Please explain to me as if I'm 5...

annieu613 · February 2011

how to take care of wood floors. I just bought a house with wood floors which are in excellent condition, and I need to know how to keep them that way. TIA!

cherrye · February 2011

I need this explained to me, too! We're moving on Saturday and I still don't know how I'm going to clean the floors...

KathyGee · February 2011

are they real wood? Do you know what kind?

srs5624 · February 2011

Can you contact the sellers? Ask them what type of wood they are, if they're real wood, and what they used to clean them.

I asked our sellers about the floors, but only because they were in horrific condition and I didn't want to duplicate what they were doing.

annieu613 · February 2011

They are real wood, not sure what kind. The sellers flipped the house so they're really distant and don't really know the house (it's an investment company so they have a lot of properties). They're a medium toned wood, if that helps.

srs5624 · February 2011

Oh well. I have cherry floors in my living area, ceramic tile in the kitchen and dining rooms, and natural bamboo in the bedrooms...

I dry sweep the floor first (I have a microfiber mop with changable pads - so I use one for dry sweeping and one for mopping). Then I just use the good old vinegar/water mix... put hot water and a white vinegar in a spray bottle - 1 part vinegar, 5 parts water... spray a small section of the floor and then mop it up.

The microfiber absorbs all of the water so there aren't any puddles on the floor. Streak free and dry in a minute. It even does a fantastic job at removing the salt that has been getting tracked around the floors lately.

I used to have a steam mop but it didn't do a very good job at cleaning, it left the floors all streaky, and in time the steam can warp the floors.

myremedy1976 · February 2011

I would not use vinegar for cleaning hard wood floors, bamboo or stone tile. Vinegar is an ACID!!!!! Standard house vinegar is diluted acid but still an acid none the less. You may find that it will over time eat the finish off of your floors. I would just use some hot water and some good elbow grease (for tough dirt spots). Other then that go to your local floor dealer and explain your floor to them they might have a suggestion.

mypower610 · February 2011

When we bought our house the floor/carpet people said to use Bruce hardwood floor cleaner. We got it at Home Depot, but I have seen it at Lowe's too. If you do get it, get the starter kit that has the mopper, cleaner, and pads for the mop.

srs5624 · February 2011

myremedy1976:
I would not use vinegar for cleaning hard wood floors, bamboo or stone tile. Vinegar is an ACID!!!!! Standard house vinegar is diluted acid but still an acid none the less. You may find that it will over time eat the finish off of your floors. I would just use some hot water and some good elbow grease (for tough dirt spots). Other then that go to your local floor dealer and explain your floor to them they might have a suggestion.

I'm good. My water is ridiculously hard so it counter-acts the acidity of the vinegar. The OP is in PA... after moving around to various areas of the state I've found that most water in PA is ridiculously hard. Even the flooring companies (large corporations and small mom and pops) suggest using vinegar and water.

But sure, if you're concerned regular hot water works too. I've used that when I'm out of vinegar.

Cutiger504@gmail.com · February 2011

I recently bought a house that has primarily wood floors in it, on top of the fact that we did a ton of renovation around the house so I really needed to clean the floors when we were done. I bought the Bona Hardwood starter kit, from Bed Bath and Beyond, after having done a bit of research. It was a little pricy, but I don't regret spending it. It came with both a floor cleaner and a hardwood polish, and it cleaned up the floors beautifully. As bad as they had gotten with the construction I was very impressed. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=16319155

annieu613 · February 2011

Thanks for all the advice!

Also, cutiger - I would suggest changing your sn to something other than your e-mail. There are some crazies on here.

cherie82 · February 2011

When we used to have wood floors I would clean them with a wood floor cleaner. I would also wax and buff them about once every other month.

blondie87 · February 2011

Swiffer for hard wood, pledge, orange glo and bruce are all great. Definatly invest in some sort of dry mop too. I've always had hardwood floors and all of these work great.