what is the best way to clean wood floors (flooring, washer, heat)

[esya]

I have used Murphy's for years, also white vinegar and water. I dilute the Murphy's in water.

If your finish is gone nothing works well. Hand washing, not a mop, is better so you can rinse and wipe more often.

The streaks and smears are from DIRT just like a dirty window. So wash the floor again until you get a clear shine or refinish the floors.

[boilrmkr]

I am having trouble with my hardwood floors. I bought a brand new house 3 weeks ago and the floors look like I have lived there a year. I put felt pads under the table, the chairs and even the trash can. I am noticing that the felt pads are leaving a mark. I even had to put felt pads under my hard floor vacuum. What the heck is going on? I had hardwoods in my previous house and had a lot more dirt/sand and didn't put felt under the furniture and never had a single scratch.

Is there anything I can use that will clean the floors and "fill in" the scratches? These are surface scratches and most of them you can't see unless there is a glare on the floor but it botheres me. I am tired of getting on the floor with my stain pen!

[Coldjensens]

When you clean toadays hardwood floors, you are cleaning the plastic laminate (polyeurethane) you are nto actually cleaning wood. Thus, you should use a product suitable for cleaning the type of coating that is on your floors. Wood cleaning products are often no recommended for cleaning the various plastic coatigs that are on floors.

We have always just used water. If somethign does not come up right away, we might use warmer water. We have never had any problems.

Some floor coatings are like armor. others are soft. The harder coatings generally do not come in a satin finish. We used a product call GLitsa (Glista) in the kitchen over antique maple flooring. It is a two part product and smells to high heaven until it dries. It takes a while to dry. It takes a lot of abuse. We have a 160+ pound dog that bounces and slides all over the place. We have kids dropping things daily. We have spills, mud, rocks etc being tracked in regularly. We move furniture around, drop grocery bags on the floor, you name it, our floor gets every form of abuse. While our floor is not perfect, they way we abuse it, it should look terrible a month after we finished it. However after two years of pretty awful abuse, it looks pretty good all things considered. We have other floors where we used a less expensive and less durable product. Some of those floors are not holding up as well, others are fine. In part it depends on how well sanded, or screened and celaned the floor was. IN part it depends on the abuse that the floor gets.

The best way to get rid of the scratches that we found is to screen the floors (sort of like a really light sanding) and add another coat or two of finish. You have to find out what kind of finish is on your floor and use something that is compatible. If it is one of the newer water based products, it is really easy to apply and dries in a couple of hours.

Good Luck.

[kcam213]

^


This actually makes sense that the wood floor has poly coating (plastic?) so you are actually cleaning plastic not wood.

Now, I have tried Orange glow wood cleaner. Left my floors splotchy.
Before that I used Murphy's oil soap squirt and mop wood floor cleaner... left a (dry water) film

I am considering Bruce's hardwood floor cleaner and the vinegar and water deal.

My coworkers at work say they use Lysol 4:1 cleaner for heavy duty cleaning and for light cleaning, Pledge floor cleaner.

Maybe I am being too picky? I don't want a dried water film on my floors. I would also like a sheen similar to the glow you get when using spray wax (pledge for furniture) for my wood floors.

[ZakAttack]

Just keep in mind that all these Orange/Murphy/Bruce hardwood products have strong odors, which are bad for inhaling/ingesting, especially if you have children. Or even pets that "clean up" your food spills. We have switched all of our household cleaning products to odor-free green-type lines such as Seventh Generation all purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, laundry detergent, you name it.

For the hardwoods, we like the Shark steam-mop, but you have to use distilled water so it doesn't streak. For touch-ups, damp microfiber cloth works good.

[Threerun]

Poly treated wood floors do well with plain diluted white vinegar and water. Cheap. effective. Non harmful to the environment, family or pets.

Why spend more money than you have to in order to clean a floor?

[country cottage]

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the slippery floor. I have pine fllors and have had a rubberbacked mat on the floor for a few years, I want to change it but the floor is so slippery and any mat that i put down slips under foot and I am afraid that someone will break a bone if they slip and fall.. thanks

[al_roethlisberger]

Another vote for vinegar and water, our finisher recommended as well.

He steered us away from oil soap on the floors.

If your floors are shellaced, water based solutions are a definite no-no.

[MichelleEllyn]

Lots of votes for vinegar and water; I'll give that a try next time I mop.
What concentration do I use though? (How much vinegar to water?)

[GoHokiesGo]

Do you guys just use a mop or do you have to hand wash the floors to polish them??


I've mostly been using my Swiffer wet wipes on my floors since moving in, they seem to keep it clean and fairly shiny. I'm due for a good cleaning though, but was curious how most of you applied the oil finishes and polishes to the floors.