I'm pretty sure I've tried every hardwood floor cleaner product known to man, but was so excited today when I found just two simple ingredients (which I already had on hand) did a fantastic job on my hardwood floors! In the past I've tried the Bruce and Bona cleaners, but I've always been left with a streaky film, so I was so thrilled that this actually works. If you need to clean those floors with some penny pinched cleaner, here you go:
Ingredients
- 1 gallon water
- 1 cup vinegar
- Mix together water and vinegar.
- Using a rag, lightly cover your floor with the vinegar water mixture. (You want it just lightly damp as not to harm your hardwood floors.)
- Mop the floor using your favorite mop (I love my Sh-Mop that my mother-in-law bought for me ten years ago ~ it works so well and is easy to maneuver)
That's it! As always, be sure to test the mixture on a small hidden area of the floor to make sure it works fine, but you shouldn't have any problems with this one. The same mixture will also work well on tile and vinyl flooring as well. If you have other suggestions on how to clean those floors (without breaking the bank on expensive cleaner!), I'd love to hear them.
Looking for more penny pinched cleaning ideas? Here are my favorites:
- Homemade 2 Ingredient Carpet Stain Remover
- Homemade Soap Scum Remover
- Homemade Window Cleaner
- How to Clean a Dry Erase Board
- Homemade Heating Pad
This post is linked up to Living Well Spending Less Thrifty Thursday. Thanks for the chance to link up!
White vinegar is the best cleaner ever!
You’re so right Angela ~ it works on everything! 🙂
Laurie, did you spread the water by hand and then use your mop to wipe it up? (If so, how long did tou leave the water on the floor before mopping it up?) Or did you wet your mop in the mixture by dipping your mop in the bucket and then wipe the floor that way?
Good question Angela (I always figure y’all can read my mind!) 🙂 I spread the mixture with a cloth – just barely damp from the water/vinegar mixture, then used my cloth mop to wipe it up. I did it in sections (I always worry about damaging the floor with anything water based) so it went pretty quickly. Hope that helps!
Hi there. Can this be done on laminate flooring?
I use this concoction, but I add a drop of dawn and put it in a spray bottle. My "mop" is a cloth baby diaper attached to a swifter stick. I spray a section of the floor, mop, and repeat if necessary. Works like a dream.
vinegar is great for a lot of things, microwave especially..but as someone who runs a cleaning business, hot water works just as well and then you don't have that easter egg smell, lol..out of all the houses I have, not one will let me use vinegar. Kristina, great one, dawn is great at cutting the grease, right?!!
Amen on the smell!
Oooh I love the idea of using a cloth baby diaper — I have so many of them laying around that we no longer have any use for!!
A couple drops of lavender essential oil in warm water works great also!
I have tried the vinegar but it makes my floor slippery any solution for that?
I wonder if this one would b/c it’s so much water and a small amount of vinegar Sarah? I haven’t had that issue but would love to hear anyone else’s tips!
the company that Installed my tile, told me to only use vinegar. I haven’t tried it on my laminate, but I suppose it would work. The cleaner I’m using now is sprayed on a cloth mop, or lightly on the floor. That should not hurt the laminate. Vinegar is a good disinfectant, as well.
Vinegar is pretty safe so I think it would be fine on laminate too – I use it for so many things!
I put the vinegar/water mix into a squirt bottle and just spray as I go. Easy peasy. 🙂
Melissa Cairns I use an old wash cloth…the cheap walmart kind with a lot of nap to it….sometimes just lightly soaped water. It works best on my floor and no unwelcome fragrances or residue.
BAD INFO. Do not do this unless you want to ruin your floors…!
ive been in the cleaning business for many years and yes vinegar is an excellent cleaner but use it on your floors and you will be refinishing them in the near future. Vinager is an acid and will break down the finish on your floors. I don't know how many houses I've been in that the customer can't figure out how there floors have started looking bad, I ask what they clean with and it's usually vinager. Not only does it dull the finish but it will remove it completely. Use vinager 3 or 4 times and you floors will become tacky, that's actually the finish breaking down on your floors. I'm sorry but this is horrible info. Just check with the IICRC. This is the company who set the standards in the cleaning industry. It just frustrates me that this info got posted so carelessly.
I am talking about on hardwoods and natural stone floors. Ceramic and porcelain tile it works great…
Agreed! When we had our home built and the Project Manager was taking us on our initial walk-through, he stressed to never use vinegar on the hardwood floors.
Actually I have been using this for years… it is diluted… I would rather much use vinegar a natural cleaner than anything chemical…. my babies crawled on the floors… I'd rather clean naturally instead of them crawling in chemicals… And…By the way … these are published in many reputable magazines such as mother earth and so on…. think before you post yourself
I’m just stating a fact thAt I’ve seen first hand and have seen studies done on this very issue, so I have the facts to back my claim. Just because a magazine is saying to do something don’t make it correct, and by the way, if you are in fact using that on your floors you baby is crawling on a floor that polyurethane is being cut loose with the very acid(vinegar) you are using. You are loosening a chemical that is even more toxic than any floor cleaner. Your baby touches every time it crawls on the floor….! Think about it. I don’t care what some magazine says, they are looking for something to write about, so they find and ole wives tale solution that has issues with its method. And yes I have thought about this and actually learned about this in a school….
A great natural cleaner/disinfectant…essential oils! They are wonderful components for a “green” cleaning routine, and we use them in almost everything!
If you accidentally use too much vinegar you will indeed break down the finish on today’s hardwood floors. Do not listen to the store people.. Go onto any hardwood floor manufacturer website and read it for yourself. Listed under what not to use is vinegar.
I agree with Sledge ^^. After many, many hours of researching how to clean my hardwood walnut floors, I use only distiller water and the Rubbermaid Reveal (squirt) mop. I will never put acid on my expensive wood floors.
No vinegar on hardwood floors!
I use Bona professional hardwood floor cleaner only! No water! It cleans my floor beautifully. No streaks. Dust mop 1st, then just spray on Bona hardwood floor cleaner in a small area or use the professional cleaner for more sheen. I use the Bona dust mop and wet mop for HW floors. I also like the Libyan HW floor mops. Clean the pads often to avoid streaks. Simply place in the washing machine with a mild detergent, and air dry.
Correction: Libman Floor mops