How to Clean Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors are beautiful and can easily last a lifetime if you take proper care of them. First of all, when we talk about hardwood floors we are talking about sealed hardwood floors. Unsealed floors have not been installed in homes for a very long time. If you think that your floors are not sealed, they must be sealed immediately or they will absorb every liquid spilled on them and will quickly start to dry out and fall apart.

Great Homemade Cleaner for Hardwood Floors

There are a wide variety of commercially available wood floor cleaners. Many of these are quite expensive and contain harsh chemicals. A very simple homemade cleaner can be made from adding a few drops of basic dish soap with distilled water. Put the mixture in a misting spray bottle and clean your hardwood floor in small sections. Make sure that you spray the area that you want to clean and then wipe up immediately with a micro fiber cloth or clean towel. Never let any area remain damp for any period of time as moisture is your floor’s enemy. Adding a splash of white vinegar and lemon juice will add some major cleaning power to your homemade floor cleaner. However, if you add these ingredients to your cleaner, you will have to do a quick wet mop with clean water before you dry each section.

Quick tips to maintain your hardwood floors:

• Sweep your floors at least every week with a Swiffer or with a soft bristled broom. To save time, I have found a get trick for cleaning your floors. If you are sweeping your floors, sweep the dust and dirt onto a carpeted area of your home. Vacuum the carpet thoroughly to remove all of the debris and to help keep abrasive dirt off of your hardwood floors.
• Always wipe up all spills immediately. Water and other liquids can do severe damage to even sealed hardwood floors.
• Protect your hardwood floor by placing furniture pads under the legs of each piece of furniture. This will spread out the weight of your furniture over a larger area and keep your floors from getting scratched.
• Use area rugs to protect your hardwood floors in highly trafficked areas. Also, use floor mats in all entrances to your rooms with hardwood floors. This helps trap dirt and debris and keeps them from scratching the surface of your floors.

Related Posts:

• Microfiber Mops
• Keep Your Floors Cleaner With These Moping Tips
• Floor Cleaning Week Recap

Use Area Rugs To Cut Down On Mopping

Floors in high traffic areas can quickly become dirty.  Leaving the dirt for extended periods of time only leads to a bigger headache when you have to mop.  One of the best ways to keep your tile, wood, or laminate floors cleaner is to use area rugs in the key high traffic areas.

Where the dirty dog lies


My dog, or small horse as some call her, always likes to lay in the same spot. Tracking in all of the dirt she collects outside into a small concentrated area.  By the end of the week it is really dirty there, maybe even disgusting.  We were mopping the area every other day to keep it clean, so to cut down on the mopping we placed an area rug to keep the dirt off of our laminate floors. We also put down some runners in our entryway which has also cut down the amount of dirt that collects throughout the downstairs floors. We vacuum the area rugs at least once a week to extend their life. 

Keep Your Area Rugs In Place

Some of the runners were moving all about so to keep the rugs in place I glued a rubber jar lid opener to each corner. You can find the rubber jar openers cheaply at the dollar store.  I got a bunch of the them at a local community business fair for free.  Just use some super glue or double sided tape to fasten the lid openers to the underside of the rug.

Related Links:

• Tips to Fight Spills and Splatters in the Kitchen 
• Use a Black Light to Find and Kill Germs
• Removing Burrs From Pet Fur