Comments on: WFMW: How Do I Clean Real Wood Floors?

By: Marcey

Marcey — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 20:22:38 +0000

I love using the hoover floormate. We have four kids and I need to have water to clean the dirt. The mop and bucket method makes me feel like I am cleaning with dirty water because our floors get soooo dirty. I mop every week and I am amazed at how dirty that water gets using the floormate. I love it because it squirts out clean water and sucks up the dirty water! It does take longer than regular mopping because you have to change the water container pretty often but my floors get really clean. PS -You have to be sure the floors are sealed to use the floormate.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:45:26 +0000

We use Method hardwood floor cleaner with microfiber towels to deep clean about once or twice a week, and just swipe once or twice a day with a dry microfiber dustmop. It smells great (almond oil) and gives the floor a nice shine without building up. There is a matching spray that we use for our wood furniture.

By: Shelia

Shelia — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:12:04 +0000

What a timely question. We have been scratching our head at this very thing. I will have to run through these suggestions to see what works best for our floors. (And hopefully we, too, will have fewer things / people stuck to our floor afterwards!)

By: Everyday Mommy

Everyday Mommy — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:28:20 +0000

Yep, warm water and a splash of vinegar. I use a dust-mop weekly with a bit of Endust sprayed on it, too.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:04:40 +0000

We had that Murphy’s Oil build-up problem and it was nasty. Maybe we used too much? And the vinegar and water thing left a weird film too. Could I be doing this all wrong? My current strategy is that swiffer thing, but maybe I need to sign up for remedial floor mopping lessons…

By: Special K Toni

Special K Toni — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:04:10 +0000

Hmmm… Chili- I noticed Katie (3rd comment) said if you didn’t dry the floor right after mopping with vinegar and water it will spot.
I like that look. If anyone is going to get that close to look at my floors, they are under the age of 5, and I don’t care if they like me. Glad I have carpet and tile now. And a 13 yo that gets into enough trouble on a regular schedule, so he can do the ‘grunt’ work.

By: AbsolutelyBananas

AbsolutelyBananas — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 23:32:21 +0000

I’m with the Murphy’s Oil soap people. Smells like a dream!! Congrats on the hardwoods. I LOVE wood floors!!

By: The Wooden Porch

The Wooden Porch — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 21:50:50 +0000

I’ve heard from a few different people who install hard wood floors that the fastest way to destroy your flooring is to use an oil on it to mop with (namely Murphey’s). They all hate it with a passion.
I have the world’s BEST mop that I bought from Walmart. It even came with a bucket. It was $17, I think.
I use Proforce from Sams to clean with–but only if my floors need something more than water.
I’m actually going to blog about what I do/use. I used to hate mopping, but now I love it!

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:45:36 +0000

We do EXACTLY what Big Mama does… Zep Hardwood floor cleaner in a big bottle from Home Depot, pour it into a large spray bottle and mop it with a cloth map that fits on a large rectangular mop… they are all located together at the Depot. The cloths come in packages of 2 and can be washed and dried in the machine. We have lived here for 7 years and my wood floors have held up better than anyone else’s on the block. They have not lost their shine.
Go… run… to Home Depot now!

By: Mrs. Pear

Mrs. Pear — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:06:29 +0000

The big trick is to swiffer a couple times a week and then spot clean – you drip, you clean it with a damp cloth and dry it.
If you do this, you only really have to mop about once or twice a month, but only of you spot clean and swiffer.