Hardwood Floors

[Anonymous]

Just wondering what everyone cleans there hardwood floors with. Mine seems to be losing it's shine and looking dull...I'm wondering if i'm not using the best cleaning product...thanks!!

[Anonymous]

I'm also interested in this question. All I do is sweep because I was told that you shouldn't use any liquids on hardwood floors. But it seems like they never get really clean. What do others do?

[Anonymous]

I use Murphy's Oil Soap.

[Anonymous]

NOOOOO. Dont use Murphy's Soap or any cleanser- it dulls them. Use only warm water mixed with white vinegar. It will clean well, keep the shine, and is harmless/nontoxic. My mom told me this year's ago, she learned it from our Norweigan housekeeper, and I have never let the maids use anything else. Our hardwoods are beautiful and everyone always comments on the shine.

[Anonymous]

Ditto PP. Water and vinegar works great. A very mild ammonia and water solution will, too. If you're really worried about leaving water on your hardwoods, you might want to look into getting a floor cleaning machine of some sort. I have a Hoover Floormate and I love it -- it scrubs the floor and then sucks up the dirty water and leaves them virtually dry.

[Anonymous]

Ditto. I had my HW's refinished and the pro told me to NEVER use anything on your HWs except water with a tiny bit of white vinegar. I used to use Murphy's and he said that creates a lot of build up that eats away at the varnish and dulls it.

If you want to restore the shine, hire someone to buff them and add a coat of poly. You really only need to refinish every 10years, but a good buffing and poly inbetween works wonders. I have 70 year old HWs's that look brand new.

[Anonymous]

We just sweep twice a month and use water once a month. I never thought to add vinegar into the water, but might try that.

[Anonymous]

Thanks!! I will try that....I started using vinegar and water on my ceramic tiles but wasn't sure if that was safe for HW's...I will definitely try that!

[Anonymous]

FYI: If you have scratches, I've discovered that using those furniture repair markers works miracles. We have indonesian cherry floors in our living room and they've held up very well. Even so, those markers have made any scratches totally invisible. Highly recommend them. I get mine at Linens'/Things.

[Anonymous]

how much vinegar to water should you use?

[Anonymous]

I use a good sized splash (1/4 cup) to a big bucket of water.

[Anonymous]

Bruce's Hardwood Floor cleaner (no wax), but the vinegar idea is a good one.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone used the Swifter hardwood floor cleaner for any period of time? I do it occasionally - like a few times a year. I haven't noticed any dulling of my floors - at least not yet - but would like to avoid that if this is harmful.

[Anonymous]

I found that the swiffer formula for hardwood floors really dulled my floors. I stopped using it and switched to vinegar.

[Anonymous]

does the vinegar leave a smell?