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The Best Way To Clean Hardwood Floors

Do you guys know the best way to clean hardwood floors? Apparently I have been living under a rock. For real. For the past 5 years every place J and I have lived in have had hardwood floors. Even our first apartment had them. And guess what? I have been going about cleaning them all wrong. There are some people who use something like this Bissell to steam clean their wooden floors.

I don’t mind cleaning in general, but when it came to cleaning the floors, I loathed it. I used to make J clean them every week, because I hated it so much. Then we had Bray and I was home a lot more and decided I would take over all the cleaning. It would seriously take me an hour or more to clean the floors in our old house, and this house is almost double the size. Shoot me now! My old method was 1:vacuum all the wood 2:clean it all with Bona Hardwood cleaner {which is still the best cleaner out there in my opinion}. It took forever!

best way to clean hardwood floors

Luckily I have a girlfriend who is not only obsessed with keeping her own house clean, she also cleans other friends homes sometimes, a bit like these home cleaning Lynchburg based services…so she’s what I like to call an expert 🙂 I picked her brain for the best way to clean certain places/things in a home and she rocked my world. Let me introduce you to my new best friend:

What’s that? You all already use this?! Well I didn’t, and now my hatred for cleaning the hardwood floors is gone. This handy thing is a microfiber floor duster. Let me just tell you the ways I love this little guy: It attracts dirt, dust, dog hair, whatever..so well. Everything sticks to it. The base is totally bendable so you can easily clean the floor and have it bent to clean the baseboards at the same time. Yep, thats a game changer. What do I hate more than cleaning floors? Cleaning baseboards! The best part of this though was the fact that I cleaned my whole downstairs and upstairs in under 10 minutes. With the vacuum that would have taken me at least 40 minutes. I simply swiveled it around and created a big pile, vacuumed it up, and vacuum the rugs after. When finished simply toss it in your washing machine, most last for about 50 washes! Or if your extra lazy and your house is pretty clean {usually those two don’t go together, do they?!} you can use the pad a few times before washing.

So- heres my two cents on easiest way to clean hardwood floors, and I don’t see my opinion changing any time soon: 1: Clean with the microfiber duster 2: Clean with the Bona Hardwood cleaner. Yes, you can totally buy the microfiber pad for your Bona cleaner, but that base doesn’t bend in order to clean baseboards. Which means you need to bend down and continue to clean those bad boys by hand..and whose got time for that?!

I am currently obsessed with cleaning the floors on a regular basis because I have seen a few of my friends suffer from allergies due to the presence of dust and mold. When damp floors are left for an extended period of time, they can serve as breeding grounds for mold, which, when present in large numbers, can cause a number of allergies. To avoid such scenarios, I now clean the floors quite frequently. In addition, I’m thinking about purchasing an at home mold test kit so that I can check for the presence of mold whenever I come across something of the sort. I am pretty scared of molds now I guess.

Now tell me, do you guys out there have other little tricks up your sleeves that you’ve been hiding from me? I recently read an article about a Dog Hair Air Filter and found out that not only do these keep your air clean, they also help to keep your floors clean as they reduce the amount of pet hair and dander settling on the floor! Has anyone tried one? I am now determined to find out the easiest and fastest way to clean my house!

And if you are looking for another cleaning gadget that you will be obsessed with- check out our review on the iRobot Roomba. That thing is my life saver with two kids and two dogs!

Comments

  2. Lo says

    Boom! Love this idea! We mostly hardwoods too, and combined with 2 dogs, 2 cats and a baby on the way, I HATE sweeping, then vacuuming, THEN bona! I usually use the Shark steak mop on the floors for heavy duty cleaning, but this new microfiber job is going to save the headache of sweeping! LOVE! Thank you Adri, another brilliant idea!

  4. Yalanda says

    I use Norwex products for ALL of my cleaning, washing floors, cleaning bathrooms, dusting. Their (antibacterial) microfiber cloths work with just water. They also have a mop system, which is seriously amazing, go over floors once with the dry mop pad, then once with the wet mop pad. Seriously, their products are amazing. I don’t need to use any cleansers. Just water and my microfiber! You should check it out!

  5. Miss Melani says

    Wait, I thought you had a roomba…so with a roomba you still have to sweep once a week? I wanted to buy a roomba but if it doesn’t really help cut back on the sweeping.

  7. Autum says

    I was going to ask about the roomba too. I found your blog searching for roomba reviews. I have a chihuahua who sheds what seems twice her weight in hair daily. It’s awful and I just can’t keep up. So, after having it a while, do you still feel like it’s worth the investment?

      • Stephanie says

        I also have a room a and espresso dark hardwood floors. If my room a gets off its schedule, I can tell by the dust that shows on the floor, I love that little machine!

  8. Anonymous says

    I loved my roomba but when the battery died I never replaced it as it was too expensive…any other suggestions.

    • Laurie says

      I bought 2 neatos that were almost new, great price, great robot. Can get batteries on amazon. Let my roomba go when it’s batteries died. Got them from woot. I love dueling robots!

  10. Lois R says

    Great tip. I have another one for you. I take a microfiber mop and run it on my walls. It’s a great way to keep the walls dusted and the spiders out. It’s so easy! ; )

  12. Ladybug says

    I love the microfiber duster for baseboards, ceiling fans, door jambs, windowsills, and tile floors in the bath. We take our shoes off at the door, and most guests do without me saying a word. I sweep every day and then vacuum once a week. I’d rather do that than step on squidgies and pokies as I walk around. But, I have to run the vacuum because the sand from school/park/yard gets in the grooves and the microfiber and doesn’t pick it all up.
    (Sweeping and vacuuming give me an excuse to listen to the Dixie Chicks at full volume.)

  14. Nancy says

    As I understand it you should never use steam and or water on hardwood floors. Bona has a series of products that are perfect for hardwood and stone floors. Further, they offer a mop that tips to catch the baseboards or you can use their “wand” which extends more than 6′, it comes with a reusable duster cover for baseboards, under furniture, walls, ceiling fans, crown molding, etc. Their products are all environmentally safe. They also make a professional mop that works well in large areas! But no water and no steam.

  15. Nancy Lasker says

    I use steam mop and I also use vinegar and water..more water than Vin. It all works great with NO damage..shiny floors and I get compliments. 🙂 been cleaning as a hobby for 46 yrs.!

  16. Louise says

    For cleaning hardwood floors ,I spray windex and use a clean microfiber mop.Floors are clean and no damage is done!

  17. Patti says

    I have laminate flooring that is a shiny dark wood. I can’t find anything that won’t streak my floors. Anyone have any ideas that would help with streaking?

    • Lisa says

      Method brand Squirt & Mop….use with a spray fibre mop…no rinsing/smells awesome/no streaks or residue!

  18. Cynthia says

    I love, love my Roomba! Got it at Kohls with my 30 percent coupon! I use it everyday and very rarely sweep. We have carpet, hardwood flooring, tile, and vinyl and it cleans everything! I use my Shark steamer on the tile and vinyl in bathrooms and kitchens and a swifter type mop that cmae with the hardwoodbfloors with Bona

  19. Melvarama says

    We just had original hardwood floors in 100 year old historically-registered house in OKC totally refinished. Professional Floor Guy said no Bona, or any other products–water/vinegar solution only, he uses Shark steam mop.

  20. Uzyer Razin says

    Thanks for the nice and informative tips . I think many people will surely like these kind of tips and it will help them to maintain their hardwood floor. Thanks again

  21. web site says

    Thank you so much for this article! Last week I moved to an apartment with hard wood floor and I wasn’t sure how to clean it, so, you helped me a lot! Thanks! Twickenham Carpet Cleaners Ltd.

  22. Olena says

    Thank you for great tips on cleaning the hardwood floors. I’ve been using double-sided microfiber pads for sweeping and mopping and the floors would always look great after I am done. I like the idea of using bendable pads. It would really cut the time I spend on dusting the baseboards.

  23. Molly says

    I don’t mop all that often… I have hardwood floors throughout my house (kitchen & bathroom are vinyl) If I mop the wood floors I use Murphy’s Oil Soap. But I do that like 2 times a year. LOL! I sweep mostly and I was just looking at O Cedar dust mops recently! I liked this brand coz it’s made in the USA… I need one to keep the dust bunnies at bay. I have a lambswool duster I shake off outside. I’ll prob do the same with the dust mop so I don’t have to wash it all the time & the pad will last longer.
    It’s good to know about the Roomba batteries being kind of expensive since I was thinking of buying one.

    • Adri says

      Hi Molly,
      Happy to help! I will say though, even though the Roomba batteries arent cheap, I still HIGHLY recommend it. I use mine daily and love it!

  24. Casey says

    I grew up with hardwood floors and my current home is over 100 years old with the most beautiful old wood floors. So, to help keep that shine and keep them conditioned, twice a year we use warm water and vinegar to mop them. That pulls up dirt and film that otherwise would never come off. It also helps to prevent them from getting that old musty wood smell that they can have. I also only clean my floors with Murphy’s Oil Soap and warm water. The soap is oil based so it won’t damage the wood and doesn’t leave any streaky residue. I’ve never used Bona, but the microfiber mop is a must have and typically all you need unless there are spills to clean up.
    Hardwood floors are the absolute best if taken care of and will last forever if you keep them conditioned.

  25. Tawny says

    Thanks for the info on cleaning my wood floors. Sure wish your friend would come help me clean my house. It’s a disaster!

  26. Chris says

    I read somewhere that the best product to clean your hardwood floors is tea. I tried it & it’s amazing. I just throw 5 or 6 teabags in a bucket. Pour boiling water over them & let them steep. Remove the bags with a strainer. Add more boiling water or even just warm water. Wash your floors with a regular mop (I use a string one), wipe off with microfibre mop or cloth & voila – a beautiful shine. Doesn’t work as well on laminate though.

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