How to Clean Hardwood Floors

How to Clean Hardwood Floors

Gloss Up Hardwood
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What Your Mama
Taught You

“Fill up the sink with hot water & a cap full of your favorite Pine Sol floor cleaner. Add 2 tbsp of vinegar & use to clean any type of floor. I use this method on my hardwood floors to get a clean, smooth & shiny surface!”

Hardwood flooring isn’t just beautiful, it’s also durable. And, with regular cleaning and maintenance your hardwood floors can be easy to care for.

Read on for simple tips on how to clean, maintain and protect your hardwood floors, and keep them looking their best.

Hardwood Floors Steps To Clean

After selecting your favorite scent of Pine-Sol® Multi-Surface Cleaner, you’re ready to begin cleaning your hardwood floors. With regular cleaning and maintenance your hardwood floors can be easy to care for. Follow these steps:

  1. step1
    Sweep or vacuum the floor with a hard floor attachment to remove loose dirt.
  2. step2
    Add ¼ cup Pine-Sol® to a bucket with about a gallon of water.
  3. step3
    Mop your floor with the mixture. Try not to let liquid pool, which can warp and streak wood.
  4. step4
    Scrub stains and shoe marks with full-strength Pine-Sol®. Use a toothbrush or sponge instead of steel wool or scouring pads when cleaning your floors.
  5. step5
    Rinse with water.

You can also use Pine-Sol® Multi-Surface Cleaner to clean wood furniture by following three simple steps.

Hardwood Floors
Tools For Cleaning

Cleaning hardwood floors involves just a few steps. But, before you start cleaning, it’s important to gather the right cleaning products and tools.

To give your hardwood floors a thorough deep cleaning, you’ll need the following:

  • Broom, dust mop or vacuum
  • Conventional mop (one with hands-free wringing makes the job even easier) or a microfiber mop
  • Toothbrush or sponge for tougher stains
  • Bucket
  • Clean towel
  • Gloves (to protect sensitive skin or for prolonged use of cleaner)
  • Cleaning products safe for hardwood floors

We like using Pine-Sol® Original Pine Multi-Surface Cleaner on hardwood floors. Pine-Sol® also comes in other scents, like Lemon Fresh®, Lavender Clean®, Sparkling Wave® and Tropical Flower™. Just choose your favorite. All of them will leave your home smelling fresh and clean.

You can also use Pine-Sol® Original Squirt ’N Mop®. It’s safe for wood and hard, nonporous surfaces. You can apply it to the floor directly from the bottle.

For more information about the Pine-Sol® lineup of products, visit our FAQs page.

Ingredients

Try Original Pine-Sol® for a deep disinfecting wash.

bucket
Bucket
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Original Pine-Sol® Multi-Surface Cleaner
mop
Mop

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Hardwood Floors Polishing & Waxing

In addition to cleanings with a damp mop, polishing and waxing can keep hardwood floors looking new by adding shine and helping to minimize and conceal dings, scratches and scuff marks. Hardwood floor damage can be caused by things like shoes or dragging heavy furniture across floors.

If you decide to polish or wax your hardwood floors, start by making sure to select a product formulated for hardwood.

Then, for best results, follow the steps for mopping hardwood floors and proceed with polishing by following the polish manufacturer’s instructions.

Hardwood Floors Maintaining

How often you clean your hardwood floors depends on how many people and pets you have in your home and how much foot traffic you get. To keep hardwood floors looking their best, it’s usually best to sweep, vacuum or mop up dry debris at least once a week.

But, you may need to do so more often if there’s a lot of foot traffic. The more foot traffic, the faster dirt, grime and pet hair build up on your floors. Dirt and grime, especially, can make your hardwood floors look dull. If this is the case, deep clean hardwood floors every two to four weeks.

It’s also easy to clean linoleum floors with Pine-Sol® — just follow these simple steps.

Hardwood Floors Protecting

It’s inevitable that hardwood floors will get dirty. However, you can take measures to reduce the amount of dirt and grime that accumulate on your floors, help protect them from damage and keep them gleaming.

  • Make sure you clean up any spills right away so pooled water and other liquids won’t stain or damage the floor.
  • If you have a pet, it’s a good idea to put a plastic mat under its water dish to prevent spillage onto the floor.
  • Don’t drag things like suitcases or heavy objects, like furniture, across your hardwood floors. This is one of the leading causes of scuffing and scratching. Instead, place felt pads on the bottoms of furniture legs or other large, heavy objects.
  • Use area rugs in children’s play areas and parts of the house with heavy foot traffic to prevent scratches and reduce wear and tear.
  • Trim your pet’s nails regularly to prevent scratching.
  • Avoid wearing shoes on your floors to prevent scuffing, or shoes with cleats or high heels to prevent scratching and indentations.
  • Place a doormat at the door, and encourage family members and guests to either wipe off or remove their shoes before entering your home. This will ensure dirty shoes aren’t tracking dirt and other particles across your floors or creating scuff marks.

When it comes to carpets, protecting them can be trickier than protecting hardwood floors. Check out these tips for removing carpet stains.

Hardwood Floors Do's And Dont's

Do's
  • DO Take steps to protect your floors.
  • DO Clean up spills immediately.
  • DO Vacuum pet hair, dirt and dust before you deep clean.
Dont's
  • DON’T let your mop get too saturated with liquid, or let liquid pool on the floor.
  • DON’T use abrasive cleaning supplies like scrubbing pads or hard bristle brushes.

For information on the Do’s and Don’ts of cleaning your home, check out our Complete Spring Cleaning Guide.

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