Cleaning wood floors can be a time-consuming hassle, without regular cleanings. There is no need to purchase multiple cleaning aids for the job. Any wood floor can be cleaned with a quarter-cup of apple cider vinegar mixed with a gallon of warm water. Finished wood floors often can be cleaned just with water. However, the finish will eventually wear and you'll have to refinish the floors.FREE SHIPPING ON QUALIFYING ORDERS $49 OR MORE Prices, promotions, styles, and availability may vary. Our local stores do not honor online pricing. Prices and availability of products and services are subject to change without notice. Errors will be corrected where discovered, and Lowe's reserves the right to revoke any stated offer and to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions including after an order has been submitted. Get in a Routine The best way to clean hardwood floors is to follow a schedule: Dust: This is one of the most underestimated and easy steps in the process.

Dust daily to keep dust and dirt off the floor. This will prevent scratching and essentially extend the beauty and life of your floor. Daily dust-mopping will also significantly reduce allergens in the home. More effective than traditional methods, a microfiber material uses a static charge to attract more dust and allergens. These smaller fibers reach into floor pores to lift dirt more effectively. Clean: There's a right way to clean floors, and there's a wrong way. Too much liquid can damage floors, while the wrong formula may not work. Look for pH-neutral, nontoxic and biodegradable formulas to clean effectively and keep your home and environment safe. Vinegar, for example, can eat away at finish, even when diluted with water. Use a washable microfiber pad, which will remove bacteria and keep waste out of landfills. Polish: Use water-based polishes to restore luster and shine every two to three months. These polishes won’t leave a residue or emit harmful toxins, plus they'll prevent over-cleaning and stripping of your floor.

Durable, urethane-based polishes have fast dry times, no waxy buildup and a protective wear layer to fill in microscratches and even out the appearance of the floor. Avoid using water and vinegar, soap-based cleaners, wax or steam cleaners on your hardwood floor. Vinegar and water will dull the floor’s finish over time, while soap or wax will leave a residue. Steam cleaners put heat and excessive water on your floor, which can lead to cupping and long-term damage.best budget upright vacuum cleaner 2014 Use a natural, rubber rug underlayment with a waffle pattern in the entry ways or high-traffic areas; the best miele vacuum cleaneruse felt floor protectors on furniture and avoid high heels. top ten vacuum cleaners 2011 uk

Regularly dust and clean your hardwood floor to keep it looking like new. Use the proper tools to clean your floor: a mop paired with a machine-washable, microfiber pad for dusting and cleaning. Avoid string mops that put excessive amounts of water on the floor, which can be damaging, and push dirt around, instead of picking up and removing dirt. Wipe up all spills immediately to avoid permanent stains. Keep pet nails trimmed. Maintain a comfortable environment and temperature — no extremes in humidity. Reader Tip: How to Clean Hardwood Floors While reviewing several of the comments from yesterday's review of the Starfiber Microfiber Mop, we noted that reader "amiencc" (who also happens to operate a cleaning service) left a very detailed and informative cleaning process that they claim is the best technique for keeping your wood floors looking beautiful... This is the BEST way to clean wood floors according to The Cleaning Bug :DO NOT use vinegar on a wood floor!!

I own a cleaning company and am well aware of the damage this method can cause. Vinegar is acidic and will slowly eat away at the poly coating, or wax coating, or oil, whatever your floor is sealed with. It is fine for no-wax linoleum and ceramic but don't use vinegar on wood floors! If you have new wood floors, using anything but what the manufacturer specifically recommends will void your warranty. When in doubt, use just water. I use a product called EcoMist Colloid W and a Rubbermaid commercial microfiber mop and it gets raves from my clients with wood floors." 1) Use a soft microfiber dusting pad (preferably with fringe) and run it along all the baseboards without lifting it. Then run it up and down the room, like mowing the lawn, again not lifting the mop. Lifting the mop allows larger debris to get under the mop pad, which can scratch the floors. You want the larger debris to be trapped by the fringe and pushed ahead of you while dust and dirt is trapped by the microfiber pad.

This is why swiffer is horrible...it can scratch! 2) Use the hose attachment on you vacuum to run the perimeter of the room and suck up any trapped dirt near the baseboards. 3) Using a spray bottle, mist the floor lightly with water, or a cleaner specifically formulated for wood floors like EcoMist Colloid W, Dr. Bonners, or Method. DO NOT use Murphy's Oil Soap on your floors, nor should you use Orange Glo. Murphy's Oil Soap will ruin the floors and Orange Glo makes them dangerously slippery. Again, when in doubt, just use water. 4) After lightly misting a small area, use a seperate microfiber pad that is labeled for wet use and mop the area following the grain of the wood. 5) Continue to spray as you go. The floor should dry behind you. Never dump a bucket of soapy water on a wood floor...it will warp, cup, split, and generally need replacing really quickly. "I recommend the Rubbermaid Commercial Mop with a seperate wet and dry mopping head..they just velcro to the mop.

You can get them at Home Depot for about 20 bucks and they do have replacement heads when you start to get icked out by the old ones, but all you need to do is run the wet mop under the shower tap and use some shampoo to clean it out, while the dry mop can be vacuumed with an attachment then thrown into the wash." We use a similar technique of removing larger debris with a soft dusting pad, then vacuuming, followed up by using the spray/wipe technique with Dr. Bronner's or Method products on our floors. Though we admit we've used Murphy's Oil Soap in the past without any noticeable damage at previous apartments (in fact, a landlord once commended us for keeping his rental floors noticeably clean during our 2 year stay and rewarded us with the full deposit and a handshake). As we noted in the past, there seems like a wide range of techniques and solutions for keeping wood floors clean, with a bit of controversy about using vinegar (we're apt to agree with advice above, as vinegar is indeed an acid).