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Home How do you clean your hardwood floors?

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asscherisme

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My whole first floor is hardwood. I love hardwood but never know how to best clean it. What I do now is use murphy''s oil soap on it, and in between use a swiffer wetmop. It always looks a bit streaky and sort of dirty. What do you all do to clean it?

I use to have a cleaning lady but got rid of her so I could save money It always looked great when she did it with the murphys but I can''t get the same look!
 
The cheapest is just water and some vinegar. If you get black scuff marks from shoes that won''t come off, use WD40, works like a charm.
 
I used to use Murphy''s Oil, but have siince switched to the Orange Glow hardwood floor cleaner. I use it once we week or so...
 
I don''t know, my cleaning lady does it! LOL. hahaha. But I do know that she uses Murphy''s oil and it''s perfection
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She probably rinses the floors after mopping with the murphy''s, or she uses very VERY little of it.
 
Date: 9/15/2008 11:20:51 AM
Author: Ellen
The cheapest is just water and some vinegar. If you get black scuff marks from shoes that won't come off, use WD40, works like a charm.
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My Dad used to call that stuff "ROCKET" WD-40 and used to chase us round the house with it if we ever complained of aches and pains! I can't call it anything else now! You have to shout the ROCKET bit for full effect
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We will just use a Swiffer for day to day cleaning and then once a week we use Bruce Hardwood Floors No Wax Cleaner. We bought it at Home Depot--it came in a box with it''s own mop thingy and now we just buy the spray from there when we run out. It works really well for us.
 
swiffer, vacuum for hair and dust, and when I get small spots lysol multipurpose cleaner.
 
Date: 9/15/2008 1:32:23 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
She probably rinses the floors after mopping with the murphy''s, or she uses very VERY little of it.
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I think this is critical for Murphy''s. I used to subscribe to the "more is better" mentality of cleaning. This is definitely NOT the case with murphy''s--I noticed a very sticky residue if I used too much and didn''t rinse. Using a small amount really helped.
 
Mr. Fix-it says the best cleaner for hardwood floors is Bonakemi and I have to agree. I bought the starter kit that came with the spray and the mop. It cleans great and the best thing is it dries very quickly and no streaks.
 
We have hardwoods in all but the kitchen and baths of our house. In the kitchen we have Pergo-why? I have no idea, I wasn''t in the picture when FI made that decision. Anyway, I have the hardest time cleaning the pergo. It''s supposed to be impervious, but I find everything leaves a sticky residue behind. I''ve tried wet swiffer, a mop, just about everything. It''s really frustrating.
 
Date: 9/15/2008 4:52:28 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
We have hardwoods in all but the kitchen and baths of our house. In the kitchen we have Pergo-why? I have no idea, I wasn''t in the picture when FI made that decision. Anyway, I have the hardest time cleaning the pergo. It''s supposed to be impervious, but I find everything leaves a sticky residue behind. I''ve tried wet swiffer, a mop, just about everything. It''s really frustrating.
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Try Bonakemi, it also comes in a version for laminate floors.
 
I dunno, I''m old fashioned. I love Murphy''s. Dilute it with water and rinse after. That''s for a big cleaning (not as often). Other than that I use the swiffer wet jet (although it doesn''t rinse quite as well and is sorta streaky).
 
My cleaning lady used to use Murphy''s Oil, but she got the floors so slick that I fell one morning on my way out the door for work and ripped a hole in my pants. When she did it, the floor looked so nice and shiny. When I used Murphy''s Oil, the floor was gooey and dull...I guess I used too much. Now my cleaning lady uses vinegar and water. The floor looks great, and I haven''t wiped out on my way out the door!
 
The Method Brand Wood Floor Cleaner smells really good, like almond oil. I don''t actually do the cleaning, but it seems to work well. You can get it at Target.
 
My mom swears by vinegar and water (HOT, she says it has to be HOT) and one of those microfiber mop thingys. We just got a house with hardwoood floors downstairs and it works really well, and that microfiber mopper dries the floor FAST. I like that.
 
Thanks for the input.

My last house had pergo and I used vinegar and water. I put it in a spray bottle, used a microfiber mop and sprayed as I moved through my floors. I hated the smell though so I want to stay away from vinegar.

I went to loews this morning and asked the floor guy what he thought and I ended up buying Bruce floor cleaner kit that came with a microfiber mop with 2 refills. Kind of like above, you spray a few feet, mop it and move on. So easy! And it dried fast and got rid of my streaks. The residue from the murphy''s was picked up. I think like others said it was residue from not rinsing.

I also bought the swiffer wet for my ceramic tile floors (bathroom and basement). I came home ready to clean LOL.

It sounds very similar to the bona kemi. I''ll have to keep that in mind for when I run out of the Bruce cleaner or if I can''t find it.
 
My dad can''t stand the smell of the vinegar, either. My mom puts something in the water mixture to kill the vinegar smell and I don''t know what it is. Vinegar smells like pickles to me and since it goes away quickly, I don''t mind thinking of pickles for a little while. I open all the windows before I do any cleaning with anything that has a smell, it''s just a habit I have from having lived with my sensitive-nosed father for so many years.
 
How does Bruce smell?
 
I think the cleaning lady must put something in the mixture, because our house has no vinegar smell whatsoever when she''s finished. It smells so clean and fresh. Hmm-wonder what you put in the mixture to kill the vinegar smell.

I have tried the Bruce stuff, but it made my floors dull. I must use too much product. I also have some Murphy''s Oil soap that you squirt on and mop off (don''t mix with water), and I also have some Orange something. When I use this stuff, my floors are dull. No matter what the cleaning lady uses, the floors look great. I obviously don''t have the right touch.
 
We have a good bit of hardwood flooring in our house. Our foyer, living room and dining room are all hardwood. Our house is over 100 years old, and the floors are original, so they aren''t exactly in the best of shape! LOL! We usually just vacuum them, and we use the Swiffer WetJet whenever they need mopped. Every once in a rare while, we treat them with Murphy''s Oil Soap. That seems to work pretty well.
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Martha Stewart says NEVER use Murphys Oil soap. You are supposed to use vinegar mixed with water. The oil soap can cause a buildup on your floors. DH and I have probably had about 5 huges fights in our whole marriage and one of them was over using Murphys'' Oil Soap on our floors in our new house. lol
 
So we have all hardwoods downstairs (except tile in our sunroom) and I just used Minwax''s cleaner for the first time. I *really* like it
 
I''m supposed to clean them? :)

I generally only vacuum them...except for around the kitchen island....For now I''m using the stuff that the cleaning ladies who cleaned the place right before we moved in left behind. I have no idea what it is...I use a micofiber mop and it works really well...
 
Date: 9/20/2008 4:38:06 PM
Author: Allisonfaye
Martha Stewart says NEVER use Murphys Oil soap. You are supposed to use vinegar mixed with water. The oil soap can cause a buildup on your floors. DH and I have probably had about 5 huges fights in our whole marriage and one of them was over using Murphys'' Oil Soap on our floors in our new house. lol
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That gave me a bit of a chuckle - lol!

So, my cleaning lady uses the Bruce cleaner and swears by it.
 
Also if anyone needs to revive their hardwood floors we used Minwax (I think it is called) reviver. It has poly in it so I would only use it once a year but our floors look BRAND NEW. I got both products at Lowe's.

MMM, you are funny. If I didn't have a crawling kid who puts EVERYTHING she finds in her mouth I wouldn't care so much either.

ETA: I used to use murphy's but minwax is SOOOOOOO much better. Plus I thought it smelled good.
 
i bought the bona starter kit a while back and must say it is doing a pretty great job. i bought it after hearing rave reviews so i hope it lives up to the hype!
 
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