The topic of how to clean hardwood floors is a huge one. I don’t mean in the depth of information that is needed or even available. I mean that the number of people searching and learning about this is pretty big. Far bigger than the subject of sanding and refinishing floors.
The answers are fairly simple, and I will be upfront with the basic info, but I will go deeper towards the end of this post.
Cleaning hardwood floors can be done with no more than a mild detergent. First, vacuum or sweep the floor to remove loose dust and grit. Second, use a damp mop or rag to apply the cleaning solution and scrub the floor clean. You may dry it with a clean towel.
Yep, pretty simple really. Vacuum the floor, and clean it with a diluted cleaning solution. Like many things, what is also important to learn, is what not to do. I hope you read on so I can clear up some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding hardwood floor cleaning practices.
Using a mop and bucket
Using a mop and bucket to clean your hardwood floors is a big no-no. I have seen many floors ruined in my career, by cleaners carelessly dumping puddles of water onto hardwood floors.
That doesn’t stop google from pushing articles such as this to the top of their rankings. They describe how to “mop floors the right way” with a picture of a puddle of water on top of a laminate floor no less. Seriously.
As soon as a large amount of water hits a wood floor, it starts flowing down the sides of the boards to the subfloor, where it often sits and absorbs on the underside of the board. Leading to what is known as cupping.
Cupping is caused by too much moisture in the underside of the board and thus is more expanded than the top side, forcing the board to warp and curve with the edges of the boards turning up.
You might think, “yes, Ben, but I ring my mop out before I put it on the floor.” This might be all well and good, but in my experience, cleaning the floor with a barely damp mop is a bit of a pain. So let me propose a solution…
Spray the cleaning solution on your hardwood floor
Awesome. This way, you get great coverage of cleaning the solution on your floor without so much that it goes down the sides of the boards. What’s more, you can leave it there for a moment for the solution to soak the dirt and work its magic.
Why I (strongly) recommend the Bona Spray Mop
For a few years, I gave my clients free spray bottles of cleaning solution. The main reason I did this is that people forget who sanded the floors very quickly, in my experience. I wanted to put my logo and contact details on something they will keep in their house for a long time.
This way, they could remember who I was when it came time to recommend me!
Unfortunately, one of the many issues I had was that you couldn’t spray the bottle in a downward direction. It didn’t seem to work well when trying to spray the floor. I had to spray it into the air and just let it settle. It was irritating and ineffective.
I was also giving my clients a flat mop. The flat mop was ok, but the pole was flimsy, and it just felt awkward.
One day, yet another client told me they didn’t want the mop or cleaning solution as they had a Bona Spray Mop. She started telling me about how easy it was to use and that she used it on all her hard floors.
Bona Spray Mop (click here to get the current price)
Finally, I decided to get one and try it for myself, and I have to say I am so glad I did. Now I am working on buying them in bulk to give to my customers instead of the cleaning packs I give them currently.
Spray directly on the floor
The Bona spray mop has a trigger on the handle, making it easy to spray the solution. The solution sprays on the floor directly in front of the mop. No bending down and awkwardly spraying useless spray bottles. Pull the trigger and start scrubbing the floor with the microfibre mop head.
Replaceable pads
Talking of microfibre mop heads, the bona spray mop pads are great. As soon as you feel the pad is getting too grubby, rip it off (hook and loop, nice and easy) and put the next one on. These pads are fine in the washing machine, meaning you can have a perfectly clean pad whenever you want to clean your floors.
Ok, I have said my piece. Hopefully, you have taken my recommendation. Let me get into the nitty-gritty.
What type of finish is on the surface?
There is a huge difference between lacquered and oiled floors. Lacquered floors are much easier to clean and maintain. Many of my clients tell me they want to get their oiled wood floors sanded because they feel that they “just can’t quite clean it well enough.”
Indeed, very often, even the slightest of spills can permanently mark their floors. I don’t want to get into another rant about how much I’m not too fond of oiled wood floors. Suffice to say; oiled wood floors need some special attention. If you have oiled wood floors, you can get the cleaning solution for oiled wood floors here. Or buy the Bona Spray Mop with the Oiled Floors Cleaning Solution here.
Most people have lacquered or varnished floors which is great. For those who have oiled floors here are my recommendations.
Oiled Floors
This is not “oil-modified urethane.” This is vegetable-oil-based penetrating or hardwax oil.
First, try to ascertain who finished the floor. If it is a prefinished floor, contact the company who sold you the floor and ask them. If it was finished on-site, contact the floor finishing company and ask them. You need to try and find out what product was used on the floor. You can contact the product manufacturer for their specific cleaning and maintenance recommendations.
If you want to get the most out of your floor, I recommend doing this, even though it may be a little tedious.
Yes, you will probably be fine just using the cleaning solution for oiled floors (as mentioned above). However, there are some finish manufacturers, or even the flooring producers themselves, who will invalidate the warranty on your floor if you don’t use their cleaning solution.
Coincidentally, it is oiled floors that seem to be the subject of relentless attacks with food-based cleaning potions… Perfect segway…
What not to put on your hardwood floors
For some reason, there are myriad different bizarre things that people put on their floors. A lot of it is, unfortunately from the information they have found on the internet. A common one is Almond Oil.
Whenever I think of almond oil, I think of walking into clients’ homes and my feet sticking to the floor. I feel it’s impolite to ask why there is a sucking sound every time I lift my feet off the floor. Sooner or later, I ask what they have been using to clean their floors, and often it’s almond oil.
Another one is vinegar or even apple cider vinegar. Again, you wouldn’t clean your bathroom or your desk with vinegar, why put it on the floor?
If your floor is correctly sealed, it is not wood that you’re cleaning. Instead, it’s the finish that is on the surface.
In the case of polyurethane lacquer, that is essentially a plastic coating. Again, why would you put a food-based product on a plastic surface?
People say that they need to “feed their floor.” You don’t need to feed your floor; it isn’t hungry.
Just one more thing.
It is recommended that you have a bristly matt outside of your house and a softer, more absorbent matt inside. The bristly mat will remove all the dirt and grit from the bottom of your shoes. At the same time, the absorbent mat will dry your shoes.
The combination of dirt, grit, and water is what is going to cause your floor to wear out fast. That’s why the area with the highest amount of damage is right next to the front door.
Taking this small precaution will help to ensure that your floors are looking beautiful for as many years as possible.
Hi Ben,
We just bought our first home (rambler built in the 1950s in the US). The hardwood floor is continuous from living room, hallway and 3 bedrooms on the main level. I’ve been painstaking and very carefully scrubbing, because our feet would turn black from the dirt in a matter of minutes when we first moved in.
Some people have suggested a steam mop to me, but I worry that I won’t be able to be as cautious near the small gaps in the floor as I am when on my hands and knees. Have you seen any negative effects from steam mops?
I would like to refinish the floors, but wouldn’t we want to do all of it at once?
Ben thank you for your very informative videos and articles. I have an engineered wood floor with a 5mm thick top layer that was laid ten years ago in our new build house. It has minor surface scratches, but the orange peel effect of the varnish is very unsightly and it traps dirt.
It was varnished very badly (by a professional) and had the orange effect peeling within weeks of use, especially in the Hallway. We did point out there was a problem but he just ignored us – needless to say we would not use him again.
Can we do the varnishing without sanding method that you describe, or should we start from scratch with a more thorough sand, prime and two coats of varnish. We want to do it ourselves with the least disruption.
sorry to hear this! You can do that, you would need to do quite a thorough abrasion of the surface to try and flatten it, which, unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend a non-professional do. With the amount of sanding necessary to flatten it, to do that without accidentally sanding through to the wood is something that will require an experienced touch. However, if you do want to try that yourself, get 150g on a random orbital sander and lightly go over the floor. It will make the high spots of the orange peel effect go white (where it has been abraded). If you just keep going over it, lightly, moving the sander around in circles just to keep it moving, the whole surface will go white, meaning you have removed the high spots. You dont want to go any further than that. A lot of people get scared when they see the surface go white like that, but that’s what you want to see when you’re cutting back coats. Put the next coat down. Dont use what they used last time.
Out of curiosity, what finish did they use? I have terrible problems with Loba going orange peely
Hi Ben, I love your videos and and website! I’ve put myself in a bad spot with sanding and I think I figured out what went wrong and I think I have the solution. Can you advise?
Problem: After drum sanding with 36/60/80 grit papers I am seeing cross-grain scratches and don’t want to apply finish until I get the scratches out.
What went wrong: I think what caused the scratches was that I first used the 36 grit WITH the grain, but that didn’t remove all the old finish. So I then went perpendicular AGAINST the grain which did get rid all the finish. However, I then went to the 60 grit without going over it again with the grain with the 36 grit.
Proposed Solution: Use the drum sander with the 36 grit going with the grain, then progress up to 6o grit, then 80 grit.
Thoughts?
Thank you,
Bob
that should work but I would think, it would take less wood and produce a smoother finish if you start with a diagonal 60, then do straight 80.