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In my old house, with natural red oak, keeping the floor clean was easy enough - damp mop using Murphy's Oil, and they looked fine. Just moved into a new house a few weeks ago, with darker hardwood and so far, I'm not happy with how the floors look. I haven't used Murphy's Oil on them, as despite being ok with that for several years in the old house, I've heard very mixed things. But everything else I've been trying has left things streaky and not as clean looking as I'd like.
I think what I'm really asking about is more the method of cleaning hardwood, specifically darker hardwood, rather than a recommendation of a particular product, although those are welcome.
Damp mop? Spray cleaner and then use a dry mop? Spray cleaner and then damp mop? One of those Swiffer WetJet or Bona Spray mops? Has anyone used a steam cleaner on theirs?
One thing to point out is that the entire first floor is wood - so this includes not just the living room and dining room, but the kitchen and a powder room as well. So I feel the need to make sure things get *cleaner* since there is real dirt involved. And due to some physical limitations from prior surgeries, anything involving getting down on my hands and knees is not an option.
Thanks, but it's not really the dust, as I vacuum or Swiffer multiple times a week and can keep up with that. It's the streaks and water marks from the cleaning process that I am finding much more noticeable on the dark wood. It's likely they were there before, but I just didn't notice them on the red oak. But vacuuming and sweeping does not get the floor clean (as opposed to dusted) so I need some cleaning process that works well, doesn't leave streaks but is safe for pre-finished hardwood. I could get Bona spray but I've read lots of reviews saying that leaves streaks on darker floors, so I thought I'd see if anyone has personal experience with a cleaning method that doesn't.
The streaks are from the cleaning Products, not the process.
But I spray (bottle) and then use a microfiber mop pad, you know... the kind sold by the company you don't want mentioned, specifically for cleaning wood floors.
I had a medium-dark stain on elm in my last house and a drooly dog. No issues with getting up her drool or leaving streaks/marks 99% of the time. The other 1% I'd go back with the same spray cleaner and a hand microfiber towel to scrub it by hand, then go back over it again with the normal setup to "blend" the area. The one time I tried vinegar, it streaked (50:50 with water). I never bothered to try anything else, as the product I use, works.
We had 1200 sf of dark, almost black, espresso bamboo flooring in our last home and it meant (1) daily vacuuming or dry Swiffer and (2) weekly "moppings" with the Bona pad and spray. We have no pets or kids, so we didn't have any major issues to clean up after.
Switch out the Bona pad half way if you have over 1K sq ft and that will avoid streaks from the pad being too moist. The Bona spray mop works well compared to others we tried -- same Bona solution, but O-Cedar mop, and we'd have streaks. Must have been due to the finer mist the Bona mop provides + the paid is larger and of a different microfiber loop.
Switch out the Bona pad half way if you have over 1K sq ft and that will avoid streaks from the pad being too moist. The Bona spray mop works well compared to others we tried -- same Bona solution, but O-Cedar mop, and we'd have streaks. Must have been due to the finer mist the Bona mop provides + the paid is larger and of a different microfiber loop.
^^ This
I use a Bona microfiber mop and the cleaner too.
Murphy's Oil was leaving a streak on my darker color hardwood floors. On hard to reach spots, I spray the Bona cleaner and use a microfiber cloth.
Ok, thanks all! I was hesitant about Bona because of reviews I saw regarding streaks, but I'll give it a shot and see how it does. To be clear, I was not questioning the product itself, as it's universally recommended, just about the possible streaks. Maybe since my floor is new and doesn't have any product build up, it will be fine for me.
Thanks, but it's not really the dust, as I vacuum or Swiffer multiple times a week and can keep up with that. It's the streaks and water marks from the cleaning process that I am finding much more noticeable on the dark wood. It's likely they were there before, but I just didn't notice them on the red oak. But vacuuming and sweeping does not get the floor clean (as opposed to dusted) so I need some cleaning process that works well, doesn't leave streaks but is safe for pre-finished hardwood. I could get Bona spray but I've read lots of reviews saying that leaves streaks on darker floors, so I thought I'd see if anyone has personal experience with a cleaning method that doesn't.
Streaks mean too much (or the wrong) chemical and the mop is too wet.
Get a microfiber mopping kit and get 6-8 mops. Mix your cleaning solution CORRECTLY (most don’t). Put all the mops in the bucket, wring one out to desired dampness and use it once… do not return them to the clean water. When all the mops are used, dump your water and throw the mops in the wash.
A dirty mop should never touch the cleaning solution. Never. If you don’t use separate mops, you need to rinse it throughly before putting it back in the clean solution. If not, you just contaminated your cleaning solution and are now using dirty water to mop your floors.
So, my husband, who was nicknamed "Mega-Maid" by his after-college roommates, is literally obsessed with keeping our hardwood floors clean. It's a great "problem" to have a spouse who loves to clean (I know, I know, stop complaining!) but in this case it has bitten us on the butt.
He has used SO MANY different types of cleansers/shiners/etc on our floors that we now have a milky haze. We finally found that using Windex and steel wool (and a LOT of elbow grease) can cut through this waxy haze, so we are almost done cleaning it all off. We can see a huge difference, and are glad to have our original shiny floors back.
My question is: How do we actually clean hardwood floors?!? Just a damp mop? Water and vinegar? I've seen a bunch of different ideas/opinions and no matter what we do, I do NOT want to return to the build-up we are now scraping off plank-by-plank.
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