What do you recommend to clean/maintain hardwood floors?
Any advice on maintenance? ...outside of keeping Yuki's nails rounded  |
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| Yes! They sell a cleaner liquid for it specifically for the wood floor. Jacob's sister uses it all the time and loves it. |
| What a topical question! My husband and I JUST refinished our hardwoods this week. I can tell you what is a bad idea as our last finish only lasted 2 years before they had to be stripped and re-done. If it is a water based stain: Don't use bleach, don't let puppies have accidents on it, don't use ammonia or any kind of chemical cleaner, don't let any water sit on it. Ours wore out in high traffic areas within a year and the wood was being damaged by life by 2 years. We re-did them with an oil based stain and a professional grade oil based varathane. We did 5 coats of a semi-gloss finish and it looks great and much more durable. I received the following advice about maintaining them from the all time experts; my Grandmother and mother. -Keep dog's nails short and rounded. I try to keep the nails so short that they don't click on the floor when they walk. If you take them for a walk on pavement or gravel it helps keep them not sharp. -Use an oil based soap on the floors, "Murphy's oil" soap use it quite diluted. -Look after them and keep up with them. Every 2 years do a light sand and put a layer of varathane on. -Paste wax; I don't think they sell this anymore but my Grandma used to use it and I hear it is very good at protecting the floors. I found THE most amazing mop that I think anybody with a pet should have. It is called a Norwex mop, it has a dry mop and a wet mop they are microfiber. They attach with velcro and can be thrown in the washing machine. the dry mop picks up more hair, grit and dirt than I would care to think is in my "clean" house, it's scary good. The wet mop is good for daily cleaning, you only use water with it. I use it on all of the floors in my house daily to wipe away dog prints. I WISH I had found this before the last finish was ruined. I know that they make similar products (washable microfiber mops) and they kick swiffer but and are WAY cheaper and better for the environment. I like to dry mop at least twice a day, I am told keeping grit off the floor keeps the finish nice longer and wet mop as needed. We put our furniture back on the floors on Monday, very excited to have nice floors again. |
| I used a Shark steam mop on my library floor (solid oak) and it worked great. No chemicals involved, just water, and because it's steam it dries rapidly so no water damage, and sanitizes at the same time. |
| I have a steam mop but I do my floors daily, so I wanted something I can grab quick. Like if the swiffer isn't good (with the hardwood floor liquid they have) ...then I'd use a different recommended liquid here and still spray it down and sweep up fast w/swiffer? |
bruuruu wrote: What a topical question! My husband and I JUST refinished our hardwoods this week. I can tell you what is a bad idea as our last finish only lasted 2 years before they had to be stripped and re-done. If it is a water based stain: Don't use bleach, don't let puppies have accidents on it, don't use ammonia or any kind of chemical cleaner, don't let any water sit on it. Ours wore out in high traffic areas within a year and the wood was being damaged by life by 2 years. We re-did them with an oil based stain and a professional grade oil based varathane. We did 5 coats of a semi-gloss finish and it looks great and much more durable. I received the following advice about maintaining them from the all time experts; my Grandmother and mother. -Keep dog's nails short and rounded. I try to keep the nails so short that they don't click on the floor when they walk. If you take them for a walk on pavement or gravel it helps keep them not sharp. -Use an oil based soap on the floors, "Murphy's oil" soap use it quite diluted. -Look after them and keep up with them. Every 2 years do a light sand and put a layer of varathane on. Reading your account of how to take care of a wooden floor brought back so many memories of when I was a child. We had wooden floors through out the house and every 2 years we would strip the floors. I remember striping the floors with my Mom and rewaxing the floors. It was a lot of work. I'm sure you'll enjoy your new floors. -Paste wax; I don't think they sell this anymore but my Grandma used to use it and I hear it is very good at protecting the floors. I found THE most amazing mop that I think anybody with a pet should have. It is called a Norwex mop, it has a dry mop and a wet mop they are microfiber. They attach with velcro and can be thrown in the washing machine. the dry mop picks up more hair, grit and dirt than I would care to think is in my "clean" house, it's scary good. The wet mop is good for daily cleaning, you only use water with it. I use it on all of the floors in my house daily to wipe away dog prints. I WISH I had found this before the last finish was ruined. I know that they make similar products (washable microfiber mops) and they kick swiffer but and are WAY cheaper and better for the environment. I like to dry mop at least twice a day, I am told keeping grit off the floor keeps the finish nice longer and wet mop as needed. We put our furniture back on the floors on Monday, very excited to have nice floors again. |
We've used Bona hardwood floor cleaner for years. It is a spray that you then use a microfiber cloth or mop to wipe the floor. I particularly like not creating more garbage with a throw away system, and don't mind a couple extra pieces in the laundry. However, I would guess that I have significantly less laundry than you to begin with  It is only Melissa, me and the dogs  |
| it really depends whether you have solid wood floors or veneered wood floors.... never ever use the steam cleaner on the veneered wood floors...the thin layer of veneer can peel over time. try to always use the wood floor cleaner from the wood floor store.... and if you run out of wood floor cleaner...i use to use HOT HOT water and a 1/2 cup windex.....it worked like a charm..your floors will shine and squeek when you walk on them! Do and Don’ts Don’t wax a wood floor with a urethane finish Do use cleaners that won’t leave a film or residue Don’t use ammonia cleaners or oil soaps on a wood floor — they’ll dull the finish and affect your ability to recoat later. Do use a professional hardwood floor cleaner to remove occasional scuffs and heel marks (just spray some cleaner on a cloth and rub the stained area lightly) Don’t wet mop or use excessive water to clean your floor (wood naturally expands when it’s wet and can cause your floor to crack or splinter). For information on steam cleaning hardwood floors, see our blog post on Floor Talk. Do clean sticky spots with a damp towel or sponge Do minimize water exposure and clean spills immediately |
We've always used a solution of warm/cool water and vinegar (highly diluted -- I hate the smell of vinegar) to clean our hardwood floors week to week. Once a year I use an Orange-Glo product called "Refinish" which is dead easy to use (squirt on & wipe off) and gives the wood a beautiful deep luster. They also make a product called "4-in-1" which I haven't used yet, but it's for regular cleaning. |
| They don't make hardwood flooring the way they used to.... (or anything for that matter) My house has original oak downstairs and wide plank pine upstairs. Last time the floors were re finished was 1962 LOL I'm just in the process of re doing them this year. For upstairs I decided to go with an oil based, high gloss, rich dark brown paint, for downstairs I'm going to be sanding and re finishing with a cherry stain and 3 coats of a diamond finish polyeurathane that is supposed to be virtually indestructible. My floors have survived ten years of dogs and puppies and who knows what else before I lived here so I'm not sure I'll ever find anything that lives up to that LOL I'm hoping to come close though. I've used murphy's oil soap to wash the floors every couple of weeks but daily mopping is just lysol and water or bleach and water. *shrug* not ideal to maintain the floor but I'm picky about clean floors so I'd rather know they're sanitized and have to re do them every ten years if I have to. |
I have engineered floors. I have tried lots of stuff, vinegar and water is one. It always looks like a hazy film on it. Drives me crazy. I love to hear more...  |
| I use a vinegar and water solution. Works okay for me and Ziggi likes to lick the floors so with the vinegar I know she's not licking any harmful chemicals. Now, if only I could get her to lick all of the floor I wouldn't need to use the vinegar and water. |
| Murphy's oil soap and soft rags. |
| Tried something new... Method squirt and mop. Almond oil based, easy to use, pet friendly and yummy smelling. |
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