Cleaning Hardwood Floors
 

I have new hardwood floors, what do I use to clean them?

I use Murphy's Oil Soap mixed with water like the instructions state. My Dh hates the smell, so he uses plain ole soap and water, but I am not convinced it does not dull the floor.

I use Swiffers, but I love my Bissell Flip-it! Flip the handle one way, it is a dry vac, flip it the other way, pull the trigger, a small amout of solution sprays out, and the pads suck up the solution and the floor is virtually dry instantly and looks great.

The solution is Bissell's hardwood cleaner & water. The tank has a line for the water, and then just finish filling with the Bissell solution.

The only thing I recommend to use for cleaning of polyurethaned floors is window cleaner in water, 1/4 cup to one gallon of lukewarm water, and use a damp mop.

Murphy's Oil Soap, unfortunately, is the worse possible thing to use on them, so do not use that. It leaves a build up on the floor, and you will see the traffic areas get dirty really quick. The floors will also get dull really fast, using oil soap. And, if you ever want to put one more coat of poly down on the floors, you will not be able to do that using oil soap to clean them. This is because it leaves a film on the floor that does not come up, and affects how the poly bonds.

I have worked in the floor business for 18 years, and this is the advice I give all of my customers. In fact, any floor person worth anything, will give the same advice.

Francine

For those of us who are cleaning impaired could you give us an example of what kind of window cleaner to use.
Thank you

I recently took the carpet out of the dining room and refinished the hardwood floor there. I got a kit made by Orange Glo that contains 2 cleaning pads, the floor cleaner and refinisher and a 'mop' that resembles a swifter. I love it! :cloud9: There's an infomericial about this product but I found it at Target for half the price. :banana:

Any kind of window cleaner will work just fine, even a store brand. For that matter, you can use plain ammonia in water, which is basically similar to the make up of window cleaner. :sunny:

Francine

You are absolutely right about the Murphy's. Also, if you need your floors rescreened you may need them completely sanded because of the Murphy's.

Now I know why my hardwood floors look so dull! Thanks for the tip on the window cleaner. How can I get remove the build up? Thanks!!!

Unfortunately, once the build up is there, the only thing that will get rid of it is to resand the floors.

Francine

Oh great! That's not going to happen any time soon. :sad2: Thanks for the advice.

I guess I have to get my glassses rx checked, I didn't think my floors look dull! Sorry for the bad advice then.

When we had our hardwood floor put in, I was also told to use diluted window cleaner.

A couple of years ago some friends of ours who had been using Murphy's oil soap on their new hardwood floors, had to have them all refinished. :sad2:

Laura