m tried murphy’s and water, vinegar and water, and then I tried Orange Glo. DO NOT use any Orange Glo products, they will make your floor finish dull and waxy with a film that will attract dirt and make it feel sticky.

To remove the other products and restore the wood to it’s new clean feel, I mixed ammonia (1-2 capfuls to gallon hot water) and used a microfiber damp cloth wiping in circular motion, then dry with towels until dry. Keep in mind, you are removing dull film, so this is slow, but the results will be wonderful.

Test and area and feel the smooth clean surface. For my house, my whole first floor is wood, so this took 2 hours. but it’s shine and smoothness came back. Now I only use the Bona products and put a dry towel on mop head and just work it in. I’ve never had the film or dullness appear again. I will never make that mistake again. Also, if you have cleaning service, make sure to tell them never to use anything other than that as they could ruin all your hard work in just a couple of minutes.

By: Linda

Linda — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 00:06:55 +0000

I just had bamboo floors installed and the installer left footprints from his shoes all over them. I have vacuumed, wet swiffered and rubbed hard with a microfiber cloth and pledge dust wax. Sounds like I compounded the problem. I so with I had read these comments before I chose my floors. I was under the impression that hardwood was easy care!

By: Lynda

Lynda — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:37:57 +0000

Oh and I forgot to mention in 1st post on this forum… we were also told to never use any chemical cleaners, as well as never use one of the steamer cleaning machines (eg, Swiffer steam cleaner) on our laminate flooring or warranty is null and void. The non-steamer swiffer mop has moist pads and dry pads that you can use on the same mop head. So, now we use the Swiffer (non-steamer) two pad choices and the Zep when there is a spot to clean in the interim. Seems to work great without damaging the laminate flooring.

By: Lynda

Lynda — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:31:27 +0000

Thanks for the recommendation on Zep Hardwood & Laminate Floor Cleaner. We have laminate floor in our primary traffic areas (probably about 800 or more sq ft or more of our home has laminate flooring) and we have 4 male dogs that occasionally decide to mark their spot near couch leg, table leg, etc. We were told no warranty if you use a mop bucket of water to clean it and to never use a swiffer steamer on these floors (or no warranty). So, we have two things now that we use… the swiffer moist pad and dry pads which does not put much moisture on the floor. When our dogs have a urine spill (grin) we immediately soak it up with a paper towel, dry it, and put a light spray of Zep and wipe it with a paper towel after applied (or use the dry swiffer mop pad) on it and it is working great. Thanks for the tip on Zep Hardwood & Laminate Floor Cleaner…. it leaves no spots and floor looks great after used.

By: Belvedere

Belvedere — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:08:15 +0000

I used to use clorox to bleach my wood floors clean, it worked but it stripped off the shiny finish. I used turtlewax and rented a floor buffer to put the shine back in and it worked like a charm. Now I like to use some chrome polish every other week to give it a spectacular finish, it’s quite slippery now but the mirror-like shine is very impressive!

By: smumustang

smumustang — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:10:34 +0000

For my hardwoods I never use a chemical cleaner, very hot water to mop and have a wet vac set up with a plastic hardwood floor cleaner tool to vacuum it dry. Occasionally will add small amount of bleach to deodorize and disinfect. I have two dogs, and with a central vacuum installed and this cleaning method my floors stay very clean. I have also used a steam mop which works great on hardwoods, you will use no chemicals again and be amazed how your floors feel walking barefoot on them after steaming. Everyone in the house should wear socks or slippers because oil from your feet is transferred to the flooring, carpet or hardwood, and this is what attracts the dirt and dust that show up as footprints etc. This is how carpet wears, the dirt attracts sand and similar debris to the carpet which ends up at the bottom, walking on it after that causes cuts to the fibers and the carpets shed the cut fibers which leaves a worn path. Most soaps leave a residue which attracts more dirt than you leave with feet. A wet vac and clean hot water is what most cleaning companies use for flooring, some oils and stains can be spot treated but putting soap on a carpet or hardwood is not a good idea. Be cautious not to leave water standing which will soak in, I use a lot of water on mine, with a sprayer and/or mop, then vacuum it up. You will be amazed how dirty the water will be when you are done. It may take a few cleanings to get the previous buildup off of your floors. Steam cleaning would be the fastest way to remove that, plus it sanitizes for dogs and kids. Btw, Bruce cleaner is almost identical to Windex. Another thing you should do is hose off your driveway, sidewalks, porch, all paths leading to your house. I vacuum my porch along with the house. If you live on a city street use the hose to rinse out to the street. Any dirt or asphalt debris will wash along your curbs and be deposited in the front of your driveway. Your car tires pick it up and take it all the way to the garage where it gets tracked into your house. If you notice dark stains or a noticeable path on lighter carpet use a wet vac and plain hot water run from a hose to liberally saturate.spray a small area at a time followed immediately by being vacuumed up. Make sure you vacuum until the carpet feels damp, not wet. This method works on upholstery also, and once you get the feel of cleaning this way, your floors will stay much cleaner and the time it takes to clean is greatly reduced. I am installing 2″ pvc pipe in my house to make an outlet for my wet vac, which will be operating much quieter in the garage. Already have a tankless hot water heater which gives me instant hot water which eliminated mop buckets. Hope this helped!

By: June

June — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:40:38 +0000

We have a log cabin with light colored pine floors hroughout. We were told (and have faithfully followed the directions) to use white vinegar and water. To spot clean, I keep a spray bottle handy. When we mop, i mix it in a bucket. Use the cleaner and then IMMEDIATELY DRY the floor with a clean soft cloth. Any kind of liquid spils are the worst enemy of your wood floors. Our floors are about 4 years old and look like brand new. We instituted the no shoes policy (with a few exceptions) and I bought a good quality dust mop which i use frequently to prevent the sand and dirt from ruining the finish.

By: Sally

Sally — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 23:44:32 +0000

Janet,
Same here on everything you said about your floors. 3yrs old and looks like something has been sprayed on them and turned a dull gray. I have tried many things in small spots and nothing so far has worked. If you find an answer, I sure would love to know. My floors are a dark walnut stain and look awful. If i had it to go over… CARPET …lol!

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 01:55:20 +0000

Be careful with using a magic eraser to clean your wood floor. I did it, and it took the finish off. Those magic erasers are very powerful.

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:51:45 +0000

I really need to clean my hardwood floors. My fear is leaving a soap or cleaner residue. What should I use that is commonly found in the Washington D.C. area?

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:03:47 +0000

I too was a victim of the film residue left by Orange Glo, Pledge, Murphy’s Oil, etc. Mineral spirits or paint thinner would not remove the film these so called hard wood floor cleaners left behind. After reading several posts from others I thought I would try Windex. Wow!! It did a fantastic job! Takes a bit of elbow grease but well worth it trust me. I sprayed it on a section of three boards wide and let it soak about a minute. Wiped it up with a microfiber cloth then dried the area with a clean microfiber cloth. Floors look like new again!

Going to pick up some Bona wood floor cleaner tomorrow and see how it does. Not sure what effect continued use of Windex will have on the wood finish. So if your floors have a film buildup get you some Windex and a bottle of Aleve. My legs and arms are soar today but I have shiny beautiful floors. Well worth it…